Andy: Our first heli-boating trip! Many of the good rivers in New Zealand don't have road access - so there are only two options: walk or fly to them. Being the lazy type, we chose to fly. Today's run was was the Toaroha, a small rain fed river 30k SE of Hokitika. We had a big group: Ian, Steve, Wendy, Me, Andy B (from US), Kiwi Chris, Peter Kettering, and Stephan (German friend of Peter).
The helicopter was not quite the jet powered heli we're used to flying while heliskiing. This thing is a small, 800 pound lawnmower with a 3-seater bubble. I'm surprised it can lift 3 people and kayaks! There was no long safety lecture like in the U.S., just jump in and go - but be careful that you don't burn yourself on the exhaust pipe on the way out!
The pilot has a bit of a sense of humor, as evidenced by the ad he placed in the New Zealand Whitewater Guide (keep in mind this is a 3-seat-giant-sand-fly heli)
| "Stretch out in the spacious surrounds of the Schweiser 300. Enjoy the unlimited views and in-flight service, direct communication with the pilot, self baggage loading and retrieval, courtesy visits to the flight deck, only three people per seat row and award winning commentary on local rivers and speculation of your longevity." |
The river was mostly a class 3-4 run (but very steep for the grade at 100 fpm), with one long (400 yard) 4+ rapid. And best of all? The weather cleared for most of the day! We actually got a little New Zealand sun. So it can be sunny down here. Of course, by the time we got off the river it was raining again.
And speaking of NZ sun... the ozone layer is super thin here (thanks to all of us North Americans), so burn times are under 15 minutes! Lots of sunblock required.
Wendy: What an amazing day! Sunny in the morning, making for a beautiful flight up the river valley to our put in. The river was very steep for it's grade, a typical class 3 gradient is 20-40 feet per mile (over a mile the river drops 20-40 feet); this one was over 100 feet per mile, one rapid after the next. Definitely one of my harder rivers to date, even with my portage of the 4+ rapid.
My face mask came in handy today. I tipped on an easy boulder garden rapid, and my face and shoulder dragged along some rocks. I flipped again on a bigger rapid, and this time I went into a huge hole. And then it got exciting. I scraped over rocks again, and as I struggled to get my paddle set up to roll, my kayak got sucked off my body! When I surfaced again, my boat was 10 feet down stream, and I was still holding my paddle in the roll set up. I quickly switched into swim mode, and got to the side of the river. Keep in mind it was 45 degrees outside, and the water even colder than that....not a good day for a swim. Brrrrr. My helmet and face mask were dinged up, making me thankful that I had them on. Poor Peter really earned his money being our guide today. He was there in a flash to help me to the side of the river, with a raised anxiety level I'm sure as he watched me drop into the hole. Sigh..
A breathtaking flight up the river valley
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Self portrait in the heli bubble
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It's a giant sandfly... or a piston-powered, 3 seater lawnmower with a bubble.
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The last 100 yards of one of the larger rapids of the day (the actual rapid was much longer)
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Steve, finishing up the biggest rapid
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