After three solid days of boating on the Whitcombe and Waitaha rivers we decided on a day of rest hanging out at Fatty's bach in Punakaiki. Yup we must be getting old.
Bit of recreational couch burning
Mean view to wake up to camping at lake Mahinapua
The next day we were feeling rested and refreshed so following Daan's suggestion we headed to the Toharoa river. The Toharoa was our only viable option as we had run out of money for helicopters. Daan told us that it was about a 3 hour walk up a tramping track to a big slip. Once at the slip we would be able to access the gorge. The gorge should contain around 3 hours of mostly runnable whitewater before we ended up at the top of the regular run. 3 hours of walking for 3 hours of paddling sounded fair enough.
Just follow the orange markers...
Knowing how South Islanders have a penchant for walking fast and paddling slow we allowed 4 hours to walk in to the river and 3 hours to paddle to the takeout. We started walking at 11am finally put onto the river at 4.45pm then reached the takeout at 7.45pm...
Finally reached the slip!
Fatty, stoked as to finally be going with the gradient
Super sweet rapids make it nearly worth the walk in
Beautiful gorge, super clear water
The Toharoa Canyon contains some sick whitewater and awesome scenery, its definitely worth getting in there!!! Especially if you love carrying your boat up hills for extended periods of time.
After we finished up on the Toharoa we had run out of money and rivers to paddle so we headed back to the Kaituna to see if we all still had jobs after randomly disappearing for a week.
