New Zealand Rafting Association

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1 NEWS Volume 10 - Issue 2 - May 2010 Well a couple of things seem to suggest Winter will soon be upon us firstly the water in the River is getting a little cooler and secondly all the outdoor shops are starting the snow gear sales. I guess also a lot of you will be in some far away land on a warm river working another back to back summer sounds very tempting sitting here in Dunedin wondering if I have enough fire wood to see me through this winter. For those off paddling elsewhere, I hope you have a great season. Best wishes go out to the two teams heading to the Netherlands to represent New Zealand in the Raft Racing in July. The teams who won the opportunity to represent New Zealand are the Demon Energy (men s) and Okere Girls. Good luck folks and do us proud! Sounds like the end of season trip on the Whitcombe was packed full of adventure. For those who made the trip I m sure we will all look forward to hearing more stories...for those who didn t make it I recommend you try for next seasons trip, it is an awesome chance to see a new river and spend time with some great folks. I would just like to take this opportunity to update members on the River Boarding scene. Last year the NZRA was approached by the Rivers Boarders and asked if they could become affiliate members and fall under the NZRA umbrella, this is a sign that they think we (NZRA) are on the right track. So the request was put to the Exec and the Exec decided that the River Boarders needed to provide a formal proposal to the NZRA before we could make a firm decision about the affiliation. From there we would build together a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The NZRA has still not yet received a proposal from the river boarders, however we look forward to receiving this and getting this formalized over the winter months ahead. Well that s all from me for those of us staying in Aotearoa keep warm Regards Steve Brown FROM THE EXEC For many years I worked with Raewyn, our admin/ boss lady, well she worked I advised. Because I live nearby and have her son Slee working with me in HiddenValleys I spend time at their home/office. If I stay too long she will for sure put some rafting business in front of me to make comment on. A few weeks ago I talked over with Steve, our Chairperson the idea of buying an air ticket to send Raewyn off to some rafting event or something. Slee is working in Norway this winter and Raewyn is looking at going over there. The Rafting exec has voted for the Rafting Association to assist towards her ticket in reward for all the work she does for this industry. I know for a fact she does not charge for all the time and energy she puts into this job, countless s and phone calls. She freely admits it is a passion for her. This is great for us. The industry knowledge she has gained along with her dedication and passion is so important to us now as a professional industry moving forward. I think this gesture is small reward for her efforts. The exec are acting for industry so I take this opportunity to put this proposal to industry. As a member if you have any issues with this please contact myself ( ) southy@hiddenvalleys.co.nz or Steve Brown ( ) steve@wildearth.co.nz, in confidence. Regards Southy

2 Page 2 NOTES FROM RAEWYN Hi all There have been considerable changes in the industry and I just wanted to take this opportunity to farewell a few companies and welcome some new but old faces. Firstly 2009, saw Kevin Simpson close the doors of Soulsport and Adrian Fogg has put Rivers Wild on hold for overseas interests. Norm Brown started up Mohaka Rafting this season based in Hastings. Several companies have seen additions or change of hands, Nick and Kimi Chater at Multiday Adventures welcomed Takurua Mutu on in partnership. Mark Forsyth has now taken over Family Adventures in Queenstown. Thrillseekers Canyons has seen new ownership with the Wood Scenic Line who operate other attractions such as the Gondola, Trams and Punting on the Avon. Neil Duncan is still with Thrillseekers as General Manager. After 14 years of running Buller Adventure Tours, Doc and Sandra will hand over the reins in June to Glen Collins. You will still see Doc out on the river on some occasions but they are looking forward to some free time away from the constraints of running a business. Glen is new to the rafting industry, so we welcome him aboard. Rafting New Zealand has been up and running for a couple of seasons now and we had the pleasure of Pianika and Luke hosting the AGM in their new headquarters. Other new companies to start up and come on board with NZRA are Full On, based in Christchurch. Amongst other activities they are doing ducky float trips on the Rakaia. To those who have left the industry all the best with your future pursuits, to all those new or in changed circumstances, welcome and we wish you all the best. Membership has also increased, a very welcoming move with the lowering of guide membership fees. Currently we have just over 200 members which is well up on previous years of around 120. It is important that membership numbers are higher as this gives us more weight with outside agencies such as the Wild Rivers campaign. The increased membership has come from guides renewing, raft racing and more importantly the number of companies who have come on board with an all in philosophy. Take care Raewyn

3 Page 3 UPDATE FROM MARITIME NZ The following message comes from Maritime NZ and is in result of a meeting between Southy and Catherine Taylor, CEO of Maritime. MNZ has recently made some changes to structure within the Maritime Services business unit. These changes have been made with the intent of developing sector teams people with specialization in oversight and industry advice, guidance and support responsibility for working with a particular part of the maritime industry, and functional teams those involved with certification, inspection/audit of individual operations (Maritime Safety Inspectors) and providing project advice to sector teams. Colin Sonneveld has moved into the role of Safety Advisor within the Recreational and Small Craft Team. As part of this separation he will now no longer be undertaking audit functions this will free him up to work with operating in developing and advising on Safe Operational Plans in the rafting sector, without then being in the position of auditing those Plans. Jeff Horne, who has been working with the jetboat industry in an audit and oversight role, has now taken over primary responsibility for auditing rafting Safe Operational Plans. It is intended that he will work closely with Colin to ensure that the specialist rafting expertise is available during those audits, and it is also intended that others will be trained to undertake rafting audits in the future. (It is intended that this extension of auditing beyond a single individual will lead to a reduction in cost to operators, as we intend to train people who are located close to the majority of operators and hence minimize travel costs). It is essential that audits are completed and new Certificates of Compliance are issued prior to expiry as to operate without a valid CoC is an offence. We recognize that there are good and bad times of the year for auditing, and the timing of your audit should be discussed with Jeff Horne well in advance of the expiry date. We have also changed the format of the CoCs to include a four year expiry date, and the condition that audits and inspections as required under the rules are conducted. This means that while you will still need to be audited/inspected annually, there is increased flexibility in the actual dates of audit/inspection. Investigations following an accident/incident will continue to be primarily carried out by MNZ s maritime investigators. It is common practice for our investigators to draw upon appropriate expertise when looking into specialist sectors, and we look forward to being able to access expert advice on rafting and riverboarding issues from within the NZRA. I value the role that NZRA plays in promoting safety within the rafting industry and would like to continue to build the relationship through regular meetings and discussion on issues of interest. Sharyn Forsyth General Manager Maritime Services Maritime New Zealand Wellington T M F W

4 Page 4 SERIOUSLY SOCIAL RAFT RACING I was recently invited to attend a raft race put on by the Kawerau district council here in the Bay of Plenty. I was attending on behalf of the NZRA as an executive member. I was glad to attend as it was close to home, only a 30 minute drive and it is awesome to see a raft race that is positively supported by a community. I was in the middle of a very busy few days and only had time to spend a couple of hours at the river. What I saw was a well organised, fun and positive experience for all those involved. I arrived in Kawerau at a local reserve; the race is called the Kawerau seriously social raft race. It was a stunning Kawerau day (Kawerau has some of the hottest and high sun shine hours in the country), everyone I meet was beaming, there was a lot of laughter and fun being had, mixed in with a fair bit of competitiveness as well. From the outset the race seemed very well organised; there was a fantastic display at the race briefing tent, with rules, information about rafting and some good historical info. I was introduced to a councillor who showed me around the course and gave me a brief of why the council was so keen to get this happening. He explained that they wanted to do something positive and helpful for the local community. Having some locals doing well nationally and internationally in both Raft racing and Waka Ama, plus having a nice little section of rapids right on the doorstep where national selections for both Kayak slalom and rafting had been held previously, raft racing seemed a perfect recreational race to support. Their aim is to next summer have a series that is regularly run over the summer months, so that local schools, business and social club teams can be formed and train together on a regular basis. The council want very much to facilitate this and hope to be able to run a National raft selection here in the future. The council also wish to introduce river rafting and rescue courses so teams can have more of an awareness of the river environment, river safety and rafting techniques. Teams had to compete in sprint, head to head and slalom disciplines. The teams where made up of 6 paddlers and given a guide who s job was to steer the boat only. The section is a fun and busy grade 2 section with some fantastic eddies for slalom, some good opportunities to pass in the head to head and long enough to make you work hard. Racing was tight and in the end won by a local high school team, which is fantastic. Timing and judges where on hand and I think what was most impressive was the amount of support on the side of the river cheering on the racers. All this was put on through volunteers and financial input from the council. This sort of event if it can be supported and continued is only good for developing raft racing in NZ (especially if we can get schools involved), it s something very positive at a community level and is good opportunity to promote the NZRA, rafting and our fantastic rivers. For me personally I hope this is the start of something more permanent and hope to be able to support these events in the future. Rafting can be seen not only as a competitive sport but also a great avenue for recreation, fitness and general positive experience for people. Nick Chater

5 New Zealand Rafting Association Page 5 END OF YEAR TRIP - WHITCOMBE RIVER Another year done and another river ticked off the list. Yes you can say that we had a great time, and yes you can say it s a beautiful river but the honest truth is that it was just a great time away. I know for most of the guides who came along that we don t get out often enough on to our rivers just to play and have some fun, especially on a raft. Let s be honest some more, that last statement would be true enough for most, if not all the raft guides around the country. For myself and Nick Chater, I knew we were in for a great time. Waking up at 4.30am we made our way from Rotorua to Hamilton to catch our 6.30am flight down to Wellington and on to Christchurch. I had better add here that my lovely wahine Jayne was kind enough to drive us to the Waikato and I really appreciate it, chur babe. Once we arrived in Christchurch Raewyn, secretary for the NZRA, was awesome enough to pick us up and take us with her over to Hokitika. It s been a while since I had been through Arthur s Pass and I tell you what, it never ceases to amaze how beautiful our country is. Even with a state highway just plonked right in the middle of it you can t take away the natural beauty of the cascading waterfalls trickling down the mountain sides, or the massive rock formations standing like proud warriors keeping their watchful eye over their stunning lands. The coffee at the café was great too... Ok I lie a little, they gave me the wrong coffee so it was only ok. The greeting coming down off the Kumara Junction to the coastline of the West Coast, with blue sky splashing all over as far as the I can see, is about the welcome you can get. I can t even start to explain how lucky we were with the weather, for the whole weekend in fact, and this is the West Coast. We meandered our way in to Hokitika in the late afternoon and the first priority to find a bed for the night. Simple task usually but it took four tries before we eventually found a place to accommodate us. We were also lucky enough to be accompanied by Brian Megaw and one of his guides Derek, from River Valley who made the daunting and massive drive all the way from their home base to Hokitika in one day, that there is dedication my friends We had a choice night just hanging out in Hokitika with a couple of brews, a bit of food and of course the obligatory weekend rugby to watch on the box. It was great to catch up with old (not literally) faces and also some new ones. Before long though it was time to head back to the motel and grab some kip, we had a river to explore come morning and I couldn t wait! I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve who sits in bed tossing and turning, getting frustrated with the anticipation of waiting for morning to come so I can open that present that mum got me. Meeting up with the in the morning we convoyed up to the Whitcombe Valley ready to unwrap Santa s gift. A couple of un-mentionable hurdles later and we arrive at the take out where we patiently(?!?) waited for the machine to fly us up to the start of today s adventure. With lads and lasses hailing from a few different places the bulk of the crew came from the coast and a large crew from UD with the addition of a couple of Southy s and Peel Forest lads making the trip over and even Laura Cashmore, one of the Tai Poutini Polytech students made the effort to come and join in the fun. As the chopper landed, I felt as if I had just taken the bow of my present. It really was like a little tease.

6 New Zealand Rafting Association Page 6 END OF YEAR TRIP - WHITCOMBE RIVER (cont d) Gear packed and loaded up, we clamber aboard the machine and made our way up the valley. As if peeling away the different layers of the wrapping paper, I couldn t help but look out the window and get more and more excited for what the day had in store for us. You know, everything looks so much smaller from high above. I could have sworn that the rapids that we flew over were more like gentle ripples somewhat like the ones created from a skipping stone on a river. After much debate with the left and right sides of my brain, the right side eventually won. I decided that we must have flown up a different valley. It turns out the left side was right. With five boats, and of course Brian s awesome cata-raft, ready to hit the water, the first three rafts pretty much hit the water running, crews off and ready to go. The rest of us eventually worked out a couple of groups and we followed our way in, but yet somehow ended up at the front. The next couple of conversations before we hit the rapids were pretty amusing. First question; Who wants to guide? This was followed with an awkward but short silence. Second question; Well why not? No awkward silence here. This was an easy answer. Who really wants to guide a raft FULL of guides? I drew short straw which honestly I was more than happy with. There s nothing like hitting a river for the first time. It s even better when the rapids are of the caliber that the Whitcombe is, and it s even better still when you get to guide the boat down too. The river trip was awesome. Starting off mellow the rapids got bigger and better as we slithered our way down the twisting and turning bends in this boulder garden river. This is the point in the story where I tell of the funny anecdote of one of the events of the trip. Of course it had to happen to me as well, and I know if I don t mention here I ll get more stick then I ve already copped. So here it goes, after having a pretty smooth sweet trip we arrived at a fairly easy rapid with a wide entry in and sweet little drop out. In my complacency while admiring the view, and of course with everyone watching, I went off line a little and to cut a long story short I flipped. First flip of the day and of course, quite rightly so, first fine of the day too. We did flip straight in to an eddy and we were back up right pretty quickly. Ah well, that happens. Things were a bit different for the lead boat, they also flipped but bit of a different situation. It definitely wasn t into an eddy and people definitely weren t laughing like the first flip. In saying that the result was fine, everybody finished with no injuries and absolutely sweet. But the way Slee was running down the river side yelling Mum!!! Mum!!!! Hold on Mum!!! Come on boys, this is real!!! Mum, just hold on!!!, you could ve have mistaken it for the world ending. But in all honestly, I would ve been the same had that been my mum, and the way the guides jumped in to action showed why New Zealand Raft Guides are so revered around the world. After a portage rapid and then some more fun on river we eventually made it to the take out. How rude would it be to not stop somewhere for a drink or two? So we made our way to the Kokatahi (a.k.a. Cockatie) Pub for some good ol southern hospitality, a few ales and a mean feed cooked up by the lads. It was quite nice to chill at the pub here and it was the moments that followed, like just sitting with Brian, Nick and Raewyn,

7 Page 7 END OF YEAR TRIP - WHITCOMBE RIVER (cont d) spinning a few yarns, downing a few drinks and watching a good game of footy on the big screen that really made the weekend so special. To cap the whole experience off, Nick and I decided to not rush back home, but instead head in to Christchurch, chill out by the Avon river with a great local band playing mellow tunes as we sipped our drinks and ate our dinner. The Whitcombe River in my opinion was just fantastic. But what made the whole NZRA end of year trip was the weekend as a whole. As I m sure (or at least hope) it s been a busy SKILLS ACTIVE NEWS year for everyone in our industry and as the season starts to wind down friends start to head off overseas to live the endless summer and a full on year of throwing people down Awa (that s Maori for river ) all around Aotearoa comes to a close, for Nick and I it was a no brainer to get ourselves down to the West Coast and hit just one of the magnificent and picturesque rivers that are on offer here. The experience was awesome, but hanging for the weekend with my bro, priceless. (Sorry about the cheese) Takurua Mutu FOOTNOTE: It has to be said here that Mum has had some of the best ie: Southy, Big Water Bob, PaulE that have been under pressure over the years not to let me swim! Not mentioning any names, but I will say that it was another North Islander at the helm at the time. Not the nicest of swims, but it was a much appreciated effort by the 21 guides there to save my butt! Go to Brian Megaw has put together some awesome video footage of a great day, thanks Brian! Hi Everyone, My portfolio this year is with Skills Active, ( SFRITO has a new name). This basically covers most things to do with our awards. There are defiantely a few things happening so it's great to have an opportunity to pass on an update to you all. Rescue Unit: We are pretty much finished with seperating out a river rescue unit from our rafting units. The idea behind this is to make the river rescue content available to other river users. River boarders may well choose to include it in their guide awards, perhaps kayakers will find it useful etc. This change will not affect raft guides. The things you need to know are still the same, therefore the things you will be tested on are still the same! We've just split it up in to seperate units so that others can access the information. Currency: Please write in and let me know if you have ideas or thoughts on this topic. The outdoor industry as a whole is moving towards having a currency component to their awards. We need to also in order to stay up to Industry Standards. Currently your guide award lasts for life. We are looking at requirements for currency. Examples may be things such as showing evidence that you are still up to standard, showing evidence of a certain number of logged trips within a certain period of time, attending workshops or other documented in -house rescue training every few years etc etc. It needs to be VERY easy for those guides who are current to provide evidence. Ideally as simple as an in-house Assessor signing you off every 3 years or so - they see you at work so it wouldn't usually require a test! Please give thought to this issue and write to me with ideas! Thankyou. Assessments: The other area to address is Assessments. It seems that access to Assessors/assessments has been an issue this season. We are working on this with Skills Active and hope to make things smoother from now on. That s the update from the Skills Active portfolio. I hope you all had a great season. I ve just arrived in California after finishing the season in Chile. It was another amazing season down there with everything from very high to very low water. California is a teaching contract teaching river rescue and technical rope rescue to everyone from Guides to Firemen and Police. Really fun and a good challenge for sure! I ll be home in the first week of July and plan to be in NZ through our next summer. Can t wait to get home and try to learn how to ski!!!! In the meantime I m on-line so please write and let me know your ideas especially on Currency. See you all soon, cheers, Rach

8 Page 8 RIVERS WILD The Wild Rivers Corner. Dam it! Lots going on here, I hardly know where to start, let alone what to write, as there is so much going on out there in this neck of the woods. Well here we go. Its time to stand up and help New Zealand s rivers where ever you can as they need our help if we want then to stay wild, scenic and free flowing! There is a major push for Hydro Electricity in NZ at the moment. This means our rivers are under a huge amount of threat from national and international companies wanting to make money by damming many rivers. As I just said, it s all about MONEY and making lots of it from you! (You pay your power bill, this lines their pockets). There are the spin doctors out there that say Demand is exceeding supply. That is not the main reason, the reason is there is lots of MONEY to be made from selling power. Here s an example regarding the MOKIHINUI Dam The Mokihinui Dam is completely unnecessary. Two recently consented hydro schemes on the West Coast - the Stockton Plateau scheme and the Dobson scheme, provide more than enough electricity to meet the West Coast's needs. Supplying reliable electricity to the region was a key platform of Meridian during the Consent hearing, and one of the key reasons for approving the scheme. Exert from wild rivers web site. The big push with the Mokihinui was there is not enough power on the Coast for the Coast and this will solve the problem. This was the key point Meridian Energy used to persuade the councils to approve the dam. Please check out the wildrivers.org.nz website to read more on this dam proposal. Some great news on this front is that DOC and Forest and Bird are appealing the decision, which will help keep the fight on the anti damming side of the Mokihinui River. The Mokihinui is a river I raft commercially and recreationally enjoy. If the dam goes ahead, please take the time out and paddle this river, before it is gone. It is one of the most beautiful native bush clad rivers around. Unique! The main branch is a great class 3-4 white water section. On the North Branch, it has nonstop class 4+ for about 8 km. (you need water for the North Branch) Ok moving on from the Mokihinui, there are a lot of other rivers under threat, all of the following rivers are under the eye of the developers Matiri River, Kaituna River, Mohaka River, Motu River, Hurunui River, Toaroha River, Taipo River, Waitaha River, Nevis River, Matakitaki River, Ngaruroro River, Kakapotahi River, Clarence River. Well! So what can you do? This is the big question and it means you have to actually pick up a pen or type on your computer and physically do something. Not just sit around and mourn about it. If you don t write or submit your thoughts or feelings, the developers think you support the development. And they (the developers) do say at the hearings, those who don t oppose must in support of the development.

9 Page 9 RIVERS WILD (cont d) Ok, what to do. Lobby your local MP, lobby our Prime Minister, and lobby the minister of DOC. Doc has generally been good at supporting the rivers at the hearings I have been too. So keep at them to help keep our rivers natural and free flowing. Submit against the dam proposals or you wont get heard. (Mind you, you could sit outside the hearing with a banner). You don t have to physically stand up in court. Just let your pen and signature be counted. It helps! You can join Wild Rivers as an individual, or join Forest and Bird. These groups are proactive and need as much support as possible. You can set up your own community action group; groups seem to have more sway than the individuals. Get out there, read up about what s going on in your region and help save our rivers for future generations to come. Dams are not renewable and they are destructive to the fragile eco systems that live in our waterways. Stand up and be heard. All the best for your winter, or northern summer. Tim Check out the Wild Rivers website. HAVE YOUR SAY! There is an easy link to lobby MP s at

10 Page 10 RESULTS - NZ R4 SELECTION RACE FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN NETHERLANDS The Official National Selections Race for the R4 world championships was held at Buller Festival in Murchison in early March. A special thanks should go to Tim Marshall for putting together a very well run event and to the Buller Festival committee for allowing us to tag along with Buller Festival. Also thanks to Todd Jago and his polytech students, along with all the Ultimate Descents staff for their help with setting up the course and dismantling, judging and time keeping. And to Todd and Emerson Wyman with their effort to kayak and keep up with the men s teams in the final event. There were three men s teams, two competitive teams from the North and a team from the South. There was only the one competitive team for the woman, but thanks goes to the woman s team who were thrown together at the last minute to give them some competition. The men s racing was extremely close with it all down to the Down River Race, which was a full on 40 minutes of paddling. Congratulations to the winning teams: Demon Energy team of: Lance Roozendaal, Johann Roozenburg, Andy Fuller and Bradley Lauder Okere Women s team of: Buba Martin, Kelly Wood, Sarah Uhl and Heidi Verhagen We wish them all well in their quest to getting to and competing at the World Championships in Netherlands in July. Results: N Z R 4 R A C E S P O I N T S T A B L E & F IN A L P L A CI N G P O IN T S T A B L E M E N S T EA M T I M E TR IA L H E A D 2 H E A D S L A L O M D O W N R IV E R 1 O k e re B o y s D e m o n E n e rg y W es t C o a st D N S 47 4 T O T A L M EN S F IN A L P LA CI N G N A M E PO IN T S 1 s t D e m o n E n e rg y n d O k e re B o y s rd W e st Co a s t 4 74 P O IN T S T A B L E W O M EN S TE A M T IM E TR IAL H EA D 2 H EA D S L A L O M D O W N R IV ER T O TA L 1 O k e re G irls K a itia k i A ng e ls D N S D N S D N S D N S 0 W O M E N S FI N A L P L A C IN G N A M E P O I N T S 1 s t O k er e G irls n d K a itia k i A n g e ls

11 Page 11 RESULTS - NZ R4 SELECTION RACE FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN NETHERLANDS (cont d) 1 st 100 POINTS 2 nd 88 POINTS 3rd 79 POINTS TIM E TRIAL M ENS TEAMS N AM E START FINISH P LACIN G POIN TS TIME TIM E 1 Okere Boys st Demon Energy nd 88 3 W est Coast rd 79 W OMENS TEAM S NAME START FINISH TIM E PLACING POIN TS TIM E 1 Okere G irls st Kaitiaki Angels st 200 POIN TS 2 nd 176 POIN TS 3rd 158 POIN TS MENS H EAD 2 H EAD Okere Boys 1 st VS Demon Energy 2 nd : W INNER Okere Boys W OM ENS Kaitiaki Angels1 st VS Oke re G irls 2 nd : W INN ER Okere Girls POINTS TABLE DOWN RIVER RACE 1 st nd 352 3rd 316 M ENS TEAM TIME PLACING POINTS Okere nd 352 Boys Demon st 400 Energy West Coast DNS 0 W OM ENS TEAM TIM E PLACIN G POIN TS Okere Girls st 400

12 Page 12 RESULTS - NZ R4 SELECTION RACE FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN NETHERLANDS (cont d) SLALOM R4 RACES RUN MENS TEAM START TIME G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10 G11 G12 TIME TOTAL TIME 1 st West Coast nd st Demon Energy nd st Okere Boys nd RUN WOMENS TEAM START TIME G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10 G11 G12 TIME TOTAL TIME 1 st Kaitiaki Angels nd 1 st Okere Girls nd PLACINGS NAME TIME POINTS MENS 1 st Demon Energy nd Okere Boys rd West Coast WOMENS 1 st Okere Girls nd Kaitiaki Angels