Last minute New Zealand!

The end of 2015 was great for British boating. I think I had around ten weekends in a row kayaking around the country. After a relatively dry January and February myself and Adam Ramadan decided to take a last minute trip to New Zealand...

We escaped the final onslaught of the British winter to capture the end of the New Zealand kayaking season. Both of us have been to New Zealand before so we chose to spend part of this trip kayaking and the rest of the time exploring the country on motorcycles.

The Golden Coast

Most of the kayaking we did was on the classic North Island rivers such as the Kaituna and Wairoa. However we managed to sneak a run down the Moawanga Falls and a cheeky waterfall we found in the Tongariro National Park called Tawhai Falls.

Adam scouting Tawhai Falls

Adam approaching the lip of Tawhai Falls

I have not yet managed to paddle Huka Falls, which is one I would really like to. Due to the time we had and the huge levels that it was running at, this was again not possible. One day….

Huka Falls at a very chunky level

New Zealand is an amazing country for outdoor adventure. I can never seem to spend enough time there. Even though the water levels were regarded as low on some of the rivers they were still great fun and a lot better than what was on offer back home at that time of year. I would normally aim to go earlier than March but time off work and money had to coincide.

Me on Moawanga Falls

A last minute trip to a country 12,000 miles away is a strange concept. We booked the trip less than two weeks before leaving. Even with such short notice we were able to sort out everything we needed for an amazing trip. It did help having been before and having several contacts out there. A big thanks to our bro Jack Atkinson for letting us descend on him and his family at the last minute.

Me on Tutea Falls on the Kaituna River

It was hard coming back to the UK but with Spring now here and the start of the European kayaking season things are starting to get exciting again!

Report by Matty Nicholas

Photos by Matty Nicholas and Adam Ramadan