How does the Clarence Rank among NZ Kayakers, Canoeists and Rafters?

On Wednesday 26 May, I delivered a brief perspective on the protection of the Clarence River.
 I focused on the preference that river runners such as kayakers, canoeists and rafters held for the Clarence River.  The river reach most commonly run is from the Molesworth Road crossing (near the Acheron confluence) downstream to the State Highway 1 bridge. 
My perspective related to the New Zealand Canoeing Association's survey of New Zealand rivers of the early 1990's.

"The NZCA carried out a survey in 1991 / 93 (surveyed in 1991, not until 1993 that the data was fully analysed). 
A total of 106 river or river reaches was listed in the survey.  The Clarence scored 11th for overall importance, and when the 3 Kawarau river reaches are lumped, the Clarence is the 9th or 8th most important river system (since the Shotover Canyon could be further lumped with the Kawarau).  
Most tellingly, the Clarence whitewater did not attract the canoeists, since for canoeing challenge it ranked only 53^rd.  Similarly, the Clarence only ranks 20 out of 106 for the number of paddlers who reported experiencing it.  
Also, the ranking of the number of trips run on the Clarence is only 96 out of 106.  
This is not surprising, the Clarence requires a substantial commitment to run it.  
So, the number of paddlers and the number of trips they can run on the Clarence is very limited compared to say the Kawarau / Shotover river system.  
In terms of Travel Time, i.e. how handy the Clarence is to the place that paddlers live, the Clarence ranked very low at 101^st.  
So, paddlers were really going out of their way to experience the Clarence.  
The survey found many paddlers responded positively to aspects of the Clarence when they had not even paddled the river.

The Clarence really shines when we look at scenery and wilderness feeling responses to the survey.  
The Clarence ranks 5th for Wilderness Feeling.  
The river also ranks 9th for Scenic Beauty.  This seems to be the core of the river's appeal.

The survey also ranked something it termed Geographic Diversity.  
This is essentially the diversity and geographic spread of the point of paddler's origin. 
The Clarence ranked 11th. 
I interpret that this to mean that paddlers came from far and wide to experience the Clarence.

Overall, it seemed that paddlers of the time ranked the Clarence very highly even though they did not live nearby, were not able to paddle the river frequently or even at all, nor even that the river rapids were the attraction.  
Instead, the Clarence was very important to the country's paddlers for being a true wild and scenic river, and for that reason it ranked among the top 10 river systems of the country."

Jens Rekker

Back to Clarence 2004 starting point

Day Two  Big Eddy to  Quail Flat

Day Three  Quail Flat to Figit Hut

Day Four  Figit Hut to Pot Garden

Day Five  Pot Garden to Matia Flat

Day Six  Matai Flat to Clarence River bridge

Back to Clarence 2004 starting point