Nina Hut- & Rangitata

Saturday...
Nina Hut is a 3 hour walk each way to a cute little hut. The walk is through beech forest, and along a nice river. It would have been nice to spend more time along the river. One of tributaries- Boyle river- is great for fly fishing (which is- by the way- Brad's new hobby).
Sunday...
Rangitata river has some crazy sections (there is a rafting company out of there)- but I stuck to the grade 2 section of course. Very blue clour due to the rock flour.

Arnold & Crooked

These are rivers near the north west coast of the south island. This was a trip with the whitewater canoe club. The club is quite impressive- friendly, organized and a lot of support for novice paddlers. These rivers were beautiful and the trips down them were exhilarating. I still have a lot to learn- but so far I am really enjoying this sport. I've been amazed by what even beginners can do- and it is nice to see the scenery from the river (rather than the usual- from land).

Inland Pack Track

This limestone overhang was our campsite- dry even in the rain!

It was Show weekend (a long weekend) and I headed to the west coast with the tramping club. It was amazing! We had someone from the caving club with us- so we went to some amazing caves we would never have known about. One of them had millions of glowworms- far more than the commercial caves I've been to. We also saw wild goats, green eels, and cave wetas (wetas are huge insects endemic to New Zealand).

Hurunui- first attempt

I say first attempt cause it probably won't be the last time I paddle on that river. It was great fun! We did the same leg of river 3 times- first with utter fear, then just a little fear, then no fear at all. So it feels good to conquer your fears. The water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be either- though one of the instructors did give me her bright pink dishwashing gloves which helped a lot! The rapids were intense in some spots (or so they seemed to us beginners). I didn't take these pictures- I didn't even bring my camera- I was too focused on not tipping- but we all still did anyways- several times!