Getting to the river can be challenging when it comes to planning your next river trip, but some places make accessibility really exciting, New Zealand is one of them.
On the West Coast of the South Island in New Zealand, the Southern Alps come down and meet with the ocean. These vertical conditions create some of the best steep creaking in the world! However, these conditions pose their own set of challenges when it comes to getting to the put-in.
For most river trips getting to the put-in often looks like loading up your car and driving straight to the top – easy! But when it comes to the West Coast, you’ll probably end up driving to the take-out, loading your boat onto your shoulder, and then starting your hike to the put-in. Personally, I’m not a big fan of hiking. Hike-ins on the Coast can be as short as a couple of hours or as long as a day or two. They are often steep and hard. On the bright side, they are extremely beautiful as you walk along the side of the river, under the canopies of New Zealand’s native forests, and up into the alpine, so it’s easy to distract yourself from the hard work. The rivers are also super awesome, so once you get to the whitewater, it’s easy to forget about the suffering you endured to get there!
Now, the West Coast is known for more than its rivers. The most exciting way to access some of these high alpine put-ins (and my favourite method) is to fly in by helicopter!
Hokitika is a small West Coast town and the epicentre for kayaking on the coast. With a short drive out of town, you find the Precision Helicopters heliport, owned by Matt Newton. This is the gateway to three of the most iconic river trips on the coast – the Kokatahi, the Whitcombe, and the Hokitika River. Flying into these rivers is an amazing experience on its own. As you make your way to the top of the river, you are surrounded by massive sharp mountains, and below you is a full bird’s eye view of the river that you’re about to embark on. The excitement is high and the adrenaline is pumping! And after ten minutes of flying, you have made it to the top of a world-class run that is going to take you a full day or two to complete.
An there’s more … some of these overnight runs require you to stay in a hiking hut for the night. So with the help from the pilot, you can drop all of your overnight gear and food at the hut, which means better food than you would normally take on a kayak overnighter. Two epic days of paddling, with an empty boat on day one, and a lightly loaded boat on day two. Pretty neat right?
If you ever find yourself on the West Coast of the South Island and are looking into flying to some of these rivers out of Hokitika, be sure to give Precision Helicopters (www.precisionhelitours.com) a call! Thanks for reading.
