I’m not really sure how to tell this story. Partly because it was one of the best days of my life-but at the same time also one of the worst. Does that even make sense???
Mike and I brought our Alpacka Packrafts about a year in to our marriage, so 2 years ago. Mikey had been wanting one for longer that we had known each other and I finally convinced him it was worth the investment. When they arrived we went for an uneventful paddle on the Whanganui River. Nothing to strenuous, just half an hour or so through town from up stream to a jetty a block from our little city one-bedroom apartment. Then we packed them up, and have had them sitting in storage ever since. Mostly because I was way to scared to go rafting the two of us in case something went wrong and I fell in and drowned. OR even worse, something happened and I ended up watching Mikey drown. I’m not sure what triggered this sudden anxiety about being on the water (maybe that near death experience on a river crossing course in 2009) but I still feel like its really justified.
Anyway, we discovered PRANZ, New Zealand’s pack-rafting association and decided to head to a beginner meet-up we saw on Facebook (yay Social Media) not far from where we live, in Mangaweka. (about an hours drive) This was GREAT!!!!!!! And by great, I mean I was still worried I would fall out and get in trouble-but at least there were 12 other experienced people on the water to help.
We put the rafts in at Utiku on Saturday morning and rafted 12k down to Mangaweka campsite. The trip took 3-4 hours including a little detour of upstream paddling. I was the only member of the group who hadn’t rafted grade 2 (NZ ranking) rapids before, and sure enough the first one was a wee tricky with a side stream joining the main river. I did literally everything wrong, paddled in to a giant rock and before I knew what was happening I was hanging upside down in freezing cold water, held in my boat by my skirt. I managed to get out of my raft and out of the rapid, but lost my paddle, raft, breath and nerves. (insert cry laugh emoji)
So thankful that we were with a group of more experienced paddlers who helped, and then gave advice for the next rapid. I think if it had just been Mike and I, there would have been a full-blown wifey tantrum and an insistence that we went home right then and there and put the boats on trademe.
The rest of the trip however was beautiful, and I was able to tackle the grade 2 rapids and kind of read the river with more and more confidence by the end of the few hours.
That is until I followed Mikey a little too closely in to a rapid, and paddled harder than him and caught up. He then got stuck in a ‘hole’ and in slow-motioned he and his boat tipped toward me. Try as I might, I couldn’t get around him, and we both ended up in the river. But when I arrived at shore, a number of others had also fallen victim to this particular rapid. Phew. (a few others also went for swims in rapids i managed to nav kai pai).
We finished the day up at Mangaweka campground the next day-which is where we put in the follow day for short 4k paddle with only small(ish) rapids. (note-kinda wish we had started with this!). There were a few awesome waterfalls and I practiced catching eddies, different stokes and bracing myself in the water with my paddle. I did go for a couple of swims this day as well, practicing skills, which actually made me feel a lot less nervous about being tipped in because I had kept much better control of the boat, and they hadn’t felt as instant and dramatic so my brain could process what was happening and what to do to keep safe and hold on to my paddle and boat. The water was crystal clear as we rafted down, and just as we got out a whole lot of silt and muck traveled down making the river brown and difficult to see beneath the surface. Such great timing!
All in all I was really glad I went, and that I paddled the second day (which I was unsure about as it was so windy). I hope we will hit the river with new friends again soon (but so far haven’t managed to be available to go when they have been doing Michelle-Sized, aka small, adventures/rapids)
Fun facts about the Rangitikei River
- 185km
- In 1897 the river flooded and all six bridges over it were damaged or destroyed. The port at the mouth of the river was also washed away and never rebuilt.
- Part of the river was used as the Anduin River in Peter Jackson’s movie The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
- There’s also a NZ river called the Rangitaiki River and the two are often confused.
- Maori ancestor Hau named the Rangitikei River when pursuing his wife and her lover southward from Taranaki some 600 years ago. With long stride (tikei) he moved one day (rangi) to the river he then called Rangitikei (the day of striding out).
- The large mustone bluffs (white-ish cliffs) are known as “sheer papa bluffs”
& here’s GoPro video of the day-so that you can enjoy the bails-5:50mins
Happy Rafting
Moo Chelle
P.S the rapids were bigger in real life..