PortSide 4 Life

Been busy.....and now it's a snow day......

2009-06-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

The last posting on the 11th of Nov is some time back

Since then this space has got bit of a make over... a new name, different vibe maybe...

Still the same core values ...

Seeking the balance in life adventures and new expereinces...
Sharing the journey with the tribe (friends and whanau) is all part of the mission What has been going on since the beginning of Nov

...kayaking, biking, travelling, friends, hanging out, meeting rellies, 50th wedding anniversaries, weddings,
Murchison

Greymouth

Adeliade

Mildura

Nuriootpa

Goolwa

Wanaka

Port Chalmers

That was the summer!

Work started...
About this time Maisy tripped over and blew her head gasket.. after years of faithful service and nearly cracking the 400000 clicks

So if you know of anyone wanting a van where is as is get them to drop me a line

Thanks to Soph and her car the adventures keep going...

Lots of kayak teaching, 1st and 2nd years, OCKC et al

Trips to Murchison, Tekapo, Wanaka, Beaumont

Bridget put in an order a baby girl from the storks, delivery date is booked for Oct 25 2009

so this looks to be a change of scene for the Port Side crew!!!!

Nevis has had the rules change on her at work and now has to remain at home most days. After five years of coming to work on a daily basis. It has been a rough transition, with her busy mind needing extra work to keep simulated... Not an ideal workplace in my book.

Now it is mid June!

Whats going on ?

Involved in the NZRCA soon to be "Whitewater New Zealand"

Recreational river users are threatened on all sides with loss of their river habitat... i can't think of another group that is under the gun like the river folk.

Mount Aspiring Naional Park Plan Draft version has been relaeased and submissions are due on the 30th of June 4.30 pm

best get on to that!

Polywise it is time to give the programme the big rejig to change the paradigm of how we operate and deliver our content... Exciting times, important to bunny hop out of the rutt before it closes out!

Have managed a couple of trips down the local rivers
A low flow Lee Stream...
A high flow 220 m3/s Lower T
And a good thrash out at the Waipori in the weekend
certainly when combined with zorch up and down nichols creek, boosts the spirit

Epic weekend of potlucks, Rugby, Boatshed finale "festival of meat"... So feeling a little bit jaded..

This Snow Day is well timed

thE bLACK iSSUE- fREE fLOWING rIVERS iN dANGER

2008-11-11T00:15:00.000-08:00

Here in New Zealand the Pristine and not so pristine rivers are in grave danger...

This is not just our problem it is a global issue...

Check out this clip about dam building in Quebec

LVMTV:: The Romaine Complex-Troubled Waters from Lunch Video Magazine on Vimeo.

end of the school year!

2008-11-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

Well the end is nigh... 08 i mean

Recently arrived back from a grand trip away in to the Upper Shotover River
5 days in, a day out and another 5 days in!

Stoked, the students were having a good time and performing well.

THe Summer Season of Backyard cricket is in full swing!

On the day off we managed to hook up with Paul Pujol and wander up the Young river, pleasant outting on a stunning day.

The Young River from Craig Adams on Vimeo.

BlissFest 08 LongPlayer

2008-10-19T00:51:00.000-07:00

Huge Shout out to Pete Eley for the mean filmwork!

BlissFest 08 from Craig Adams on Vimeo.

BlissFest08 Trailer

2008-10-19T00:50:00.000-07:00

Blissfest 08 boatercross trailer from Craig Adams on Vimeo.

Lee Streaming

2008-08-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

iPhone in the Blender

2008-07-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Now this is cool ....

Inspired by a few good turns........

2008-07-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

Had some great turns in the last week... here is a clip from my favourite ski hill...

Red Mountain... Rossland, BC

Winter Wanaka Wicked

2008-07-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

So after the Brewster trip it seemed like a great idea to do a days skiing on the Hill so Treble Cone bound.

The Owners of TC's plan to create it into a super expensive exclusive resort seem to be working, $100 day passes probably enough to do the damage! School holidays , generally the worst time to be in Wanaka and definitely the supermarket at 5pm. and it really didn't seem that crowded.
The Classic TC View, love that St Bathans Range!

Thanks for the cheapie tickets folks, awesome.

Spent a great day with Tom, Davie and Brenda May, visiting all the ski shops on a tyre kicking mission... Ended up buying the same toque/beanie... nice green wool number... you will know when you see it...

Davie Robinson, international man of mystery and local Cactus Representative is kicking off on the next phase of his commune, love your work Davie... a home away from home

The Portside Crew Headed over to Queenstown to catch up with the Cousins and Aunts, so good to catch up!!!
Managed to tangle that up with some Mountain Cycling at 7mile... all i can say is PRIMO!
such great riding, easy access, great features which full flavour will be brought out in the summer.. with the stunts being dry, the bermed corners were awesome .. Kachoong, Cool Running's .. brilliant
Bridget sucked it up, for a great family fun day!
Nevis looking for someone else to take her round for another lap

Then for no extra payment now

ended up doing a Day's Ski Patrolling at TC, what a nostalgia trip. Such a fun day, Such a fun Job, miss it!
View of the SIX from the patrol room

The Patrol setup now at TC is these pretty flash when compared to what the facillities were when i started... So probably now on par with other big hills that market themselves as such.
Wow you can all have room to sit inside, and even if you wanted to swing a cat.... maybe its a bit ostentatious... nah all good.

Above the Indicator cliff where Roo Stanford and i built a fence to dissuade the lemmings
Roo Stanford
Nothing more fun than skiing heavy fresh snot carrying a bunch of warratahs.
Doesn't take long to reacquire the patroller fat belly, gonna blow that zip!

So with Bridget doing another week of work placement with Eliska Lewis Architecture, it was time to head home
Following the mighty Clutha River
Kiwi version of a motorway
Quick trip, as you can see the chest of drawers aerodynamic type shape of the van is really economical at 180 plus, and operates in the lower temp zone that standard 100 km /hr motoring

A big shout of thanks and hugs to all you good folk who made this trip away for us so amazing......

oooxoxox

Brewster Glacier

2008-07-15T20:26:00.001-07:00

Brewster Glacier...

Roger Hodson presented a brilliant opportunity last week, 3 days touring around Brewster Glacier.
All in the name of science, geography.

Andrea from Switzerland was here to measure snow accumulation on the Brewster. So there we were skinning about with drills, conduit, flagging tape, probing for the glacier below, digging density pits. Heaven

Great to make the first turns of 08' out in the backcountry. Stunning wind crust that ranging from breakable to bullet proof and yet only 1 or 2 inches thick. Found some awesome turns on one aspect that just made it all so good!!!!!

Makarora
No there is not anyone in those boots , maybe we could transport more folks that way though
Great to have Harvey Hutton flying again
Camping by the terminal lake
Easy access to the Glacier

The first night was windy and cold, spin drift and all with the days being sunny and warm, it just got better and better... with the anticyclone moving over NZ, Perfect

All for the greater good of science
So when you are grovelling around on the Glacier later in the winter in a white-out and you bump into one of thesemarkers don't make the mistake that they are a flagged route off the Glacier
The density kit storage box proved itself a worthwhile companion, with all its real estate you would think the University of Otago and all the w@#$ that it loves to spout about itself, would be able to shell out for a digital set of scales and a nice small pelican box to keep the nick knacks in!!!!

Timing is everything, Harvey picking us up 40mins late, just as we watching the sun drop into the Horizon.
Roger travelling with the rice and chickens in steerage

Check out the turns in the crustiness

Clarence River

2008-07-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

In cleaning out the laptop in the hope of speeding up the old girl i found these shots of the easter 04 trip down the Clarence River.

Rafts, Canoes, Oar rafts, Kayaks, Topo Duo all good fun! possibly should have brought the skis to the get in! had to wait for the "Council Guy" to come an plough the road so we could get over the pass to the river!

21 voyagers freezing cold weather

hey where did all the money go?

2008-06-30T18:01:00.001-07:00

100 year History of Oil :Robert Newman

2008-06-30T17:53:00.000-07:00

check out this essay by William Clark
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/RRiraqWar.html

oil smoke and mirrors

2008-06-30T17:48:00.001-07:00

Brought to you by the Letter C...

2008-06-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

Cynical: adj 1 "believing that people always act selfishly"

Citizen: n 1 "a native or naturalised member of a state or nation"

Consumer: n " a person who buys goods or uses services"

Collins Concise Dictionary

Have heard that New Zealands leading leisure time activity is shopping! Im sure it is a world wide disease!

Are you a Consumer or a Citizen first?

Having just looked cynical up, i think now i have been using it incorrectly. For me it means hidden agenda, double standards, vested interests, political classes connected with corporate, untrustworthy ...... so i will be adjusting my usage in the future.

So with this revision in mind...

I have been cynical about some of the history's that are accepted as the only versions of world events.

It has been said that "History is written by the Victor" that will explain why W. Churchill wrote a definitive book on World War 2.

In "The Assault on Reason" by Al Gore, he puts forward that to be in a functioning democracy it is a prerequisite that the citizenry are "well-informed", knowledge of what the blazes is going on and able to make a balanced choice. Sounds straight forward.

Gore looks at how Gutenberg's printing press democratised information, easy to get your story, side, perspective out into the population, allowing the citizenry to be better informed.

It has been since television that we the citizenry have been excluded from the democratic process, These days who can afford a 30 second advert on the flat-screen LCD? Not the citizenry. The political classes and there relationship with corporate media, have reduced our choice in information sources. Vertical, horizontal integrations leave little room for alternative views on world, affairs.

By weblogging i am participating in democracy. That is on a down-low, grass roots, not many folks look at my blog kind of way, so as you read you are going to need to try to hurt yourself on this"cutting edge"

"Alternative Histories" Some folk may call them conspiracies! Out here in the interweb it has been exciting to read such polarity on ideas. Blogging is this re-democratisation, allowing contrasting ideas to dwell side by side.

Whereas here in Dunedin, The new John Pilger documentary (compulsory watching for anyone)
"The War on Democracy" Did not get a showing at the Rialto, nor the Hoyts, just at the independent Academy Cinema. Outside of the "matrix" competing ideas don't have a level playing field. Lets not just look to the corporations and shuck the blame from our own backs, its we the citizenry that are not informed about, or open too different versions that challenge the dominant stories.
Is it because it is easier to just potter along keeping your head down, going to work, looking after the kids, buying your groceries.. ? If you look too hard your world maybe thrown into disarray, making it hard to motivate yourself into getting up in the morning... which is hard enough!

This could be why when you mention a slightly different perspective, folks look at you like you are off the planet.

The modern classic of these alternative interpretations is the World Trade Centre.

Some folks believe the hijacking story,with others believing that it was a "False Flag Operation" (which means the US did it to themselves) with all the variations, and combinations in between.
The power of emotion and passion people respond to this event and explantion is not surprising.

The interweb has it all, nut jobs, geniuses, space filling mediocrity.. Just look around, search for some of the variations on the accepted reality. Remember we are all big kids, you must attempt to make a negotiated reading of these texts, films.( hard as that is ) Everyone has a perspective, Objectivity is Subjectivity with its spelling adjusted.. more of that distrust of the establishment from my youth!

The point is that you need look, expose yourself to something different than what you get from the political class which kneels infront of the dominant corporate interests.

( Haha whoops the personal perspective cat is out of the bag!)

So with all that said

I will be adding some clips that should stir the pot a little bit

for the counter points on these issues

just watch the news

Warming up to Winter

2008-06-18T14:51:00.001-07:00

Like Vodka in the frezzer!

Flowed down the Lower Taieri late last week

The cool thing with the ORC website is that the Flow gauge has a temp gauge so you always know what you are geting youself into. so it was a balmy 4 degrees.

All Photos: Pete Eley

West Coast Life

2008-06-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

Howie Wilson has sent in an update on life in Westport"side!"

"The price of petrol and Cheese definetly makes you think twice about jumping in the car and driving 100 km to go for a paddle not to mention the 900km to Fiordland!! OUCH. it was slightly cheaper back then though.

Well there is a bright side to all this, as there has been some more investigations into some local creeks around here and one 5 hour hike has found something of note (Needs Rain though) plus there is two other potentials. One called falls creek about half way to Karamea not far from the Mokihinui which runs out to the sea. I will keep you posted on it with pick of course if we run it.

One is me standing in Morgans Gorge contenplating paddling the last part of it which was just to mentally challenging at that point in the day for me as had been on the river for 5 hours already!

the other is a 6 meterside waterfall on a side-creek on the Totara which you have walk about 150 meters up to see it.

A couple of others there two, me on
Chasim Creek and the Waimangaroa in the Minimystic

Issac on the Waimangaroa

A Year in Review

2008-05-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

SO being somewhat anchored down in Dunedin, with a crew of peers who are mostly breeding... it is amazing we actually get to go kayaking at all....

07' proved to be one out of the box and the rains falling around Otago. This year has proved quite dry, El Nino giving us the usual perscription. I take solace in the fact that some of the biggest rain and snow events in our relativly short history in NZ have occurred in the El Nino phases.

So here is hoping.

Anyway thanks to all you folks for last years adventures. Expect a txt when the rain start falling.
Also better get your skiis waxed!

Photographs

2008-05-15T00:13:00.000-07:00

Times are a Changn'.............

2008-05-14T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well it has been some time since the last post. Some may think that, no posting equals nothing happening, it would be an erroneous assumption.

There has been a lil' bit of kayaking. the drought down here on the east coast of the south island has pretty much kept boating as something you do when you are dreaming.

I have found it an interesting time with many issues involving rivers and kayaking taking up a lot of my thoughts.

the Proposed hydro projects on the Mokihinui, Waitaha, Nevis.......

Along with the bureaucracy of DOC on a pathway to increase the controls of aerial access in the reviewing of the Mount Aspiring National Park Plan

So now we can lose access to classic rivers by the placement of a full stop, comma and deleting of words.. I wonder why all this change, which lobby group is kicking up the stink to promote these upcoming changes.. but of course the new document will contain the ubiquitous clause "that allows flights for doc tasks and hut maintanence" In some of these valleys i wonder if it is those flights on doc business that are the ones that people are complaining about. So now it is the recreationalists that are about to lose out, as there few and far between flights are cut out.

Wow i just started raving..
more on the Mt Aspiring Park plan later

Cheese, Butter, All food ...... Expensive..

Oh yes its all connected, kayaking and the price of cheese

coming back soon

Summer 07/08

2008-01-16T01:38:00.000-08:00

Lots of folks getting out and having some good times out in the sunshine.

Updates from folks, (Howie Chris Dyl et al) will be made available as they come in... some fun some epics... all the good stuff to make for great times.

Fun, family and friends perfect.
A mad dash to Rangiora to hang out with
the whanau
for the mad season.
So cool to catch up the tribe

We headed out for a ride with dad in his local
playground the Ashley Forest, along
with time
at Bottle Lake with the full entourage.

Nevis and Emily taking a measure of each other!

After family time We headed to the Ashley river gorge a beautiful spot in the summer time, not in the winter.

With a stop at Castle Hill, wombled thru Cave Stream, with 40 000 scouts. then on to Craigieburn for some cycling.

New Years at Bee and Nick's

Kirwan's Track

Kayaking In Murchison

North west Adventures

The Styx River

The Moeraki River

Mountain Biking Wanaka Styles

New Directions for the new year!

Upcoming postings on

-issues that threaten white water kayaking

-the new mount aspiring nat park plan

-Cheese, worth its wait in gold

Waikaia River

2007-11-27T14:35:00.000-08:00

Matukituki River

2007-11-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

In amongst all the teaching we spent some student free low key time on the river !

Re Cut Lee Stream Footage

2007-09-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

Lake Manapouri Journey

2007-09-10T16:51:00.001-07:00

Good Days at the office!~

Tramping in the Waikaia Valley

2007-09-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

Young River Summer 2005

2007-09-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

Some footage from Ngaio Hart of a summer trip in goodflow down the Young a cheeky wee favourite for an afternoon thrill

Bliss fest 07

2007-08-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

Check out

http://cabbagetrees.blogspot.com

for all you blissfest 07 information

Check this out from last year!!!!

Lee Stream, High side of Good, Optimal Actually

2007-08-01T14:14:00.000-07:00

Having misssed the super high Taieri River, Ollie, Glenn and I managed to quench our thrist with a higher than before Lee Stream.

The level was 3cm above the yellow painted ledge on the outram side of the Ford
It certainly made for good sport providing lots of fluffy water, although some of the manky overhanging tree alleyways you have to duck down, we decided to walk around as the micro eddies were blowing out in to the Vines and branches.

Short clip of Balooga falls, and Ollie Yeoman pencil sharpening himself up for the falls!

PS was chattin to the Rural post guy out there the other day, he said the High water of the big flood last year was just underneath the high bridge at the ford! Wow

Rain Rain everywhere...

2007-08-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

So the rain has fallen and the rivers have been up.

THe leith was very impressive at 65cumecs, some of the filter features that the ORC install in the Leith Valley don't seem to be working like that should be, at the larger flows the fast water sped around the outside of these vertical pillars on river right.

Classic urban adventuresA posse put in above the Woodhaugh gardens (a previously standard move) and paddled down to towards the accellerator.

The word is that the weir you encounter between these two points has had rocks and debris cleared, "Go the ORC" It had been undisturbed for for donkeys ages. Breeding the complacency. Making the Right hand boof move a lil' more challenging.

Three swimmers and a mighty struggle by Callum Brash and Lu Jull in their boats to escape the tow back.

Then with the elevated water level rescuing folks sounded jolly awkward as the slalom wires got into the mix.

All Safe, their boats did the "Grand Tour" to the harbour, With one of them being trashed by the time it reached the harbour.

James Dawson Plus one other (Who are you mystery man?) were doing laps between the accellerator and the gardens footbridge in the afternoon session

The following clip is a blend of footage shot at 11am and 430pm peaked at 65cumecs.

Thoughts:
In the future ORC will be doing some major renovations to the Leith, Seeing what they have done so far makes me wonder how well that will all go!

Eg: The filter that doesn't filter at high flow (Not a bad thing for us), hopefully not indicative of the science and physical modelling that they will be using for these larger changes. The Clocktower Weir is one that will be looked at, Thanks to the NZRCA there is the possibility to make it safer for the humble boater, awesome work.... get on and pay your membership! I will if you will!

Taieri River Access Closed just as Season Kicks Off.

2007-08-01T14:12:00.000-07:00

So time has come for Wenita to carve a swathe thru there own forest!!

What sort of atitude is that???!?

You would think they owned the place! LOL

So what is the story?

We rocked up, two fridays ago, the white gate on the dirt road near sailsbury road, closed.

Big dump trucks shingling the new roads being built for access to harvest the trees!

I am a cyclist, who lives in Port Chalmers. So no need to explain my perspective on this issue!

Anyhoo i digress, the road closed Sign had a number to call, so i did

Talked to Sally who then passed me on to Aaron, who informed me the road will be

completly closed for three months, as they build the roads.

A bit stunned at this point, stunning day, warm temp, 32cumecs in the Lower gorge, a grand day in the making, thwarted.

I understand the reasons, there were six tonka trucks owning the road while i chatted to Aaron. dangerous for sure, these guys are totally not expecting anyone else out there.

Back to the facts after the original three month closure it will be closed during the weekdays and open in the weekends.

Looks like while the trees were growing over the last 20- 30 years Wenita didn't actually have much of an idea on what was going on in the confines of there forest.

Trail bikers, Kayakers, Mountain bikers, Pig hunters, 4WDr's, Pot farmers.... they have been all out there, we have seen them!

So with this closure, i think Aaron is getting the full picture of what has been going on out there in the wilderness.

Later that day

Asked Jess of the OUCC if they had been notified as a vested interest in the river, No ..

Looking further into it at the council level Kyle passed me on to Don Hill, who informed me that there had been a notice placed in the "Notices" section in a Saturday paper. I ask for a copy of that notice to be emailed to me. After the stunned silence he suggested i look it up for myself.

I am dissapointed that we (OUCC, Poly etc) weren't notified.

Maybe that stems from the fact they have no idea about anyone else out there other than WildEarth.

So at this point we have been left with chicken feed! (Kayaker POV)

The channels are open and i will be discussing the progress of the roadworks in the Mt Allan area with Aaron, I will be keeping you in the loop via the interweb so keep you your eyes open on any future developments

Peace Out

Wanganui and Lower Kaka's

2007-07-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

Howie and Isaac Wilson are lucky enough to have there folks living on the banks of the Wanganui River. Location is everything! Just a short walk up the river is where the goodtimes are located. Proving winter has been pretty sweet for some!

48 Hour Film making

2007-07-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

Nevis and i ended up helping out on this fantastic short film!

The Feltastic Four!

It was one of the finalists here in Dunedin for this years Competition

Enjoy

Winter Boating!

2007-07-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well who would have guessed?

The Lee Stream has seen a couple of descents this last week!
We have been probing the lower end of doable, One inch below and a couple inches below the gauge!
and a little bit bumpy in places, still all good to go!

Hoping to get in to the first rapid/portage, "Gated Community" and hack up the witches finger log and clear the woody seive at the exit of the pool, so we can bomb that first section till "Head High Tackle" a definite portage. and the shortened "Depravity" portage, nice

have put together some of the footage from the two trips, it will be available soon hopfully here, just need to compress it!

all your fav rapids! (mine actually, soon to be yours!)

pinball
headbangers
balooga falls
pencil dick falls
slide
no free lunch
rimshot

all documented

hoping to get some other folks down this classic so we can indeed be peer reviewed on our find!

It took five hours on Monday and Thursday three hours fifty minutes!!!!
I'm sure after some more rain that will be stretched out again!

The drought is over on the Taieri,

2007-07-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

Its been quiet times of late here in Dunedin!

the Taieri River has been empty!

Hell its only 9.5 cumecs in there in these photos, lucky as you have to go under the wood!

In the brief moment of of flooding, two large trees were thrown down on the Pipeline rapid, top and bottom.

Nice work.

Certainly hoping the working bee this sunday with the wildearth adventures crew will get the colander situation sorted!

Should we be messing with the habitat?

Just for recreation?

Good to ask questions, and see what you can come up with to support your stance?!

Dawn Patrol, Waipori Slalom site

2007-05-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

Overcoming the seasonal change mind meltdown or whatever you want to call it!

We (Holly, Emma, Rikki, Vaughan, Andy and i) headed out to the sla site this AM for an early session to get the cobwebs blown out.
Much thrashing about in the long boats, retro cool Reflexs and a mint Hurricane!
It did wonders for highlighting some lack in technique on my part! Good to keep the fire lit for improvment and more Dawn Patrols.......

Love winter People are cold, turn their heaters on, and voila' the water flows.... some kind of magic!

might see you out there!

Dawn Patrol
another day at the office

Autumn, Fiordland

2007-05-03T23:25:00.000-07:00

After last years debacle of a paddling trip to fiordland. We needed to readdress the prioroties.

Number one: the pub is for after the paddling has been done with! Critical ..
Number two: Ensure there is enough water!

Sophie, Vaughan ( 900 Km from Westport, Howie) and I bolted early on a monday arvo making a bee line for Te Anau to met up, then went on to Homer Hut.

The Stationary front parked over the fiords topped up the rivers, with just enough for us to have a couple of days of good boating.

Tuesday morning had us down at the legendary "Paddle on Inn" sipping cups of tea with Blake Reed, sea kayak guide extraordinaire, a morning off!! Nice life in the Fiords.

We sped up the process and fitted in a couple of short runs on the Cleddau River (not enough water to run from Slip Creek). Access for the get in at the Guliver/Donne is so sweet, The trail is on the Homer hut side of the Guliver bridge, down to the Foot bridge.

Craig waiting for the crowds to die down at the get in.

(H. Wilson)

Sophie Ballagh and Blake Reed
(Photo: H Wilson)

Vaughan Gribben warming up (photo: H Wilson)

Sophie Ballagh (Photo: H Wilson)

After dropping Blake back, to his afternoon clients, we scoffed down lunch and elected to walk up the Tutoko River for 30minutes, best idea of the trip!

30 minutes of consisitent walking put us at a rocky stream bed, so we turned right 25 minutes of walking ducking, diving and dragging had us river side.

430pm we peeled out, all boat scoutable, (until it got dark enough near the end to reduce the 3rd dimension of the 3D) continuous goodtimes, nothing chunky, just fun fun fun. Standing by the van stoked at 630pm

Note:
The water in the Tutoko held looking good till the next afternoon! Whereas the Cleddau drops like a rock!

Photos: H Wilson

The view downstream from where we popped out, Sweet!

View upstream, still looks good, more for next time... Just perfect for us, timewise.

Times have changed and getting to the Arthur River legally is now a little bit of a rigamarole!

Thought i would spell it out here for everybody

Didymo is not present in the Arthur, rumour has it!

Before you get there you should probably ring Alan at Fiordland Lobster 03 249 8093
He is in charge of issuing the required permit to get over there and paddle.

He will want to see that your kit and boat has been cleaned in the Black and blue barrels that are stashed by the sea kayaking drying tent. (Check in with the crew at Paddle on Inn, they could smoooth the whole process for you).

Then the crux of the mission is getting transported across the sound to Sandfly Point so that none of you or your kit touch that polluted sound.

Real Journeys run the Anita Bay and at a cost of $29 a head, Wow I know thats what i said!!
So we met a fishing charter guy and he got us across on his tender for a case of beer! Sweet

Little boat full of little boats, mind ya toes getting in wouldn't blow the whle cleaning process

Vaughan Gribben hanging on!

After all that, the walk was a pleasure, Lake Ada and we were off

Brian Prince from Mephis, Tennesse

After a great couple of days boating, it was time to celebrate over a fantastic meal.

more blue cod, and crays than you can shake the stick at! then a hard earned trip to the pub to wash it all down!

A big shout out to Blake and Rosie for turing on the hospitality for us, it made this trip a complete success!

The next morning folks were a little bit washed out so for most the crew flagged the paddling option. Howie managed to rouse hinself for a run thru the drops on the Falls creek section of the Hollyford River.

Cheers guys for A GREAT TRIP!

West Coast Dreaming

2007-05-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

Easter Thursday, van was packed and we were gone....

Missioning towards Greymouth, Bridg, Nevis and I made it to the Broken River Ski Area Carpark. Sweet, that meant a sleep in, and a cheeky ride on the Craigieburn tracks in the morning. Great way to start a holiday!!!!!!!!.

Eventually we made it down to Bee and Nicks new house on Marsden Road, Greymouth. Perfect timing for us to take off with them up Noname Road on the mountain bikes.

My hope for the trip was to get some kayaking done, the best laid plans and all that... with little rain and eveything, especially the walkable boating not working, it was lucky we brought the velocipeds!

Easter Sat had us trying to do some boating and eventually managed at the crack of 1 pm managed to fly in to the Lower Hokitika (Howie Wilson,Bee Robertson, Mister Magoo)

Since two of the Free Ranger posse moving to the coast, Howie to Westport to do.....?, and Bee teaching at Grey High School.

It was great to get together and go for a float

Mister Magoo and Mister Dando

(Photo: H Willson)

Talking smack at the get in! not a long run no need to rush!

(Photo: H Wilson)

Good fun! (Photo: H Wilson)

Beezal Carving up (Photo: H Wilson)

Remember, the deep fryer only gets turned on at 630pm. It was a desperate wait quenching our thirst!

To be Continued....

Murchison

2007-03-25T23:01:00.000-07:00

Murchison has been a little bit dry of late, just in time for us as we rocked into Murch last week the rain had filled up the catchment.

Great five days, good boating and great people...

Trip list
Doctor's Creek x 2
Granity x 4

Middle Mataki

Lower Mataki x 3

O'Sulli's to Ariki, but not the falls....

Earthquake

Couple of Lads nipped down the Glenroy as well

Who new work could be so much fun!

Andy, Aaron, Bert, Vaughan and Sam after the 20min lower Mataki, slowed down due to the Sam and Aaron in Wee Rads.! Sorry about the car, Sam.
We had a great week and was stoked to have Aaron and Sam make it down from Marahau to boat with us for a couple of days!

2nd Year Diploma of Outdoor Leadership and Management 2007
(Photo: Andy T)

Penny Stark and Jethro Hardinge
(Photo: Andy T)

Disco Stu says" disco ain't dead"
(Photo: Andy T)

Isaac Wilson
(Photo: Andy T)

Vaughan Gribben
(Photo: Andy T)

Penny Stark (Photo: Andy T)

Vaughan and the naughty wheel that didn't want to hang out with us anymore on the way home. Thanks to some good directions from the motorist that flagged us down, Penny managed to spot it, Then the great oh my god its friday 430pm rush to find a workshop open to fix it.. a huge shout out to the guy in Waipara. A huge session of mongolian wrestling to fill in time and then we were off to the chipie in Amberly.. homeward bound.

(Photo: Andy T)

Summer

2007-03-13T23:47:00.000-07:00

It seems that summer has just showed up
just in time to leave this week.

So lets hope it actually rains sometime soon with this southerly airstream.

The recreational kayaking has been thin on the ground since the TeeCarPo/PooCarKey release.

Couldn't believe it six hours in the same wave, and it wasn't crowded. It could do with some more depth and a smooth coating, although can't complain too much, had a great time, with a grand dunedin turn out. Stu, Waster, Liz, Vaughan, Sophie, Muz, Howie........ awesome

36 degrees phew....

Grand day had by all
Simon Callaghan looping for his country.

"Do you think you could run it?"

Lochy 2005

2007-01-28T23:33:00.000-08:00

In Nov 2005 Chris Sinclair got a posse together for a cheeky Lochy Trip

Kaihiku Falls Oct 2005

2007-01-28T22:52:00.001-08:00

A while back things were desperate in the water stakes... there wasn't any!!!!
The following is what happens when the stoke is not being stoked regularly!

An after work trip down to balclutha, turn right down the gravel road near Peggydale and your nearly there.

needs some more water for a goodtime!

The Young River

2007-01-14T18:26:00.000-08:00

Howie Wilson and i managed to sneak away to Wanaka,
for a cheeky walk up the Young valley so we could float out.....

Started out a cracker day, sun shining.. birds twittering all that stuff.

By the time we got back to the car, it was West coast torrential!!

Definitely need to sort out a better carrying system.....

Scooped up Geoff and Ben from Alpine River Guides, they have been working too hard, so we were on a mental health mission.

there was plenty of water , with just two portages

one around the big rock, as all the water around

to the right and slightly under

aforementioned rock

the second being just after "Priopism" as the

good stuff comes up. The water slipped

under a boulder with no room for yakkers.

All in all enough and boogie water drops to keep

the boys grinning from ear to ear

Lee Stream Old School gets a "Modern-Classic" Makeover...

2006-12-31T23:09:00.000-08:00

The steady rains of this brilliant summer have finally paid off with the first trip down the
Lee Stream, since June 1996, back then there were two and a bit trips done in three days.

31st Dec 2006 Just in the nick of time

After a couple of days of good rain the Taieri was up at 120cumecs, Pomahaka was up, the
Manuherikia was up! At last another crack at the Lee Stream.

In the days of Bandits, Turbos and 270s, we just made it paddling under the ford and that seemed good then, this time it was three and a half to four hand spans on the high side of the ford pillars. Guessimation, art and science of flow .

a quickflow check trip out to the Lee stream ford on the arvo of the 30th, showed that the water was all up, just hoped it would drop down to the level we did it at in 96'. One way to find out!

Plan to turn up tomorrow morning!

Round to Howie Wilsons (the regular meeting point these days) at 8am, the Taieri at Outram was now 220 cumecs, still hoping the Lee had dropped enough for us to get a crack at this creek, otherwise it would be another 1 hour dash down the Lower Taieri and back to town for morning tea.

It was all good, the sun was shining briefly, before the rain, well typical Dunedin pissy drizzle.

I wasn't sure what to expect, my previous experience of the first twenty minutes down stream of the ford involved getting hung up on a willow, being pinned and losing my paddle. Nice

The first rapid was a pearler in the old days.

Now it is called Gated Community

You feel as you are entering a hallway, with the water backed up on large rock, with the water heading around to the left. (this can be scouted on the right) from there you can paddle/ float up to the rock on river right side and jump out on to it, and take in the full commitment of your undertaking.

The drop has not matured for the better.

The drop is walled on both sides and has wood in it, the pool below has a large tree reaching like a gnarled witches finger in the run out of the drop, all this with the pool funnelling in to a large sieve.
After stepping on to the rock we entered the pool and made the first move of the day, a committing Class 2 ferry up around the witches finger to the river left. phew. Then jumped out and made the portage around the sieve.

Photo: Jo Kippax 1996
(Craig Adams on first drop of Gated Commmunity)

The gate for this community just clanged shut!

At theis point i was hoping the rest of the day wasn't going to be like that!.

From GC it felt like it opened slightly.

( Memory, a fickle thing at the best of times. but the Lee seems to be less clogged than it once was, nature in action in May 06 with a huge flood in the Taieri catchment it peaking at Outram at 660 cu.)

Still heaps of trees though. vilgilance!.

The boating is grand, lots of little drops, double drops, etc punctuated with bigger ones, and short portages.

Rim shot

Howie Wilson
Al Ritchie

Howie Wilson, tearing it up on a random drop.

Head High Tackle would be the next rapid of importance
This horizon line we scouted on the left, and has the river going under a head high tackle slab of rock.
Due to the large boulders we portaged high up on the left, the first of the adventure portages.

Balooga falls
An Awesome Double drop

Pencil Sharpner leads into

Pencil Dick Falls

is the second half of a rapid, a 4 or so metre drop, up against a big as rock, aptly named due to the angle of entry i had into the pool below last century

PD falls can be portaged on the left

Just after PD Falls there is

Pinball over the first drop and hook around to the right of the buffer with the sticky wood stuff in it , and hold onto your hat. It just makes you want to squeal like a girl....

Depravity, the downward slide...
Looks like a stonking first slide move heading right, well from portaging just right of it, it looked good.This has some seriously continuous drops as you can see. (looking up from halfway down)
The portage was brilliant, enough to make you want a lighter boat, and to feel like your having value for time invested. An all over body work over! love it.

This rapid (or parts of this rapid) definitely need further investigation

Back on the water and your nearly out, just some manky shallows, and choosing which tree lined nightmare to go down, actually did some quick portaging to avoid tussling with the trees.

There are some willows that have resisted encouragement to be torn out at the roots, that are seemingly thriving on the

abuse, lying across the main flow. The odd trap for the

casual floater.

Then float down on the last of the tea colouerd water and join the caramel thickshake of the Taieri.

5 1/2 hours back to the car.

Next trip down i will be getting the Camera out a whole lot more, and add them to the descriptions.

Lets all do a raindance!!!! it's so worth it!

The nod of respect to the old days
1st Descent
June 96'
Jo Kippax
Paul Pujol
Keith Riley
Rich Kersel
Beezal Robertson
Craig Adams

2nd Descent
Next Day
Paul Pujol
Tim Barry
Al Ritchie
Graeme Noble

3rd attempt
next day
Paul Pujol
Dave Liow

plus others

Third time unlucky, i think they walked/grovelled out due to low water at Gated Community, throught he blackberries ekk!.

Fact File
Length: 5.5 km

Gradient Average: 30 metres/km
Level: It so needs rain
Gauge: Can you paddle under the ford, or 3 hand spans on the pillar or wait for me to mark it.
Time: 5 - 7 1/2 hours
Map: Dunedin I44-J44
Put in: 10 km, from the Outram bridge, along the George King Memorial Drive till you drop down to the ford.
Take Out: Standard Lower Taieri, just before the Outram bridge.
Flava: Gorgeous ,Treed, Portages, Modern-day classic

Have been out to the Lee Stream Ford
again and this time i took a can of paint!
The Yellow Strip of paint, you can see it has some built in room for error.

If you are in the yellow it should be all good, if you are off the top of the paint then it could be more than you want.... not sure although i'm sure we will find out once it rains.

All the best and hopefully will see you there on the drop!

Weekend Warriors

2006-12-28T23:08:00.000-08:00

The following is a personal take on a trip to the river, looking for the bliss that is just under the surface

All Photo Credits: Brendon Robertson

Shedding the demons of the past on the Waiatoto River

December, 1994
I was looking upon a group of weekend warriors arriving from Melbourne with dismay; it was an invasion of my campsite. I wasn’t concerned about the fact that there was more than enough room here at Mount Arapiles. From my moral, spiritual high ground, I viewed these folk with the eye of a curious outsider. They were intriguing in their enthusiasm. If they were serious about their rock climbing, why didn’t they move here too! There I was living the dream, at the premier rock - climbing crag in Australia, I had a full-time commitment to my craft. In my second month climbing there I was beginning to feel like a local. You could choke on that youthful arrogance. I was fulfilling a pilgrimage, which was key to my on-going apprenticeship. There were so many amazing climbers here, it was humbling, and motivating. I was leading a simple lifestyle that many had done before, and since; I totally felt that I had found my path. Although it meant I was financially challenged, (the Australian dole was looking like a sound option!) I was not distracted by the 9 to 5 dogma that these new arrivals were pretending to escape from. As I believed, you were selling out to the man if you didn’t fully commit to the search….

Flash Forward
September 2005.
In a post lunch, zombie-like state, I was displaying a classic lack of Gorm, in my attempt to stare my workstation into productivity.
In a desperate move to inspire me in to action, to give me something to push me through the drudgery of another day in the office, I snatched Graham Charles’s New Zealand White-water Guide off the shelf. This, as you can probably guess, is a well-practiced ritual, lots of rivers read about, studied, dreamed about, many warrior plans made then left undone. No follow through. God I need more follow through.

It would be a sad sight for the young man in Arapiles. I can see the feeling of disappointment in his future self, worn as a scowl. Here I am hunched, and buckled over the keyboard, sitting on the ergonomic, gas-operated, multiple-levered, still uncomfortable chair.
The only similarity would be the tired old Subaru wagon in the work car park. Maybe the older warrior is hanging on to this tenuous connection too this younger self. I throw off the encroaching self-absorbing cloud, again leafing through the guide, desperate for something that would both fire the warrior spark of old, but would also suit my stale skill level. The mission needs to rouse me, and my posse of mates out of our offices. After some thumbing of the well-used guide, my eyes landed upon the plainly obvious, the Waiatoto River should be just the one.

The vital ingredients seemed to all be included, a helicopter, multi day trip, some interesting white water, but not too hard nor too easy (it’s a delicate balance), new country to travel through, and most importantly, a perfect way to get a bunch of mates together to spend time away from the hum drum drumming.

In this age of busy, over-committed, over-emailed, over-texted, over-worked people the idea of escaping to the simple things like eating, sleeping, and boating would be reasonably attractive. So I decided upon Labour weekend as the time for the great leap back. Originally I thought a cheeky group of eight would be just right for this outing, but by time we were to fly up the valley we had a solid team of twelve.

On the day I first fired out the conspiratorial email, there must have been a few people struggling with the Post Lunch Come Down along with myself, looking for an opportunity to don their weekend warrior garb. It was email and texting that kept this motley crew of teachers, pharmacists, students, carpenters, wine makers, lawyers, and deer farmers all linked, technology was critical, modern day planning seems relies on it. On reflection the logistical can of worms for 12 people to go kayaking on the other coast, all at the same time, in the same river even, was not as bad as I had anticipated. To receive an email from one of the weekend warriors gave me quite a buzz. It seems that I need for my own well being to focus for my previously longtime latent recreational energy, regain the mastery of the Work-Life balance. The days were passing quickly.

A flurry of emails with Heliventures of Haast got us a flight cost of $180 each. That would drop us at the edge of the wilderness area, on Bonar flats. During this planning time, I managed to scope out some photos from a friend’s previous trip, confirmed we were in for a grand adventure. They showed some cool drops, phew - at least it wasn’t going to be to boring. The idea of cracking out the trip in two days, instead of three was also a possibility which would leave another day for us to get into some more trouble, elsewhere.
A little bit of research did wonders for the build up of anticipation.

The days were counting down. The weekend prior to our trip, there was the Bliss-Stick Kayak Surf Competition at St Clair Beach in Dunedin. 60 competitors turned up to thrash their moves out in the waves. The atmosphere was humming, lots of kayakers from all over the south getting together. A few of our dozen were even in the finals, awesome; the energy boost to the crew heading up the Waiatoto was palpable.

Friday, Labour weekend 2005

All of a sudden it was midday Friday, goodbye office I’m gone. Supplies for the twelve weekend warriors to be purchased, a bargain at only $28 dollars each for three days, my army was cheap to keep on the move The traffic was mad. Even though you try to leave early, it always happens, you just can’t get it together and “early” ends up being “late”! You end up in the traffic escaping the city, but hey time for a reality check here. There’s no reason to complain. It’s only going to take twenty minutes to get from one side of town, instead of the normal ten. Dunedin, it’s all right here!
All that needs to happen is for 12 independent outdoor types to meet at the Waiatoto airstrip for the 9am lift on Saturday morning.
On the patch of land beside the river on the airstrip, morning came around quickly. Hell it was morning when we arrived!
I can’t believe it! This seems to be working. On cue the stragglers from Dunedin and Cromwell arrive, just one more to come and we have our dozen. Gear is checked, re-checked and boats are being packed.
A busy spot this airstrip - hunters being flown out by Cessna, white baiters, driving past heading to their stands by the river. Rumour had it that one had pulled up 74 kg yesterday! The warrior alone, lost in the wilderness between Waiatoto and Queenstown, Martin, arrives to complete the crew, just in time for Morgan Saxton, who drops in with suitable theatrical showmanship. The faint hum of the 500 had been gaining volume until he pulls into sight with a big highside swoop to woo the crowd, landing soft as a butterfly. Timing is everything! I whip around the crew and wrench the $180 from each. Wow nice earnings for a couple of hours’ work.

By 11 am and we were all alone in the silence of Bonar flats, three lifts of four people, with two of those swinging a net carrying six kayaks each. Totally unbelievable! It has really has worked, we’re all here. The hum drumming of civilization was fading with the helicopter.

Maybe the young pilgrim in Arapiles might have lost his scowl? This kayaking lark was not something he had personal experience with then, but he would definitely appreciate our location, and the style in which we were going about our way.

Since we all live in different places these days, work and this 21st Century life, means this crew doesn’t get together that often as a whole. So drifting down the easy water it was all about reconnecting. Some of these people had been away for 5-6 years, OE refugees. The river valley was filling up with excited chatter, the heli flight, the anticipation of the river ahead, and of things gone past since last get-togethers. Excitement is rampant. We quickly head off down stream towards a suitable lunch spot.

Fed and watered, we got back on our winding pathway. Just as the flat water, river braids and sunshine were wearing our patience thin, up ahead the river obviously gorged up, hopefully constraining the water to provide some interesting whitewater. To kick off the fun was a straightforward 2-metre drop through a slot, leading through a boulder garden. The crew was fizzing now! From pouring over the guidebook, and studying the topo map we knew majority of the whitewater highlights were going to be in the next 5 or 6 km. This water was just entering the realm of low grade 4, and it was glorious, all the drops could be boat scouted.. By this I mean we were able to see the next move or couple of moves from the boat in the eddy above, looking over your shoulder down stream.

The harder rapids were interspersed with some nice big bouncy drops, connected to the next by technical rock gardens, with a side order of flat water. The larger drops were all run, but sometimes a small dose of soul searching was needed before making the leap. It felt so good to be back amongst it.

The group fell into to a natural rhythm. For each drop someone would be the probe, out front, scouting the line, passing the vital route information back via eye contact with hand and paddle signals, then moving on. Reclaiming the groove, so familiar in days gone by. It was in this trusting manner, that the 12 of us made surprisingly brisk progress down this section. Only once did I drag my heavily laden kayak back up to run a drop a second time. I paid the obvious price for my actions, boat full of food, wine and dry kit, slippery booties on greasy rocks. Skinned shins were destined to be mine. Still it was worth it, just that once!
Eventually the river’s intensity began to ease, we had blown away the cobwebs from the city, were thriving on this challenge, and everyone was in the zone for more. Alas we had to wait till tomorrow, as the day was running out, and we had a reservation to keep at Axius Flats regarding dinner and accommodation.
We paddled on, the chatter, laughing and the maniacal giggles continued; we were in the candy shop.

Traveling down river in self-sufficient style definitely means you cannot bring the kitchen sink, unless that sink can fit in the back of your kayak. Accommodations were bivvy bags and a large fly. In the kitchen, we had running water of course, and four cookers to cater to the crowd. On the menu was Miso soup, followed by a big veggie udon noodle number with instant pudding for the sweet finish. The skinny self-sacrificing disciple at Arapiles, would have been jealous, only if he had known what an udon was.

The sky darkened, and the fire was lit, tall tales were told: of foreign and local adventures. With only so much innate ability to listen to smack being talked, too much wine and sleep finally dragged people away to dream about their day.

Awakening the next day brought the realisation that you HAVE to get back in your boat, yippee! The sun is shining and some pixies have prepared breakfast, coffee, perfect.

According to the guide “there is only one rapid of note today”, “the scenery is superb. With this reassurance, it was a leisurely start, with much good humour. At the crack of 11am we were on our way. After the previous day’s good boating we were keen to have some more, but knowing that it was the last of the trip, we wanted to savour it as well.
We came upon the rapid; it was bouncy and continuous for 200 metres or so, with a dogleg path. It was one that some choose to get out and scout, watching others run it to confirm their line. As it dropped towards the large pool at the end, there was a couple of hydraulics that managed to catch a few people out. In this case it was all pretty sporting and everybody had the wherewithal to negotiate his or her way down, maybe with a roll, maybe not.

From there to the road bridge on the Haast-Jackson’s Bay highway, there lay some grade two rock gardens, and as we had all seen from the helicopter a large dose of flat water, meandering its way out to the Tasman Sea. As the guide says there’s not much else to do apart from float and contemplate life, and life is feeling pretty damn good.
The drudgery of the office had been well and truly rinsed away; I’m sitting more upright, quietly chuffed that the logistics were right for this crowd to get together, managing their families, and schedules to be here. Spending time with this amazing group of people has been brilliant, and is to be cherished because of its infrequency.

Smiling to myself at another goal ticked off.

I am finding follow through!

I also give thought to the young man living at Arapiles, as a dirtbag derelict, believing in his high ideals. I find him naïve in his regard of the weekend warrior, but also kind of cool in his own scrawny, un-co way. Those high ideals we once shared are now slightly world-weary. Though with some reflection on my former self I have managed to pull myself kicking and screaming out of the day-to-day rut I had ended up in. For that I will always be eternally grateful to this younger man’s spirit. I am stepping forward with my finger raised to the man, armed with a healthy dose of cynicism, a bucket load of gorm, and the knowledge of what need to keep myself from disappearing under my desk again.

Like they say, “That one good trip, deserves another”, so I best organise the next dose of medication, so the search continues. I’ll put it to them tonight, after we have packed up our old outdoor wagons and headed down to camp at Neill’s Beach.

“The Landsborough River anyone?”

The Manuherikia River

2006-11-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

So Sat 25 th nov was a cheeky 12 hour mission to the "Jewel of Ophir" 16 cumecs!

Big shout out to Wayne Johnson for the Stash of great photo's.

Gradual lead in, enough time to warm up.

Chris Sinclair "calm as a cadaver"

A cheeky trip to the Chatto Creek tavern, with a wee river trip to whet the whistle

Matt Elder 'Scud boy"

The old water race provides a great way to see the bigger picture.
A marvel of human endeavour / stupidity

Wangers takes one for the team out on point duty with the camera

"Geronimo"

Looking rough, but oh so smooth!

Stoked!

Matt Elder "..A shandy?"

Dancing, and the Landsborough River

2006-11-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

So the last wee while has been a bit busy.... but hey everyones life is a bit busy ..
Even so we have been getting out boating, after the blissfest06 it is all about getting out, not organising other peoples boating.

In Labour weekend a posse got away into the Landsborough River.
The helicopter was due at the crack of midday, to allow folks to recover from the gig at the Hawea Flat community Hall Massef, (stoked reggae beats) LAdi6, DJ Parks, and Rikki Gooch. Awesome sounds. Cheers to Davie and Hugh for organising it.

Sunny days, new river Good crew to hang out with, good food all that stuff

Luckily with a 2 30pm get on at the top, we had a great flow so it only took 2 1/2 hours to get to the Hut..... Sweet

Great to be out in the wilderness, soaking up the quiet

Bridget Spain
"Rafter"

Frasers Hut below Broderick Pass.
Bring more golf balls, we lost the last one.

Sophie Ballagh scouting "Hellfire" or
AKA "My little Pony"

Waipori Slalom

As rare as it is, some water down the Waipori river gets the people out town

Ollie is giving me some tips to get me thru a bit quicker and cleaner.

It's a start

2006-11-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

Hi there Folks

This will be the spot to check out the adventures of the

"The Free Range"

Check in again soon

Ciao