West Coast, NZ: The Wangapeka

Think lush, green temperate rainforest. Add recent rain, a hungry-for-paddling team and (finally) some free time... And you have a deal. In March, amongst our busy stretch of teaching kayaking, we managed to escape to the Westport. In all honesty, there are possibly better places to escape, but on the back of some rain and rumours of some pretty fun paddling, we headed over for the day.

Picking up Mr, Matty Coles - our Westport tour guide, and in between driving shifts - we planned our day. A Wangapeka in the morning, a Ngakawau in the afternoon, then back to Murchison that evening.  Too easy! 

The Wangapeka came to easy fruition. It is a short journey north of Westport, and then a short walk (30 minutes or so) along an old mining trail to the put-in. The Wangapeka is a bit of a local staple, keeping people honest and inspired between dry spells. The river needs rain. It's a sweet Class III-IV trip, runnable at a range of water levels and tucked into classic West Coast bush. There were five of us: Matt, Rata, Soph, Daan and myself.

All Photos//Daan Jimmink.

 The walk-in follows an old mining trail.

 At some point during the walk-in, the trail changes sides of the river!

 Everyone needs a local. Enter Matt Coles. We miss you!

 Girls on the mission... Soph and myself.

 Classic West Coast rain-run colours.

 Soph steezin' it up.

Colesy on a hot date with his Nomad.  

Rata... What is that?

The Wanagapeka was a good little mission... Happy days! Jess.

We are pleased to bring you Issue #4 of Dreaming of Whitewater. This issue is a bit later than expected, we have had a really busy summer. We hope that you enjoy this issue - we have had a lot of fun shooting pictures and putting it all together.  In this issue you will find. The Crooked River, New Zealand Chelan Gorge, WA, USA Rolling Gear to carry in your rescue vest Rogers Creek, BC, Canada And of course some of our favourite shots in the Gallery section.

Click here to view Issue #4 in High Res Click here to view Issue #4 in Lower Res (Faster Download) We value your thoughts, feedback and support so please get in touch with us. We are always looking for more ideas! Please help us share Dreaming of Whitewater with more people by clicking "Like" on Facebook  And finally, a big thankyou to everyone who has helped us out during this issue... The people we have paddled with, recreated with, taught with and stayed with; those we free-loaded from, travelled with, used internet from and everyone in-between, to help bring Issue #4 to the world!  Happy paddling, Daan Jimmink and Jess Matheson CEO's, Editors, Gophers, Photographers and Stunt People.