Wanganui River - Heli Kayaking
17-19 November 2023
As part of our annual LandSAR training in Wānaka, the River/Canyon rescue team gets together and goes on a mission. Usually involving helicopters, boats of some description, delicious food, great beer, and 3 days of good company.
Last year we paddled the Waiatoto river in South Westland, this year we were off to the Wanganui river (the South Island version!)
We met at the Wānaka SAR shed on Friday evening, and did a quick final gear sort and loaded up a few cars and off we went. A 4.5 hr drive took us up the coast to the Wanganui river take out where we set up camp in the car park.
It's always a stunning drive up this section of the West Coast, and as if we planned it, we were chasing a front up the island which had just topped up the West Coast rivers, meaning we would have perfect flows by the time we paddled out on Sunday. Seeing the rivers pumping on the way up always gets me excited.. and also a little nervous!
Accomodation or Power Station.. or both?
Our campsite consisted of a car park and a big pipe... some opted to sleep in cars, some in tents, and some keen ones in a very well ventilated pipe! I think the fact we arrived at camp at 10pm encouraged a night in the pipe for some.. it was either that or try and set up a tent on the gravel. Pegs don't go well in the gravel as I found out.
After a marginal sleep, I woke to a Weka cruising around my tent, and the sound of the Wanganui river still holding a bit of juice.
By 8am, we were all packed, kayaks loaded, bags sorted, and we were ready for our Heli pick up to get boosted up the valley!
And just like that, the sound of a 500 came whizzing around a near by bluff and landed in the carpark infront of us. After a quick briefing by Ken the pilot, we were loading the sling, and getting team members up the valley.
Lock and Load
Three lots of short 5 minute flight up to Hunters Hut, had us cooking up a big pancake breakfast by the Hut by 11am. LandSAR Wānaka training trips always has next level food!
Drenched in sunshine, and high spirits of whats to come after seeing the river from above, we all knew we were in for a good couple of days!
Hunters Hut sits at the confluence of the Lambert and Wanganui river, and was a super tidy 6 bunk hut. Looking at the hut book, it looks like it had just been painted within the last 2 years and had a regular visitor who would always do a bit of TLC. Legend!
Our team was mostly made up of Wānaka Canyon and River SAR members, all of different backgrounds and skills. This provides a great learning environment for everyone as everybody has something different to offer, yet all on the same page with good communication and team work.
We spent the afternoon on a section of river just outside the hut playing around with tethered rafts, and using it as a platform for rescue scenarios.
Day 3 - Down the river!
After a big afternoon of training, and a great night at Hunters Hut, we were all ready to have a play and get on the river!
The river is grade 3/4, with continuous big water grade 3 rapids with one class 4 river needing a bit more attention and focus.
After a fair bit of packing admin, and loading up the gear raft and kayaks, we were good to go by 10am! The weather was a pearler, with not a breath of wind, and the flows were optimal. Blue in colour, but well off the rocks. For reference, we paddled the river 2 days after a solid rain event.
Upstream of Hunters Hut is also doable, and another good Heli Kayak run, however is solid class 4/5.
(Photo below) Team pack rafter Dan Clearwater enjoying the entrance rapid prior to the confluence of the Lambert. Dan also deserves credit for all of the photos in this trip report. Cheers Dan!
The river kicks off mellow with a few class 2/3 sections and a couple of braided sections that we got the gear raft stuck in a couple of times... Once the Lambert River joins the Wanganui, we were away!
With bouncy class 3 white water, keeping smiles on our dials for the greater part of the day. With good flows, the waves were super playful, and a good few holes to keep us honest. We ran the river pretty efficiently, with 5 kayakers and a pack rafter, we were able to boat scout everything apart from the one grade for rapid, keeping things smooth for the crew in the gear raft.
There had been a lot of chatter about 'slip rapid' the one token class 4 rapid on the river. I recall saying to Dan after a big bouncy 3+ rapid right next to a slip 'Was that slip rapid? That wasn't too bad!?' as we came around the corner, I quickly realised.. that was not 'the' slip rapid... rather 'a' slip rapid and we were about to have our work cut out for us!
After being able to read and run everything until this point, slip rapid had everyone out of their boats and discussing different line options. Rapids like this are a perfect opportunity for a team like ours to see how people operate and make decisions based on their own abilities and how they communicate with the team. Perfect training... almost like it was planned!
It'd been about a year since I last paddled anything class 4... which was also the last time I was in my boat! My heart was racing, as I watched a few other kayakers have a crack at it before me. Despite the nerves.. I knew how much I missed this feeling that only the river gives you. That feeling of confidence and relative control, yet still an element of unknown, and the river is always the one that has the final say in where your boat is going.
The rapid consisted of a beautiful boof drop into an eddy on river right, then peeling out to go through a bit of a weird toilet boil like section which I ended getting spun around in, having to peel out and surf out the wave. It did make me feel better when others said, nobody felt smooth going down there!
Big hooorahs at the bottom as we all congregated in an eddy to watch the gear raft bumper boat its way down.
It's always a good feeling knowing you've paddled the hardest rapid on the section of river, and all you have to go is 5 more km's of grade 3 rollercoaster goodness! How good!?
Hot Spring Creek!
As if this trip couldn't get anymore ideal.. with 4 kilometres to go, we eddied out just above the Hot Spring Creek confluence and ventured up the stream to find the hot pools we'd heard about.
Whilst they weren't the most idilic hot pools on planet earth... they were definitely hot!
Potentially a little more pleasant on a cooler day and when you're not wrapped up in dry suits and gaskets!
After 15 kilometres of epic West Coast blue water, big mountain kayaking, we were back where it all began. The power station! The river kept on providing right up until the final metres of the river, it's defently one of the best grade 3/4 rivers I've had the pleasure of paddling. We'll be doing that one again!
I'm always grateful for the opportunities that we get being a part of LandSAR NZ and particular the Wānaka team. It's a privilege to be part of such a great team of people who volunteer their time and skills to help those who need it in the in the hills.
LandSAR operates on external funding, and is always a worthy cause for donation if you're that way inclined. See HERE for more details.
Another one for the books, these trips are hard to beat... although I've heard rumour of the Landsborough being the trip of choice for next year? Sounds good to me.
For more information on the Wanganui river, a worth while read is on the PackraftingTrips.NZ website.
Happy paddling!
- Pete