WAIKAIA RIVER, SOUTH ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND, SEPTEMBER 2024

Rob Kierans

During a brief warm and rainy period at the end of the New Zealand winter, several creeks in the South Island came out of hibernation. The Waikaia was one of them. Flowing from the Garvie Ranges, the river is renowned for having several sections of steep, clean Class V falling at 60m/km surrounded by native beech forest. On a cold and rainy Saturday morning, a group of paddlers consisting of Rory Allardice Sam Watson, Guy Genge, David Williams, and Rob Kierans met at Piano Flats. After checking the levels on the online gauge and inspecting the take-out, the river flow seemed perfect, so the group geared up and started the drive up the gravel access road to the put-in. After 15 minutes of paddling, the first significant rapids came up…

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Kayak Session (Digital) - 1 Issue, Winter 2024

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