Trip participants: Duncan "Toast Master" McEwan, Howard "the Pom", Megan "Shuttle Bunny" Dymond; Mark "Bung Twista" Lynch.
Megan and I were on to a good thing on this trip. Since we were taking our car we were able to decide on the meeting place. We decided on a spot in Tawa just a couple of minutes drive from Megan's place. So while Duncan was wiping the sleep out of his eyes driving to pick up Howard, I was lying in bed, half awake, wondering whether or not to get up.
The drive to Shannon didn't take too long. We stopped briefly in Paekakariki for Howard to pick up the club Kendo and again in Otaki for Howard to relief himself. A short while later we were speeding along a freshly graded gravel road to the Mangahao dam. Half way there we stopped for a look at the view and to check the boats. They seemed pretty solid so we hopped back in the car, and then waited for Howard - again. Before long we arrived at the get-in. Fortunately we were the only car there and had passed just one other shuttle car on the way in. It was strange being on the Mangahao with just two other paddlers. Normally you would have to wait 20 minutes for the mass of paddlers and rafts to disperse. But as we were putting our spray desks on in the eddy the only thing we had to wait for was ... Howard ... doing yet more watering! I was a bit worried about him. That was the third time in an hour. Either he had had a lot to drink, or was very apprehensive.
The first few rapids are not particularly exciting, but are a good warm up for the gorge section that follows. Before long we caught up with the only group in front of us, at the first of the gorge rapids. The mossy banks were slippery, as I nearly found out while trying to edge around the bank for a closer look. Not really worth the risk - if you hurt yourself on this river, walking out isn't a feasible option. As I was getting back into my boat a member of the first group paddled the rapid and proved that far right was a reasonable line.
Ten minutes or so later we were all in the eddy below, with a two metre drop just down stream, that was very difficult to scout. There were no eddys on river left, and river right, where we were was an overhanging cliffy bit. The only way to see the bottom of the drop was to squeeze between some logs that were jammed at the top. It looked like there may be a line on hard left, with another option being about two metres out from the right bank where it seemed like it might be a little less sticky. I couldn't see everything in the left line, so I chose the other. At the bottom I was glad I did because the left line recirculated into a pretty mongrelly looking hole. After this, most of the following rapids were pretty uneventful. This section is very similar in character to the Hutt Gorge.
The lunch spot hole was not there because the river was a little higher than normal, but we stopped for a break anyway. Greywacke rocks cool your bum quite quickly when you sit on them too long, and since there was no play hole (and therefore no entertainment to be had watching others get trashed) we moved on.
Around this point the river widens and the valley opens up. There had been no major dramas up until this point, and as usual on this river, you get the feeling that everything will be OK since the harder rapids are behind now. The river changes from a confined gorge to an open boulder garden but with as much gradient. The first couple of rapids were not bad.
On the third one, I couldn't see a good line, so I caught an eddy and let Duncan and Howard lead the way. A few seconds later I looked over my shoulder to see Howards boat upside down with Howard bouncing over rocks next to it. Duncan and I got ourselves into an eddy and watched from where it was safe. Howard managed to climb on to a rock, but his gear was rapidly disappearing downstream. The rapid that followed was a messy and long rock stretch. As I paddled over to see if Howard needed help he shouted ``Geeet ma fuckin kit!'' as he jumped up and down on his rock and pointed frantically down stream. I paddled hard to catch up with the kendo, which fortunately had airbags in the back. It got worked in a couple of big holes for a while and almost got pinned a couple of times before I could safely approach it and push it into an eddy. Then I found a spot where I could get out of my boat and get back upstream to drain the kendo and make sure my split paddle was still inside (it was!). By this time Howard and Duncan had made their way down to where I was, and the following group of paddlers had caught up as well. With Howard reunited with his gear, we headed on.
The next couple of rapids were the last before the long flat bit to the take out. Long flat bits are really boring, so I tried to make it more exciting by trying to secretly undo Duncan's bung. It took about twenty minutes of casually paddling passed and giving it a half a twist before any amount of water started getting into his boat. At one point I thought I had been caught when Duncan said ``I hope you're not tampering with my bung Mark?''. ``What do you mean - it looks like it's in firmly to me''. ``Oh - it is to'' he said, glancing over his shoulder.
But still nothing good was happening even though Duncan was happily doing whoopie-turns, so frustration got the better of me and I managed to get the bung out completely. A short while later Duncan was doing tricks without even trying. After he realised what I had done and had finished cursing me and was draining out stacks of water from his boat I felt pretty bad. He was right in calling me a bastard. Thankfully he took it all in good humour.
We finally got to the take out. ``Awesome'' I thought, as I bounded up the bank eagerly looking out for the usual hot barbeque and the dry warm clothes. After searching for both for a while the realisation set in that neither were there. It was about an hour before she arrived, claiming that we had paddled the section much quicker than we had said we would (quite likely - with so few people on the river and a slightly higher flow). We were just grateful to finally get out of our wet paddling clothes.
It had been another excellent Mangahao Release, but somehow lacked the usual character with the huge number of paddlers, hot food at the take out and helicopters shuttling rich folk to the put in. In a few months time, when the next release happens, I hope to be there...
Mark