The Paddler ezine WW kayak collection 2013 | Page 51

Left: The raft crew approach their first rapid.

The river kept us on our toes through a series
of rapids until we reached ‘Green Room’

the biggest rapid

on the river – a three-step class 4+ lottery

leads us to the next big rapid, ‘Commitment’, a
class 4 river wide pour over with a must make
river right line. The kayak team today all must
have our synchronized kayaking heads on. As we
each perfected the ‘power backloop and roll’
manoeuvre as we crashed through the rapid. I
managed to roll up with enough time to see the
raft graciously glide down the rapid (bloody
rubber bus) I thought to myself.
The river kept us on our toes through a series of
rapids until we reached ‘Green Room’ the biggest
rapid on the river – a three-step class 4+ lottery. A
quick chance to get out and stretch the legs
before the draw for today’s lottery.

Sayas fully
focussed.

A mess of churning confused water
In Green Room you have to punch the wave on
the first drop right in the sweet spot in order to
keep your line for the second drop. The second
drop is guarded by a intimidating magnetic
midstream rock. Any type of line besides forwards
and pointing down stream and you are ‘gone’ – to
quote the words of the chief. The famous Maori
raft guide that hails from The Shotover River in
Queenstown, New Zealand. The third step of
Green Room is a mess of churning confused water
that has been known to send unsuspecting raft
customers underwater for a while.
Sayas, myself and Aapo were the first to go so that
we could lay down some safety for the raft. As we
left the eddy we quickly gave each other the, “Stay
close but give me my space look.” All three of us
coasted through the rapid. We sat in the eddy
waiting for the raft to come down. Each of us
secretly wishing for some upside down action.

ThePaddler 51