Rafting TTP

2013

Date: 19/02/13

Trip location: Buller- Gravel Pit

Group members: Bex, Alice, Cady, Nicola, Dylan, Jono, Jake, Watson, Ru, Lenny, Taylor, Rhys and Logan

River flow: Low

River grade: 2

Duration of activity: Day session

Weather: Fine

Incidents/injuries: None

First off we split into groups with people who had industry experience, Beginners and then the other group. I had Alice, Jake, Ru and Lenny in my group with Reefton instructing us. We went over the basics again like setting up sideways and tracking. We provided safety for each other on the first rapid which had a strainer in the middle of it. We played around on one of the rapids and jumped off a rock and swam through it. My guiding was average at the start but was better my second turn which I was happy about.

Date: 20/02/13

Trip location: Buller- Gravel Pit to Doctors Creek

Group members: Bex, Alice, Cady, Nicola, Dylan, Jono, Jake, Watson, Ru, Lenny, Taylor, Rhys and Logan

River flow: Low

River grade: 2

Duration of activity: Day session

Weather: Fine

Incidents/injuries: None

We did the same section again plus doctors getting our basic guiding skills up again. It was good going over the basics still as even though I had been guiding in summer I hadn't really been practicing them that much because it was an easy river. We set up a line to play in a wave where everybody got to body surf. We also did some throw bagging and Koryn pushed a raft down the rapid as well.

Date: 21/02/13

Trip location: Buller- Granity to Gravel Pit

Group members: Bex, Alice, Cady, Nicola, Dylan, Jono, Jake, Watson, Ru, Lenny, Taylor, Rhys and Logan

River flow: Low

River grade: 3

Duration of activity: Day session

Weather: Fine

Incidents/injuries: None

We got Lisa today. I guided granity rapid and had a good set up but couldn't turn the raft so ended up going down backwards. However it didn't actually go to bad and I stuck my line pretty well. In the gravel pit section we did a tethered raft where we had swum through the rapid. I was in the raft and we surfed it in a hole and almost lost the paddles because they weren't secured properly.

Date: 22/02/13

Trip location: Buller- Granity

Group members: Bex, Alice, Cady, Nicola, Dylan, Jono, Jake, Watson, Ru, Lenny, Taylor, Rhys and Logan

River flow: Low

River grade: 3

Duration of activity: Day session

Weather: Fine

Incidents/injuries: None

We lapped Granity today with 3 runs of it and with most people getting a go guiding. My guiding has improved quite a bit since the start of the week I just need to get a bit more confident.

Date: 2/10/13

River: Arnold River

Participants: DOIG rafting with Southy and Reefton

Duration of activity: 5.0

Incidents/Injuries: None

Practiced for assessments which were the following days. Did guding, rescues and flips.

Date: 3/10/13

River: Grey River, Gentle Annie section. Grade 3

Participants: DOIG Raft with Southy and Reefton

Duration of activity: 5 hours

Incidents/Injuries: Taylor did a shallow water dive but hit a rock with his leg and was not able to participate from then on. My guiding went well I felt but needed to get more involved in rescues but found it hard as there was a lot of people. Throw bagging also went well and my flip was ok.

Date: 4/10/13

River: Arnold River

Participants: DOIG Raft with Southy and Reefton

Duration of activity: 3 hours

Incidents/Injuries: Lost paddle in tethered raft drill

Today was a last opportunity to show our stuff. We did mainly rescues and flips. My tethered raft drill did not go so well and I need to look at things a bit better. Was quite hard with not really knowing what was wrong and the situation. My flip went well though and I got it fixed quickly. One of the flips someone did took us into trees and was slightly sketchy. I had no love for trees after the river trip where we were continuously in them.

2012

Date: 20/03/12

Trip location: Arnold

Group members: Zenzi, Breitbreger Julia Melville, Jono Irvine, Watson Green, Logan Froriep, Cory Burrows, Rob Bruce, Rhys Hillock, Hugo Reid, Ari Kingan

River grade: 2

River flow: medium

Duration of activity: day session

Weather conditions: Fine

Incidents/injuries: none

Learning points: Raft strokes, safety and paddle talk, eddying and fairy gliding

Today was our first day rafting and we started it off by taking a trip down the Arnold. When we got to the put in Baz and Koryn gave safety talks to show us how to give one. They also gave paddle talks so next time we would be able to do them ourselves. We went down the river as clients but still had a go on the guide stick. It was hard trying to learn and use effectively the new strokes and after a go at guiding I really didn't think rafting would be my thing. We rafted down pass the kayak put in and got to see a new section of the Arnold. It only had one other major rapid in which ended in a strainer but both boats got through it fine. We took out at a bridge about 20 minutes after the kayak take out.

Date: 21/03/12

Trip location: Arnold

Group members: Zenzi, Breitbreger Julia Melville, Jono Irvine, Watson Green, Logan Froriep, Cory Burrows, Rob Bruce, Rhys Hillock, Hugo Reid, Ari Kingan

River grade: 2

River flow: medium

Duration of activity: day session

Weather conditions: Fine

Incidents/injuries: none

Learning points: All things raft

We started off the morning with a talk about Raft organisation. After we headed to the Arnold where we were now in full learning mode and were no longer clients. Before we put in some of us had to give safety and paddle talks. It was interesting to see how people in the group did these talks as they each had their own way. We then got in the boats and each had a go at guiding the boat. I found it difficult to judge distances and to switch my brain over from kayak thinking to raft.

Date: 22/03/12

Trip location: Arnold

Group members: Zenzi, Breitbreger Julia Melville, Jono Irvine, Watson Green, Logan Froriep, Cory Burrows, Rob Bruce, Rhys Hillock, Hugo Reid, Ari Kingan

River grade: 2

River flow: medium

Duration of activity: day session

Weather conditions: overcast

Incidents/injuries: None

We had another talk in the morning today, this time about water features. Then again we went to the Arnold where we did more safety and paddle talks. We also did throw bagging and raft flip drills

Date: 23/03/12

Trip Location: The lower Grey River

Group members: Zenzi, Breitbreger Julia Melville, Jono Irvine, Watson Green, Logan Froriep, Cory Burrows, Rob Bruce, Rhys Hillock, Hugo Reid, Ari Kingan

Duration of Activity: Day session

River Grade: 3

Weather conditions: Cloudy then fine

Incidents/injuries: None

Learning points: How to get a raft unstuck from a rock.

Narrative: We had a long drive to reach the put in at the Lower Grey and when we arrived the sky was overcast and it was looking like a cold day. After safety and paddle talks we headed off down the river. It was quite exciting going down a different river as we had only been going down the Arnold all week. The first major rapid we got to we scouted. We thought we had a good line but as we went down the rapid we kept getting stuck. At one point we had to get out of the raft and feed it between a couple of rocks. It took us around five minutes to get down that rapid which was around 30 metres long. We carried on down the Grey and got stuck a few more times in various rapids. It was quite different from the Arnold as there were more strainers and we knew that it would harder to walk out if something happened. Still it was a fun river to go down and had bigger and more rapids than the Arnold which we all enjoyed. Towards the end of the run there was a gorge section with calm water and rock faces on each side. It was quite cool to go through as you could see how high the river got when it flooded which was very high. I guided the last bit of trip but it didn't have many rapids and they were not that big. We made it to the take out where a couple of locals had our vans ready and waiting.

Date: 27/03/12

Trip Location: Lower Matakitaki

Group members: Zenzi, Breitbreger Julia Melville, Jono Irvine, Watson Green, Logan Froriep, Cory Burrows, Rob Bruce, Rhys Hillock, Hugo Reid, Ari Kingan

Duration of Activity: Day session

River Grade: 2

Weather conditions: Fine

Incidents/injuries: None

Learning points: How to swim down the river avoiding dangers, shallow water entry, getting over strainers, moving around the river, getting onto rocks in mid flow, using eddys and river rescue.

Narrative: We started the day off with a swim down the river about 20 metres to some strainers where we had to swim around them and then to the shore. It was an interesting way to start the day. We then practice shallow water entry where we had to jump into the water between the strainers then we had to get stuck on one and get ourselves off. Koryn then had us swim down river and get up on a rock in mid flow. We then learnt how to get into eddys either by bulldozing in or by rolling in. Next we swam down a rapid where at the bottom we learnt how to do aggressive swimmer rescues which I found fun as you had to jump at the person and try to land as close as you could to them. We then made our way back up stream. Halfway back up Koryn threw a stone into the water and we were told that I had to reach in and get with the guys making an eddy above me to divert the flow. Unfortunatly I couldn't find the rock but we did manage to make and eddy which was the point of the exercise. We moved to the slower moving water above the rapid where we practiced getting a throw bag to the other side of the river so we could save a swimmer. We finished the day with a race between the two teams with who could get there raft to the top of the rapid first. We had the lead but due to an unlucky break where we couldn't get the boat around a rock we lost it and the other team won. The punishment was 20 push ups which we did while the other team watched.

Date: 28/03/12

Trip Location: Lower Matakitaki

Group members: Zenzi, Breitbreger Julia Melville, Jono Irvine, Watson Green, Logan Froriep, Cory Burrows, Rob Bruce, Rhys Hillock, Hugo Reid, Ari Kingan

Duration of Activity: Day session

River Grade: 2

Weather conditions: Fine

Incidents/injuries:None

Learning points: Vector pulls

Narrative: I was team leader today. We started at the slower moving water at the top of the rapid this time where we learnt how to do a vector pull. We then moved down stream where we removed a strainer using throw bags. We didn't think that we would be able to remove the strainer so we were surprised and happy when we had them pilled on the shore. Koryn then gave us the challenge of getting the raft into a hole halfway through the rapid. I got the task of getting to the other side of the river. It didn't look like I was going to get on the first rock but with some rock climbing skills I managed to ungracfully get myself up. After that I got to the other side quite fast. However due to bad communication we didn't quite get the boat in the hole in time but were very close. The last event of the day was another race up the rapid but this time the raft had to cross to the other side of the river and back again. Our group took the lead again and we were looking strong until someone let go of the boat. Rhys threw a throw bag and it looked like we could still win but he didn't have it tied to the raft so the boat floated down to the start of the rapid. The punishment again was push ups. When we got back to camp we had to pack up the gear boat for the multi day trip. Because I was team leader I had to orgainise it which was stressful especially since I didn't really know how to fit everything in. However we managed and by dark we were already to go.

Date: 29/03/12

Trip location: Buller

Group members: Zenzi, Breitbreger Julia Melville, Jono Irvine, Watson Green, Logan Froriep, Cory Burrows, Rob Bruce, Rhys Hillock, Hugo Reid, Ari Kingan

Duration of activity: Day session

River grade: 3

Weather conditions: fine

Incidents/injuries: Gear boat oar bent

Learning points: How to portage the rafts. Either carry them or use ropes which must be kept tight at all times. Did this at ariki falls.

Narrative: We got up early and packed everything away then headed off to the put in. We had to lower the boats down a steep drop using ropes and the trailer as a fulcrum. Logon was the first one in the gear boat with koran instructing him. There was also two other boats on had no tutor in it and the other had Baz. I was in the raft with Baz. There were also a few kayakers at the put in that we kept seeing all the way down the river. The first rapid was a fun one fulled with wave trains. We did a leap frog cover with our boat going down first then the other two boats following. We got out at one of the rapids because of a dangerous part of it that had a rope of hope in it. Baz and Koran decided that we would run it but that they would guide us which was fun for us to see the tutors doing what they are good at and it was a good learning experience. At the bottom we switched back to guiding the boat. Down one of the rapids we provided cover for the gear boat but before it came down three ultimate decent boats full of screaming girls came down first. Also two jets flew low right over us which created a deafing noise but was really cool to see. When we got to aroki falls we had a quick lunch then portaged the rafts down the falls. With the two crew boats we carried them one on either side of the falls. With the gear boat however we had to tie ropes on the front and back. We had to keep the ropes tight with no slack otherwise it could drag in the water and be pulled to the bottom. We managed to successfully portage it and then Baz and Koran told us we could swim the next part. We jumped off the rocks on the side of the river and swam down the next section. We then piled back into the boats as we were coming up to the jet boat section of the river. Luckily they had finished for the day so we the rest of the trip to camp was calm. I had the last go in the gear boat which was interesting trying to steer with the oars. When we got to camp we set up quickly and started cooking dinner. We had a fire with tea which kept the sandflies at bay.

Date: 30/03/12

Trip Location: Buller

Group members: Zenzi, Breitbreger Julia Melville, Jono Irvine, Watson Green, Logan Froriep, Cory Burrows, Rob Bruce, Rhys Hillock, Hugo Reid, Ari Kingan

Duration of Activity: Day session

River Grade: 3

Weather conditions: Fine

Incidents/injuries: None

Learning points: More time on the stick going over basics like the strokes, eddying and fairy gliding. Flip drills. Aggressive swimming to rescue ourselves and also throw bagging both in the bag and with a re-coil.

Narrative:We were woken by a very loud bird early in the morning and packed up camp resonably fast. We carried on down the river and I took over as guide down a few rapids. We talked at a rapid about a person who had almost drownt and what the guides of that trip did then threw stones/throw bags to see if we could have reached the person. My second last rapid I guided down was one where a TTP student had died. We had a talk about what we could do on this rapid if someone got a foot entrapment and how we would rescue them. We also had a serious talk about what it would be like if a person in our group got in trouble and there life was in our hands. I then had to guide down this rapid which Koran made us eddy out halfway through. We then had to paddle up the eddy/rapid to a roosters tail pretending that someone was stuck there. We were amazed that we actually got to the 'person' and it showed us that using eddies we could get up rapids to save someone. Did throw bag practice at a rapid with big wave train and also aggressive swimming to save ourselves which was fun. We did flip drills where everyone had to have a go at being guide and flipping the boat back up the right way. Koran was kind enough to make my turn right before a rapid so the pressure was on. It was going well and looked like we were going to make it until I realised the guide paddle was stuck under the raft. Luckily it did not take long to get it back and everyone was in the raft before we hit the rapid. The last bit of the trip was easy and we cruised along slowly till we reached the take around lunchtime.