Clarence River Expedition!

Date: Mon' 24th- Fri 28th October
Location: Clarence River
Weather: Fine and sunny on the first day, Cloudy for the rest.
Duration: 5days
Grade: 2+
Flow: Medium
Group Members: Orec group 1 and 2

Had an amaaazing time on the Clarence river rafting and kayaking for 5days. Every day was such a good day and each night had sweet meals cooked. Had a roast on the last night cooked with the dutch ovens which was really good. We had to treat the tutors like they were clients so they could just lay back and enjoy us being the guides. The whole trip ran really smoothly and we all had an awesome time!

Raft-Personal

Date: Tuesday 11th October
Location: Milltown Gorge
Weather: Rain, windy
Duration: 3hrs
Group members: Me, Sara, Adrian, Kieran, Luke, Greg, Rata, Phil, Jacob, Martijn, Astrea
Flow: Med-high
Grade: 2+
Incidents: Martijn swam once but no biggie.

Sweet day Rafting and kayaking. Had a big group of us head down Milltown. Half kayaking and the rest Rafting. Me, Sara, Kieran, Martijn, Astrea and Adrain were rafting and the others kayaking. Flow was pritty high today so it made the waves and holes a bit bigger and more fun. Tried surfing the raft in a fun play wave but never really pulled it off. The others in the kayaks were playing in it for a while so we stopped there for a bit and had a break. The rest of the paddle is pritty much a loong run out so we cruized down the rest of the river. Goood Day.

Kayak-Personal

Date: Saturday 8th October
Location: Arnold
Weather: Cloudy
Duration: 2.5hrs
Group members: Me, Kristie and Luke

Had another cruizy paddle down the Arnie. No incidents etc, just a fun day on the arnbeeezie.

Raft-Tech'

Date: Tuesday 4th -Fri' 7th October
Location: Murchison. (Mangles, Lower Matakitaki, O'Sullivans-Earthquake)
Weather: Drizzle on the first day then fine
Duration: 4 days
Group Members: Orec Group 2, Tutors- Koryn Gould, Southy, Philly J.
Grade: 2-3/3+
Key learning: River rescue skills, Guiding, flipping the raft.
Incidents: Robbie wrapping our raft on the Lower Matakitaki.

Headed up to Murch for the week and stayed at the campsite for two nights. 1st day we set up camp and then went to the Mangles River to do rescue scenario's. Pracised V lower (tethered swimmer), live bait, strong swimmer rescues then headed back to camp. We had dinner, debriefed and then went to bed. Next morning we woke up and headed to the Lower Matakitaki River. I was TL for the day so i organised raft crews etc then headed out on the river. Robbie was up first as guide in our raft and he managed to wrap the raft on the 1st main rapid and had to get the other crew to help us pull it off. Carried on down the river and practised tethering the raft and soon after practised the stabilization line. Got to the last knarly rapid which looked like a grade 3+ so we were all quite nervous about running it. There was a high possibility of screwing up but no-one did which was a relief so all went well. Got off the river, headed back to camp, debrifed my TL and the day then went to bed. Next morning we left to get to the put-in at O'Sullivans. I guided down our self guided misile raft and also Ariki rapid and Gunslinger the next day. It was good to guide down higher grade rapids. The rest of the trip was sweeet! We camped out just before the Earthquake section and the next day had a pritty cruizy paddle out. Awesome week! had a real good time.

Kayak-Personal

Date: Saturday 1st October
Location: Arnold
Duration: 2-2.5 hrs
Weather: Cloud and drizzle
Group members: Jimmy, Kristie and Raymi

Hadn't been paddling for about three months since this Arnie trip so it felt good to get back in a kayak after a while off. Seemed like my skills had got better rather than worse which was good. Just your usual fun river river trip down the Arnie so Sweet day.

Raft-Tech'

Date: Friday 30th September
Location: Arnold
Weather: Partly cloudy but mainly fine.
Duration: 1 day
Group Members: Orec Group 2
Key Learning: Throw bagging, general guiding skills-catching eddies etc, Safety and paddle briefings in the morning.

Headed to the Arnie again for the last day of the week. In the morning i gave a safety briefing to my group which all went well then Keiran took over and gave the paddle talk. Everyone had a go at guiding. My strokes were getting alot better but didn't have too much problem catching most of the eddies. Stopped at lunch spot and we did throw bagging. My first attempt was shocking because i rushed it and didn't think about my stance etc but my 2nd throw was on the dot. Although more practise will make perfect. headed on down the river to the take-out. Good day.

Raft-Tech'

Date: Thursday 29th Sept'
Location: Grey River
Weather: Fine and Sunny
Duration: 1 day
Grade: 2-3
Flow: Medium
Group Members: Orec group 2
Key Learning: Putting our skills we learnt on the Arnie to a different river at a higher grade, Signals, Scouting lines.

Headed to the Grey River on a fine sunny day. Had heaps of fun rafting down something different. Had a go at guiding the higher grade rapids that were about grade 3. Paddle strokes needed working on but other than that not too bad. Koryn made us catch a hole and surf it which was pritty sketchy, deffinately didn't want to be falling out of the raft into the hole but everything ran smoothly. The rest of the day was just a cruizy paddle out to the take-out. Sweet Day.