Mohaka Kayaking Trip

Weekend Trip
Saturday 24 April 2010 to Sunday 25 April 2010 (2 days)

Kayaking on the Mighty Mohaka River

Same old suspects were joined by some crusty new blood. I think they had heard about the carnage from last time (53 swims) and wanted to have a good laugh. This time, the river was way down, much rockier but with fewer boils and way fewer rapids. We kayaked the 14km top half to Glenfalls four times and the 13km bottom half to Dave’s Landing twice. The bottom half had three tricky bits through rocks or debris and one tight drop; other than that the descent had no cliffs or boils and overall was easier.

Hideo was the only brand-new kayaker and he had practised on the Waitemata prior to the trip. First time white water can be a bit daunting and he coped extremely well, only swimming once. Good balance helped as did the times he was in the Eco Niizh double with Mike.

Mike’s son Luke (11yrs) joined us for part of the first run, also his first white-water river experience - a toe in the water for longer trips in the future, Luke. Great to have you. Brent, who by this time should have been paddling at a highly skilled grade-two level, fell out seven times. He struggled with cliffs, logs, waves and rocks. On two occasions he fell out on nothing at all. Being colour-coordinated doesn’t keep you upright, Brent.
 The Group Ready to Start (Photo: Kathy Engelbrecht)

Years ago, Tina had been on a horrendous commercial trip down the Mohaka. Returning was good therapy, especially with her divine husband, Lindsay, there to cater for her every need, helping with gear and whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Tina swam once and Lindsay not at all, which leads me to wonder what his priorities were. Self preservation, or beloved wife? At least he could be proud that his storm did not buck him off.

John, the renowned swimmer of last time, was a surprise addition due to his previous tendency of bouncing along the bottom and not gracefully kayaking on top of the waves. Wow, only out twice which is a 700% improvement!! One of his oopsies was with me in the Cabo double. I was in charge and we flipped on a submerged rock. Sorry, John, I got wet too although that was my only time. Tin-arse Lydia, paddling at half power, managed to stay upright the entire time. She had some interesting methods of crashing into - sorry, trying to avoid - the cliffs. It worked for her, though. Well done!

Mike, Lisa and Sandy, on their first ATC trip and supposedly the new kids, brought a wealth of kayaking knowledge and experience to the group. Thank you, Mike, for lending out your spare gear, squiring Max and Hideo in your double, and not swimming at all. Thank you, Sandy and Lisa, for being very powerful and skilled members of the team. Sandy fell out once whilst in the Cabo double with Max. Lisa fell out once whilst in the Cabo double with Max. What is the common denominator with this? Max also managed to fall out all by himself another four times, including an extremely scary incident where he was hooked under the water by the pull tab of his skirt which caught on a submerged branch. He escaped up through his tube skirt, leaving it underwater. If he had been in a harness skirt he would have been held down in an extremely dangerous situation. You are well over your nine lives, Max. Be careful out there (also when cycling).

 Lydia Smiling (Photo: Kathy Engelbrecht) Twenty swims this time, a better effort and a higher skill level than last. Sunday was Anzac Day and we had a short service on the banks of the river, giving thanks for our freedom and acknowledging the sacrifices of others. A big, big thanks to Kathy, who was not well enough to kayak, but came along as our driver. An awesome and selfless job, Kathy, carting us around and watching from the sidelines. We hopefully have three new ATC members out of this trip, all awesome people: Kathy Engelbrecht, Sandy Stevenson and Mike Hindmarsh.

The only not-so-good part of this trip was the nasty(ies) who stole our club raft from the river bank. We suspect trout poachers and have reported the theft to the police.

We were: ATCs: Carol Exton (leader, scribe and one-pot cook), Max Clark, Brent Rose, John Tasker, Lydia Huggard, Hideo Yoshihama, Tina and Lindsay Jacques.
Others: Lisa Lee-Johnson and Luke Hindmarsh.