Wendy: What happens if you are a class 3+ or 4- boater, but your friends want to run a class 4+ river? What if the the only river running is that class 4+ river? You Topo Duo!! We ran the Wairoa, the dam released river that runs every Sunday. Andy and Steve ran it last week, and Andy was excited to do it again with me. It is quite a scene; since it runs every Sunday most of the north island boaters meet there to hang out.
Louis, one of the kiwis we met on the south island, knows a guy who will take people down hard rivers in a Topo Duo. Obvious question, what is a Topo Duo? It is a 2-person tandem kayak, about 12 feet long. I signed up with Blair Anderson, a local guide who loves to Topo Duo. I had butterflies in my stomach imagining how out of control we would be. First task of the day was practicing how to lean. Easy enough. Next task was to try some rolls. Yikes! Amazingly enough, we were able to tandem roll! Finally, we were ready for the run. Down we went, boofing off drops, running small waterfalls, and surfing on waves. I experienced some new sensations, too, like when I'd be at the bottom of a drop (since I was in front) and Blair would still be accelerating (in back), so I'd go deep into the hole at the bottom. There were several times when I was well past a hole but Blair was still stuck....paddle like hell and free we'd be! We got many interesting looks from the other boaters.
Of course we couldn't stop with just one run. I put in halfway down the run at the class 3 section, in my normal kayak, and Andy and I paddled the bottom. The only hitch with this is that there is a 6 foot "waterfall" at the bottom of the run. If you get sucked into the hole at the bottom of the falls, it is almost impossible to get out in your boat (translated you will swim). Poor planning on our parts lead us to not scout the drop. Instead, Andy told me where I wanted to put my boat but I misunderstood and was slightly too far left (translated I went into the swimmy hole). A few cartwheels later I pulled my skirt and swam into the big eddy at the bottom. Per Andy, I got quite a few cheers from the people in the eddy.
Wendy and Blair in the Topo Duo. The final drop of Waterfall rapid is behind us.
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Partway into the Rollercoaster rapid, the biggest rapid on this run.
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The bottom waterfall. It's an easy move if you get out into the
bubbly water in front of the hole (like we are illustrating); |