Optimistically I gave myself a 5/10 – like I said Optimist!
Four times I’d previously been through the gorge and the last time I was on this stretch of water I was held up unexpectedly for some time and I fought to push those memories away telling myself it would be a-ok.
Rock Garden rapids (of which there are four) are famous for - well- their reputation to pick up paddlers, chew them up and spit them out – sometimes with themselves and/or their boats in pieces...so it’s always good to get these out of the way.
Rock Garden 2 had a blind drop which I went a little too right of centre and ended up in some of the biggest waves I’ve been in a long boat before...once through my legs were literally shaking! Rock Garden 3 I found the most technical of the day with some weaving to and fro to be had – dropping down into a big hole was a highlight (not lol) and although if you’d asked me earlier if I knew how to brace it would have been an emphatic no....well the brace I supposedly didn’t possess stopped me from taking a swim and I just kept on paddling to my exit point.
The rest of the trip was straight forward although when asked I would say it was a very average trip for me – ghosts of coast past came to haunt me that day– despite almost being laughed off the river when pointing out my ‘accident’ location...of course the river was running entirely different that day – not the benign, blink and you miss it corner that presented itself.
How many kayaks CAN you fit on one vehicle!?
Well avergae it may have been but as they say a dry run is always a good run, so perhaps its River Tanwhai 1 Ruth .5 !
Keep ya posted!