1 May 2007

This was my birthday run and a first decent located in TePuke, NZ. To get there.. drive down rd 1 in TePuke and stop in and chat to sheep farmer/kiwi orchardist Murry and Darrel ( father and son ) they'll show you where we went down into the gorge behind their house. Be prepared with ropes and gear to get your self down a couple 50 ft. faces.  They told us there were several unrunnable rapids lots of trees. They were correct about the trees.. they put them there.. the unrunable rapid part.. i dunno. there are several small class IV rapids.. ah.. class III rapids that are creeky and a little technical. This river is pretty steep and isn't as wide as a civic.. smaller in most places. We finally get down to a part of the river where we think its the flats and take off our helmets and jazz and think we're out. The walls straighten up ( zero eddies ) and a 15 footer that crept up like a wedgy. After the celebration of birthday cake falls.. you paddle out probably 2 quick miles out to # 2 rd. Total 3.5 hrs.