Index
A question that has been asked, and will no doubt continue to be asked, was: “What kayak operators can you recommend?” I directly experienced eight in all (with queries being sent to another five), so while that may not be enough for a double-blind, randomly assigned, controlled clinical study, but it is sufficient to glean a few pointers from.
The first point that should be made is that there are professional operators who charge for hiring out equipment, and I’ll deal with them individually. Then there are the hostels that offer equipment for use by the guests, often only meant for a short-term recreational usage, often for free as an extra for staying at that particular establishment. While all the safety regulations were adhered to, I found the equipment at On the Beach and Centabay to be poorly maintained, the life jackets were barely holding together, and so not even worth taking into consideration for a day trip. Very often the bilge plug was missing, which means that with a sit-on-top, the boat will eventually sink. Strange how no one thought of tying the plug permanently to the boat via the eyelet that is meant for this purpose. Looks like someone bought a boat, gave it to the guests to use, they promptly undid what could be undone, the moving parts were lost and the boat thoroughly degraded in a short time. Pity. The kayaks at Wainui (Russell) appeared to be in better condition, but there were restrictions on their use (which didn’t allow a round trip to Russell), so I didn’t take them up on it.
The Professionals
We’ll take these in order of appearance.
Auckland Sea Kayaks provided excellent service (pick up and return to downtown) and the equipment was thoroughly up to date. The experience itself was immaculate with the climax being the night crossing back to St Heliers, with the grandiose background of Auckland’s city lights to guide us. For anyone confident in kayaking and being in the water generally this is an unforgettable and unbeatable highlight.
That having been said there was a case or two of gilding the lily. One was the questionnaire that we were asked to fill out on the beach on a tablet. Can’t this stuff (including signing the indemnity form) be done online? We could have used a couple of minutes of throwing a frisbee at each other to get to know one another better before getting into the spray skirts and boats. Secondly, the meal. Again, this meant a lot of time and expense and the effect was modest. Thirdly, although I am a responsible paddler and will see to it that equipment is packed away at the end of the day, just a note to say that we were expected to help pack the boats back onto the trailer at the end of the tour would be in order, if only to prevent the people being picked up by their friends from absconding immediately. But thanks to Zac, who led us that evening, for a remarkable trip.
An alternative evening tour to Rangitoto is available from Ferg’s Kayaks, for $150, no meal included. I saw what I suspect were their boats, and they were not as up to date as those from Auckland Sea Kayaks, but they did appear to be seaworthy. I’m not sure if their timetable includes the sunset, and their people arrived on the island after us and were gone before we were. However, the $40 difference per person might make this a consideration if you’re looking for a good meal to celebrate with.
Yeti Tours, Ohakune, is one of at least five operators for the Whanganui River Journey, others being in Taumarunui, Owhango, Raetihi and Whanganui itself. Each of these operators has to transport boats and paddlers to and from the desired starting and finishing points, which is always included in the price, and there is an option of engaging a guide for about $200 a day. The five-day, 150 km, unguided tour was offered by all at around $200 per person. Accommodation on the nights before and after the tour should be in the same town as the operator, as the safety briefing and fitting for the life jackets takes place on the previous afternoon; there is an early start on the first day; and further transport in the late afternoon is problematical. Hostels and other hosts will look after your stuff for the length of the tour; valuables can be stored separately with the operators. One other consideration is transport to the town of choice. For a longer tour it’s probably not worth it having a hire vehicle standing around gathering dust. Of all the locations, only Raetihi appears not to be serviced by public transport (bus, train).
I contacted all of the operators in advance, but only Yeti returned the contact. At this time I was trying to join a group that would have to leave from Taumarunui around February 16. I want to try to avoid gilding the lily here, and I realise the operators would be biting off more than they could chew if they started trying to organise and manage spontaneous groups, but there just seemed to be no way of finding out where and when groups were leaving and of offering some form of contact so that they could contact me and tell me whether I was grata or not. Even when Yeti got back to me with the news that they had a couple leaving from Taumarunui on the 16th, my request to have Yeti forward my email to them to establish contact went unheeded. As it turned out, I think I could have done the trip with Roger and Jackie without having to hang around them the whole day. I don’t know how much the operators cooperate amongst each other for equipment, but I have the feeling that something more can be done to facilitate small groups of freedom paddlers to get on and off the river. In the end, of course, I had Pea with me in the boat, so we could be independent of Roger and Jackie, but until the operators rise to the challenge the take-home message is: Come with your own group.
Yeti’s boats were not right off the shelf, but they were functional. Equipping the boats had to be done on the departure morning, which means that I overlooked the missing fore hatch cap; and although I did manage to nab a sponge, a plastic milk bottle with the bottom removed would have been better for baling than the sponge alone; and behind the aft hatch some fixture had had to be screwed back on again. The person doing this repair had used a wood screw onto a metal screw nut, which, because the threads are incompatible, makes for a pretty permanent fixture only for the pointy end of the wood screw now protruding into the storage bay, which wrecked one dry bag.
All in all the boats worked as intended, the transport went smoothly, and the price was right. Thanks to Gavin and team for an unforgettable journey.
Q-Kayaks Ltd offer kayak hire on the Manawatu River (near Palmerston North), for about $35 a day plus $90 transport. Due to low water levels a tour was not recommended.
KG Kayaks offer freedom tours on Ohiwa Harbour (Whakatane/Ohope) for as far as I could see around $50 for a half-day. I met up with the proprietor Kenny when his small group returned to Ohope and the boats seemed to be in good condition. We arranged for me to do a tour the next morning from his headquarters in Kutarere, but I never made it, possibly because I was using GoogleMaps to try to get there, and possibly because his business was not identifiable at the address given. Put up a sign.
Cathedral Cove Kayak Tours, Hahei, was the place to go for a guided tour along the coast from Hahei to Cathedral Cove, except that the sea was not suitable.
