whanganui river journey with own kayaks

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    Posted: 09 Dec 2015 at 2:36pm
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Hi there, I´m a real newbie, looking for some advice from the experienced kayakers here:
My husband and I are quite new to kayaking and kayak fishing and we would like to do the whanganui river journey this Dec or Jan as we read it seems to be quite an appropriate river for beginners.
However, it seems that most people are doing the journey with rented canoes, sometimes kayaks and we are not really sure if our kayaks and level of experience is good for the entire journey to do it on our own. We are prepared to get wet of course, but I´d just like to make sure we are not planning something silly that turns out to be not feasible or dangerous.
So I´d appreciate your thoughts...

Our equipment: 2 single sit on tops (Cobra navigator) without rudder. We have A-hedges, so I guess there should be enough storage room for the trip)

Our experience:
We bought our Cobra Navigators about 1.5 years ago and haven´t been exposed to Kayaking before. With these kayaks we only paddled on our own so far and only on slow rivers without any rapids (e.g. lower Taieri), on lakes (e.g. Lake Dunstan, Lake Mahinerangi), and a bit on the sea (Aramoana spit, Murderers beach, Long Beach), close to the shore in calmer conditions. We practiced re-entering our kayaks on a calm lake, but not in flowing water or on the sea.
We have also done a guided 2days sea-kayaking trip in doubtful sound and an unguided 3day sea kayaking trip in the Abel Tasman from Tata Bay to Marahau, both with a hired double sea kayak. Abel Tasman one was also under very calm conditions, but we had a good safety briefing incl. wet exit practice.  

Based on our Kayaks (and the described level of experience I wonder if you are able to rate which sections of the Whanganui journey you would recommend or not recommend to us. I read that you read some more experience for the first day, a bit less for the second and not really any for the last 3, but not sure what "some experience" means and how it works out with our own kayaks.

I also wonder if you have additional tips for arranging transfer from the end to the starting point for people who are not booking a whole package with canoes. I especially wonder if it makes sense to leave our kayaks at Pipiriki, take a jetty or shuttle back to our starting point and then pick the kayaks up later with our own car.

And last but not least: if you also have some fishing tips for the journey that will be much appreciated :-D

Cheers




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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote FarmerBrowne Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Dec 2015 at 7:18pm
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My wife and I did this trip about 20 years ago in a divorce boat (double Canadian canoe) that we hired.  We are still married (just) so it must have been a pseudo divorce boat
 
From memory the main bit of rapids are not long after you get into the river on the first day.
 
The benefit of a double Canadian canoe = heaps of room for gear and low centre of gravity = more stability. 
 
I think a sit on top would be less stable but still doable provided you have had some river practice in advance carrying the load you are likely to carry on the trip.
 
Personally I would be contacting the kayak operators on the river for some advice on both shuttle and feasibility of your proposal - most genuine operators will be prepared to offer good advice.
 
Not sure about fishing but I would expect a little spin set up with some rapala lures should pull in a trout or two particulary morning & evenings near the respective campsites
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote vaul10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Jan 2016 at 1:21pm
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Thanks for your reply, FarmerBrowne!

Just a short update after my trip for everyone who may seek for the same kind of info as I did before the trip:
We did the full trip (Taumaruniu to Pipiriki, 5d) with our own SOT kayaks this Dec and had a phantasmic time!!! With the above described level of experience I paddled with my Cobra Navigator (3,80m) while my partner used his new kayak, a Viking Pro Fish Reloaded (about 4,30m?), which he got delivered to the campsite in Taumarunui by the seller. Phil from the holiday park was so kind to accept it for us.

We were fine throughout the journey and mastered everything without capsizing or any issues, although we were prepared for a cool dip anytime and it could definitely have happened to us, too. The first day was rather low water level and we learned quickly which way is usually the best to go (and which was not :-D). I think we profited from this experience later. We both bumped more or less frontally into a stone wall on D4, where the current did not take us away from the wall last minute as it usually did. This made my partner´s new kayak looking less new now, but that was all damage we have to report. I was actually surprised about some rapids on the last day as I thought it would be the easiest one. At one (it seems to be the most famous with large standing waves but otherwise ok) we saw more than 50% of the of the other parties capsizing. Though I think you flip over more easily with a SOT kayak I think we actually had an advantage here as the SOT kayaks don´t fill with water. Many canoes just got a huge amount of water from the standing wave and then capsized as they filled more and more with water.   Anyway, I think most of the capsized people has a lot of fun as it was a hot day anyway.
In summary it was definitely doable for us under the described conditions, but still challenging enough to experience some excitement and the landscape was stunning anyway. (Best after D1).
Blazing paddles brought our car from Taumaranui down to Pipiriki for a fair prize, so it was really hassle free for us. 

I also think the trip helped to improve my skills and confidence a little bit though there is definitely still much more room for improvement.

We had great fishing from the shingle banks on the first 2 days, but then no bites any more from D3, presumably because the water got warmer and more polluted each day. A small silver coloured spinner in/just behind the rapids worked well. We didnt fish from the kayaks (too much packing and unpacking when approaching rapids).


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