As usual, we met at the gear shed on the Friday evening and after the usual amount of stuffing around we were underway. The original plan had been to camp at the tailrace of the Tokaanu hydro station. But it was forecast to rain around Taupo and when John told us that his parents had a bach at Kuratau on the western shores of Lake Taupo we figured that sounded a whole lot drier. So we agreed to meet in Turangi and from there, he would lead the way. After a short tiki-tour around Turangi as a result of John leading the way (well enough to earn the Pink Hat) we arrived at his parent's place. Most slept on the garage floor, but I'm sure they had a good kip anyway!

Saturday was Rangataiki day. Due to our stunning ability to get up and get going, we weren't on the river until after lunch.

Duncan decided to add Jeff's Joy to the list of rapids he's run backwards. After having his boat sucked off him (again!) he ended up perched like a gnome on a rock in the middle of the river. He thoroughly deserved the Pink Hat for that one. By the time we had reunited him with his gear there wasn't enough time for anyone else to run Jeffs Joy, though perhaps after seeing Duncan's mishap they no longer wanted to.

I spent the rest of the river swilling panadol. I don't recommend paddling with a splitting headache as having no desire to move tends not to be a good thing. Once off the river we headed to the "Secret Spot" for a BBQ and an hour or so soaking in the hot pools, talking about the days events and planning for the next one. We decided that the Glenroy wasn't really an option, and instead opted for the Wairoa.

The distance to the Wairoa, and the fact that we'd made tentative arrangements to meet up with Paul and Rohan there at 9:30 the next morning meant we had to head north before finding somewhere to camp. Bolke mentioned that he knew somewhere just outside Rotorua that was off the main road and would be suitable. We found the place, put up our tents and were just crawling into our sleeping bags when a nice friendly gentleman from Fletchers Forestry told us we were on private land and that if we didn't move on he'd set his dog on us. We weighed up our options and reaching a unanimous decision in record breaking time, decided to move on. We found another spot to camp at by the shore of Lake Rotorua and finally got to sleep around 1am.

We got up and got moving reasonably efficiently the next morning and actually managed to get to the Wairoa get-in at 9:29am. Not bad timing! Various members of the group decided that turning into lazy buggers sounded good. Bolke had already stayed behind in Rotorua to visit whanau; Nick figured that AMP was more important than paddling and decided to do some work that day. Stu and I decided that the surf at Mount Maunganui sounded like fun, but when we got there decided that lying around in the sun was even more fun.

Paul, Rohan, Duncan and Luke paddled the whole Wairoa section while the others went to a middle get-in and paddled from there down. I was going to tell tall tales of epics and other dramas that occurred but perhaps I'll leave that to someone who actually knows what happened (Luke was going to write about this, but he piked out, so those escapades will remain untold - Editor).

After people finished paddling and we were all together again we headed back to the Fat Dog café in Rotorua where we were reunited with Bolke, and with the Fat Dog's iced chocolates. Then it was off to the Ngaawapurua camp ground just outside Taupo. We cooked dinner and then a few of us headed to Spa Park - after a hard day lying in the sun I felt that I deserved a soak in a hot pool.

On Monday morning we were woken up at 7:30 by Nick shouting "Get up - it's pumping". He was of course referring to the surfing wave that Ngaawapurua is famous for - the flow had been too low the previous evening but now, with all those Aucklanders turning on their office airconditioners and boosting electricity demand it was just perfect. Kelly was the only one sensible enough to ignore this activity and stay in bed.

Sitting in my boat dithering about whether to venture onto the wave and risk being munched by the monster that lives underneath it, I eventually opted to watch with Alison. Everyone else had the makings of a true rodeo star with some great surfing and flat spins to be seen.

Once everyone had managed to drag themselves away from the wave, we headed south to the Tongariro to do the Access 10 section. This is a great run with few flat sections, although I suspect that in winter it could be long and cold. I found it challenging but enjoyable although I had a few swims as I discovered for myself that decks can pop!

The most amusement of the day came as we were nearing the end of the section. Halfway down a rapid Luke saw a tree that he thought looked like one at the get-out. So he got out. Luke - since when has the get-out for Access 10 (also used as the get-in for the Poutu to Red-Hut pool beginners section of the Tongariro) required catching a microeddie half way down a rapid, and then hauling your boat up a cliff and bashing through bush. After a suitable amount of abuse and laughter we headed on to the real get-out (a small sandy beach on a very flat slow moving part of the river). And what did we find? Certainly not the cars, that was for sure!

Now we weren't laughing so much. How could Luke have screwed up finding the get-out so badly? He had assured us that he knew the way. Duncan, Stu and Eaon spent a good hour or so jogging along various bush tracks and paddocks attempting to find where Luke had hidden the cars and eventually it all became clear. Luke had found the right road, but in the floods last year the road had been washed out and so no longer reached the normal car park. So it was back into our boats for a 500 metre paddle further down river (easier than carrying your boat!) to where the cars were actually parked. Luke won the Pink Hat for that effort (either for trying to get out too early on the river or for failing to recognise that he wasn't at the normal get-out when he'd parked the cars - take your pick).

Unfortunately, unless the local council decide to repair the washed out road, the Access 10 section is now a little longer and the Poutu to Red-Hut Pool section a little shorter.

The trip home was blissfully uneventful. Dinner at the Brown Sugar café in Taihape was yummy. If you weren't on the trip ... well ... you missed out!

Andrea.

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