After a month and a half of physio, osteo, and a strengthening program, my spine and ribs were back in line and ready to go. The past week had been awesome, I’d been for a few flat water sessions, and even got a couple of laps on the Tuna after work Tuesday and Wednesday. Damn it was good to be back in a boat.
So with another strong frontal system approaching from the west, creeking was again on the menu for the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions. It was time put my back to the final test.
The rain wasn’t going to do anything to the rivers until after midday, so I headed round to Mr Roil’s house for bacon and eggs, while we frothed with excitement and anticipation as the rainfall graphs went up and up and up.
The options we had were a high tuakopai or a high mangawhio – both very good options. Sanga wasn’t fired up for the Mangawhio due to past low water experiences, so we headed to the Tuakopai and met up with Ben, only to find the river hadn’t risen high enough yet. We had to make a decision of whether to wait a couple of hours for the tuakopai to rise or head to an already swollen mangawhio, as the rain had started there much earlier.
An hour later we were at the put-in for the Mangawhio, very excited and amping to get on the river. We made sure we had a quick peek from the road bridge to check lines for the crux section and made sure we could stop before the two biggies at the end.
If you’re thinking about doing this run don’t forget to say hi to Beverly (farm owner) before you drive down to the put in and let her know you’re here for some waterfall riding.
A high water Mangawhio is FUN. Imagine a narrow, fast, chocolate rollercoaster twisting and turning with constant boogie water and slides, with a few sweet waterfalls dotted in there too. There’s not a lot of stopping when it’s this high.
When you pull out of the first eddy you’ve got 30m before you drop off your first waterfall. Such a good way to start!
With very little stopping we made it down to the steep section in about 45min, and pulled into the eddy above the last 3 drops, all with perma grins from a very busy section of rapids.
The last 3 rapids come as a package deal, buy one, get the rest free, whether you want them or not. They also come in three different heights, 10ft, 30ft and 40ft.
Much to our dismay we found the lip of the 30ftr totally blocked by a massive tree. A bit of a sour taste to taint the sweet sweet run we’d been having. I’ll definitely be back in there this coming summer to deal to it.
The portage of the first two drops with a boat is annoying but possible, and so we made our way round to a rather intimidating seal launch into the gorge above the 40 footer. The sweetest 40ftr in the world then proceeds to erase any memory of the awkward portage we just completed, and with perma grins reinstated, we joyfully paddled the 10min back up the Waikato River to the car and warm and dry clothes.
Here's a very short, dark glimpse of our day, through the eye of the go pro.
More states and europe updates coming shortly...
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