Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Bird creek packrafting

We faithfully followed Cody up to the lower canyon of Bird Creek. It was the last week of October, getting cold but perfect conditions for a low water run. Everyone nailed the drops. Zero swims with 4 people.

New Zealand


The pinnacles, Coromandel

We flew over to Auckland from Sydney and spent the remainder of our trip on the North Island. Rain was certainly a factor: our plan to climb mt. Taranaki was completely foiled. We saw some new and beautiful parts of the country. The incredibly unhelpful information center staff tried to convince us not to do the Tongariro crossing, so we did the more difficult Ngauruhoe climb instead and had a perfect day in the mountains. We discovered that Karangahake gorge makes for a perfect packraft whitewater run, and explored some of the coastline with our boats. Overall a fantastic trip south.


Tongariro trail with Ngauruhoe


Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu


Steam vent on top of Ngauruhoe


Ruapehu, tallest mountain on the N. Island


Ohinemuri river


Ohinemuri river
video of our paddling here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEun1_WH7No


Bridal veil falls near Raglan


Cathedral cove