Thread: Anyone involved in packrafting / river rafting ?

If this thread ends in an expedition I would be happy to be the cook.

Well then boys, looks like we need to make a plan ! Meet up somewhere in Hawke's Bay and float down a river to the next campsite, where uncle Rushy will have a hearty meal and some beverages ready !

Mind you, the rafts might sink on day 2

@ebf , hey yea google earth is a non starter!! or any other form of satellite imagery, it will never show enough detail , even looking at a seemingly innocent bend on google could change immensely with flow fluctuations summer is a Clasic as all the water drops your hugging willows, I’m rafting fan just spent the day drift shooting but you really need to know what your doing especially in a pack raft I know there a bit of a thing at the mo but they flip pretty easily & your all buy you self , I got my guide ticket around a year ago also did a swift water rescue course on the Buller last year & honestly I wouldn’t recommend rafting without a guide , obviously lots of people do it but it’s so easy for things to go wrong , the wanganui is a big wide river full of logs iv been as far up stream as ranana , river looked pretty cool maybe it’s safe I don’t know & without personally knowing someone’s skill set I would never recommend rafting or kayaking without a guide
I do most of my rafting on a relatively easy grade 2 river but you get talking to people that have given it a go & a good few shotguns have ended up in the river , I’d recommend making some inquiries with a local kayaking club speak to people that have first hand experience on that water way , keep in mind things change with floods such as trees in the river. Good luck.

Like boraxa said
I'm much more careful about trees and log jams

Council website should have the river flow (often for further downstream than what you want) if you can check the level online before you scouting trip and see how it changes with different flows.

Originally Posted by akaroa1

Like boraxa said
I'm much more careful about trees and log jams

i can see you singing the lumberjack song

Originally Posted by Rushy

I can’t help you ebf but I am intrigued to learn what you are planning. Many years (decades) ago I did a few grade five white water rafting trips (guided) and I have often thought it would be a hoot to raft a significant distance on a river through bush country (like Te Uruwera) with a rifle handy just in case of a close encounter of the Cervidae kind.

The whirinaki river from say Te Whaiti down could be fun.
You gonna get us one of those rubber jet boats from the other thread for us so we can go up and down?

Originally Posted by Barefoot

The whirinaki river from say Te Whaiti down could be fun.
You gonna get us one of those rubber jet boats from the other thread for us so we can go up and down?

Put in at the Mangamate falls camp