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The Rangitikei Canyon (II/II+) River Valley Lodge to Vinegar Hill
The headwaters of the Rangitikei run through the Kaimanawa Range, offering a classic and challenging wilderness multiday trip. A while after crossing State Highway 5 (The Napier-Taihape road) there is a short, sharp class V gorge that ends at River Valley Lodge. The “Rangitikei Canyon” begins here, and offers a very scenic 2-4 day…
Gillespie Pass circuit: Siberia Stream (I+/III-) & Wilkin River (I+)
Aspiring NP, Otago
3-5 day options
Waingaro River (IV) Forks Hut to Paynes Ford
The Waingaro in Golden bay has been run mostly as a heli- kayak trip from the forks hut but it’s probably only been run 10-15 times in total, it is definitely an exploratory type adventure run. For advanced packrafters, I’d suggest that it is bucket list material: incredibly spectacular country, prolific Whio numbers and over…
Lower Harrison (III/IV) via Milford Sound
Day trip to quality III paddling with two IV drops.
Fiordland National Park
Jollie River (II+/III) from above Littles Hut
Overnighter or day trip, out and back. Needs spring flows or rain.
Lake Pukaki/MacKenzie/Canterbury
Dobson River (I/II) via Jamieson Saddle to Lake Ohau
3-4 Day through trip.
MacKenzie Basin/Canterbury
Paringa River (II/III+)
Overnight out and return with route finding and a great hut. Put in where it suits your skills and the flows.
South Westland
Fox River (II/III)
Day or overnight out and return, through spectacular limestone canyons, with mellow paddling.
Paparoa National Park, Westland
Rangitaiki: Aniwhenua run(II)
The Rangitaiki is the longest river in the Bay of Plenty. The Aniwhenua is a great beginner trip, or just a cool spot to play around with some good mates. There are quite a few surf waves and eddy lines to practice up your skills on. Many kayak clubs use this as a skills building…
Raukokore River (II)
The Raukokore from Te Kumi Station is a pleasant Grade I-II trip in the East Cape Raukumara Ranges with a wilderness feel. It can be done in a long day or split over two. Description and photos Stu Bilby. Put in Put in on the Waikura River on Te Kumi Road. Usually near the road…
Tairua River (II) Broken Hills run: SH25A to Hikuai
Car to car day trip
Kauri forests & farmland
Coromandel Ranges
Motu (III+/ IV)
This wild and remote epic through East Cape Country is one of the top multi-day Packrafting trips in the North Island. It flows through spectacular dense forest and gorgy scenery. It is a popular rafting trip particularly with hunters who also utilise jet boats for access. The Motu River is the Premier whitewater wilderness trip…
Taruarau (IV)
The Taruarau River is a tributary of the Ngaruroro River it has a very steep and tricky gorge below the Napier Taihape Road. It is only runnable through winter and early spring or after rain. It has a great Class III+ – IV section known as the Hot Springs gorge, The run is very highly…
Upper Hurunui (II) Lake to Seaward
The Hurunui is the most important River in Canterbury for paddlers. It has navigable flows all year round and offers a good variety of whitewater runs. It has something for everyone; for learners there is a run from the Lake and through Sisters Gorge, for intermediate paddlers the Jollie Brook and Hawarden gap runs, and…
Hawarden Gap (II+) Hurunui River
The Hawarden Gap is a bit of an under-utilised gem. 12 km of Class II open gravel channel through rugged farmland has plenty of play features to practice eddies and technique before the valley constricts at the Hawarden Gap where the real fun begins. The river is aligned such that a norwester is funneled up the river…
Hurunui River Maori Gully (III)
This short gorge section of the Hurunui is one reason why there are so many whitewater kayakers in Canterbury. Every kayaker in Christchurch in the past 50 years has nervously faced and often swum Maori Gully. This Grade 3 section is 1.6km of varied and distinctive rapids that vary only slowly over the decades. It…
Thomas River (III & IV/V P) via Mataketake tops
Haast area, West Coast
3 day through trip with good huts, tops, bush bashing and challenging paddling.
Mohaka TeHoe (III)
This is a half day run through a scenic gorge. The Te Hoe can hit Class III+ in higher flows. At low flows it’s technical boulder gardens with most (but not all) harder rapids being portageable. By Road To get to the put-in drive down Waitara road about 8km to Glenfalls. From Glenfalls continue 5km…
Mohaka McVicars to Glenfalls (I/II) to Everetts (II)
A great introduction to packrafting can be had by camping at Glenfalls on the Napier Taupo Road (SH5) and running the easy Class I /II section. On the subsequent days the Glenfalls to Everetts run steps up the difficulty to Class II. It’s got a consistent flow right through the year and will have water…
Jacksons River (II)
A beautiful and relatively easy West Coast River. Great for a cruisey days paddling, between hitting the Arawhata and Waiatoto. 😉 The Jackson would make a great and easy bike raft trip or of course you can hike, hitch or car to car paddle. It has a great side trip up to Lake Ellery on…