5am on a Saturday morning and things were all go at red roof, breakfast was on, cars packed and we were out on our way to the helli pad for what was to be our first fly in trip together as a crew. A last minute text from Zak in hokitika confirmed our last seat in the chopper. The team was set, Phil, Zak, Rata and me. The flight up the river was spectacular and we spent most of it trying to scout some possible lines down the river. Once the whining of the chopper had gone and the roar of the river took over, the realisation of how remote we really were sunk in and we wasted no time in getting on the water and warming up.
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| Phil boofing like a boss! |
A few hours of classic grade 3/4 was a great warm up for the lead in to colliers gorge. After lunch we were into it, The first major drop of the gorge had Phil and Rata doing a short portage and Zak and I running hard right through a river wide hole that made us all slightly nervous. Next up was a sick techinal rapid that then lead into a drop that was good to go on the hard right. Sweet lines were had by us all for the rest of the trip and we finished off with a quick photo session on a small ledge drop and then a cruise grade 2 float to the take out. Cheers team for sick day!
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| Rata dropping in |
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| Phil and Zak running some of the sweet class 3 |
