Just behind Tekapo town, is a fantastic artificial whitewater course.
Normally dry, the river flows only at scheduled releases (keep an eye on the official Tekapo WW facebook page for timings) Releases are usually timed for a weekend: come camp under the pine trees by the put in and join in the good times!
The whole course is only 550 metres long, but has all sorts of eddies, holes, waves and other good things for practising and playing.
The course is made from nearby boulders, concreted in place. This means that there’s few (if any) entrapment hazards, but the ‘banks’ contain some fairly sharp grains of concrete. It certainly teaches you not to drive too hard into the eddies that you hit the bank!.. Take repair kit, and accept that boat wear is part of the price to pay for paddling at this amazing resource.
You put in above the control gates, and wait for your turn to begin. When the water is flowing, the course is full of paddle people, in all sorts of craft: river boats, slalom boats, play boats, rafts, and of course, packrafts! The vibe is pretty friendly, especially if you say hello and don’t hog the eddies or waves ;0)
The first half of the course is considered grade II, and the lower half grade III. The features are fairly strong, which will expose any poor habits you might have developed. It’s not hard to bomb down the middle, but the course is designed to be challenging to hop from eddy to eddy… That’s where the real magic happens; the chance to practice the same moves over and over, until you nail them!
Thanks to Paula Race for the video clip and feature photo.
Even though there’s loads of people, its good to bring a crew, or make friends… The flow is swift and there’s few pools, so falling out could mean a long-ish swim, especially in the lower part…
To get to the campsite/put in
From SH8 in Tekaop, turn up Aorangi Cres and then take a Right onto Andrew Don Dr. Follow the road from here as it turns into gravel. The road heads down a slope, downstream and towards the river. There’s a sign at a sharp left turn into a gravel road. This road heads upstream. Follow your nose to the course and the camping spots among the pine trees.
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Camping is free, but bring your own drinking water. The site is fairly exposed (to wind and sun) so pack appropriately.