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Leaving Nepal felt long overdue. It was like waiting for Christmas to come. Instead of having to endure shopping lists, irritating tunes on the radio and the Christmas commercialism in October, it was enduring filth, poverty, long bus rides and illness. Katmandu is guaranteed to precipitate irritation in the most loving and patient of people. So it was with delight that we landed in Auckland airport ...

Article by Greg Nicks for PLAYAK.COM, March 2003

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[ This article is a follow-up from the latest Slugs report.

We had been traveling for 30 hours via 3 international airports and I was glad to get into the first world.. Our interaction with the locals had changed from friendly people wanting either to touch all your kit or get some money to friendly people , well, just wanting to be friendly. The kiwis are a nice bunch. Kiwi Helen, who we had paddled the Modi Khola with us back in Nepal, was to be our host in Auckland and dutifully picked us up at the airport, only to break down in the middle of a major spaghetti junction intersection. Undeterred we arrived home in tow. Would this be symbolic of our New Zealand adventures? One phenomenon of traveling that is characteristic of New Zealand then its getting mobile. Within a day we had bought a “station wagon”, signed the paperwork and headed out of the big smoke for some famous kiwi paddling.

Something about boating on a tour to the premier white water spots in the world, apart from paddling the rivers you have dreamt about, is the people you meet. I’m not only talking about the boaters you hook up with to paddle on rivers, the salt of the earth types. I’m talking about the stuff of legend, such legends you hear about at home in the magazines and in kayaking films. The first we would meet in NZ was Andy Uhl, our host for our stay in Okere falls (also providing Eskimo boats for the team paddlers!).We were stuck in the eddy so to speak dossing in his garage paddling the Kaituna by day. This is one famous river, characterized by an improbable narrow canyon of rock and vegetation nestled in the middle of farmland. Supposedly a play run, however our nerves were unsettled after meeting a paddler who, just the day before had hospitalized himself fracturing two ribs. The offending drop, an un-inspectable waterfall half way down the run requires a hard line and boof otherwise , not to put a fine point on it, ones head is nailed to the bottom of the river. I can’t talk of this run without mention of the mighty Kaituna playhole. We were not put off in our creek boats, clearing some of the highly skilled juvenile freestyle-clutter from the eddy with some high energy, creek boat loops! A taste of the exceptional play paddling in the north island had left me hungry. I would return, 'avec' playboat!

After a week in the north island we made a bee line for the south island and its creek boating opportunities, this after all was our reason to visit New Zealand. Talking of legends the next we would meet was an old friend of ours from paddling in Scotland, legend, good guy, and teacher Andy England, resident in Greymouth, nicely situated for paddling on the west coast.
Having lost Andy‘s address and number we were in a predicament how to find the ‘gland‘. This being a small town everybody seemed to know who was who. The outdoor shop knew Andy but didn’t know where he lived. We aimlessly drove around town scratching our heads. Traveling in each others face 24 hrs a day in a sometimes stressful environment requires special marital type skills, including imagination and teamwork. So it was with such qualities in mind that one of the team suggested in an almost throw away manor, ‘ I bet the liquor store will know where Andy lives!’ ( If you’ve been drinking with Andy and survived then you’ll understand the logic of this.)

After a quick round of paper, scissors, stone the loser , Porno Pete was nominated to ask the attendant the whereabouts of the gland , in a Scottish accent, with a Nepali traditional hat on. Although Porno has many good skills, his Scottish accent is not one of them. The 3 of us sniggered behind the spirit shelf as we expected Porno to make an idiot of himself...
‘Andy England?’ the attendant said
‘Yes I know Andy, one of our good customers, I’ll draw you a map to his house'

Andy had been smoked out. Good detective work I thought, know your suspect! It was great to see Andy again, Our trip was to timed well with his Christmas holidays, so without wasting any time we set off on our first road trip to Fjordland. It felt a little strange leaving the west coast when we hadn’t even done a helicopter trip yet, but more on that later!

Our plan was to do some exploratory work in Fjordland, a very mountainous, inaccessible corner of New Zealand. We had a contact in Milford Sound to go up in a scenic flight to try and spy some new rivers. The only problem being that the good weather needed to visualize the rivers from the plane meant the rivers were low. However nothing ventured, nothing gained, as there is heaps to do. It will wait for another day. The biggest problem with doing the rivers in New Zealand is the access, as there aren’t that many roads. You either need to be mega fit and not averse to humping you’re boat or rich and spend lots of money on flying. The runs that we did do were unsurpassable, including the Hollyford, the Nevis, and into Southland, the Waikaia, all class five classics

Have a break, watch some video highlights! (Low quality MPEG files):

• Colin skins his knuckles on the Nevis: MPEG video, 320 kb
• Steep action from Colin on the West Branch of the Waikaia: MPEG video, 80 kb
• Dream waterfalls, Dave on Huka Falls: MPEG video, 96 kb
• Time to relax, Dave on the Waikaia: MPEG video, 72 kb
• A loop from Greg on the Kaituna, 'retro-style': MPEG video, 128 kb
• Pete back in true form on the Hollyford: MPEG video, 232 kb
• Porno pete goes upside down kayaking on the West branch of the Waikaia: MPEG video, 472 kb

The Hollyford is a long hard run set in beautiful Fjordland scenery. With plenty of class five drops to scare you from the river, there are enough of class six drops to scare you from the bank. Typical of New Zealand the major hazard is the dreaded sieve.
The Nevis river provided us with an epic although not on the water exactly. A long committing run, with the guide book suggesting taking overnight gear in case it goes on and on onto the night. After about the first 2 hours of easier water there is an opt out, carry on downstream and you are guaranteed lots of very hard white water. Get out here and you can walk back up to the get in. The group split in two reflecting the different abilities of the group. It proved to be a long hard day as we arrived at the bottom the run taking seven hours, about as much as we could take on that type of water. However we had agreed to meet the others at the take out, surely they should be there by now, but there was no sign. As it turned out the walk out was a hilly, thorny sweaty trial, taking about 5 hours! We thought we were taking on a challenge continuing down the river...

The Waikaia proved to be another highlight. Dropping at 80 meters a kilometer for 5 kilometers this was some of the steepest stuff around. It was the scene of my pinning and subsequent swim. I was pinned backwards down a drop with a rooster of water over my chest, my lips like a funnel to get to the air. Luckily I was able to launch myself from the boat and carry on down the river. Rather unsettling at the top of a another long and committing run. There would be more fish action from the rest of the Slug team, to be revealed!

After the trip it was time to head back to Andy England’s for our Christmas which would be spent cooking steak and playing on the Arahura. Not a bad way to celebrate I thought to myself. It was time for a bit of reflection before the helicopter trips would start in earnest after the New Year. We spent New Year at Murchison, traditionally the place for paddlers to gather at this time. A large and rather ugly party ensued.
With the first few weeks of paddling in New Zealand over, my thoughts drifted back to Nepal. Its funny how time changes your perspective, instead of the dirt and poverty the amazing runs out of the Himalayas were now in the forefront of my mind.

The slug team is Colin Aitken, Greg Nicks, Dave Kwant and Peter Kyriakoudis.

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