Waingawa Trip Waingawa – 4 May 2008 The weekend was looking promising with plenty of rain during the 2nd half of the week. At long last we were seeing the end of the end of the dry summer. The rivers were rising in the lower half of the North Island and I was looking forward to paddling in a different location. Waiarapa Paddlers were making a run up to Access 12 but Shane Taplin and his son had offered to guide our monthly Grade 2 trip down the Waingawa (just outside Masterton). Rain was forecasted for Saturday with long fine periods on Sundays, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. The following morning the rains never came and the Wellington Rivers gauge continued to fall. 4 paddlers made the trip (JK and his sister Caroline, Tony and I). We met up with Shane and his son at the local Big Red Shed in Masterton and travelled up to the get in. The entry spot is an easy walk down a gradual decline to the river bed and offers a big eddy to collect our troop and familiarise ourselves with the paddling order, warm ups on ferrying, eddying in and out etc… The trip took 2 hours at a relaxed pace, most of the rapids have clear lines with the odd low lying rock to be negotiated when the river is low. There were 4 rapids that funnel the flow which then runs up to a rock face and a sharp hard turn. At 500 mm the run is rocky in places and the rapids are more like little steps. At the final stage the river has a man made weir that is not suitable for newbies, it is however negotiable for confident grade 2 paddlers. This run is suitable for beginners at levels of 400mm – 800mm. Below 600mm the river is rocky and is wearing on the paddle blade. The run is through rolling Waiarapa farmland, with the views mostly of hills and sheep. Well worth a run after absences, building up your repertoire of rivers run and river reading skills. My thanks to Waiarapa Paddlers for their hosting and guidance.