21 February 2016

I’ll admit I was regretting signing up for another Sunday morning early start, as I hurried to get to London Street carpark by 8am. But it turned out to be well worth sacrificing my lie-in.

John Wilson took us to the upper Waipa River valley, to instruct us in river safety. The Waipa originates in the Rangitoto Range, east of Te Kuiti; from there it cuts northwest to Otorohanga, and then meanders northward to its confluence with the Waikato at Ngaruawahia. We accessed the river via “Rangitoto Lands” station owned by Duncan and Rhonda Oliver, and Rhonda kindly helped us find the easiest route down to the reach of the river we were looking for.

The trip description read “If you aren’t having fun, you’re not doing it right”. And fun it was. But it was also impressed upon us that crossing rivers is a serious matter: on average three people drown every year trying to cross New Zealand rivers. John began by explaining the theory:

• keep your body side on to the current;
• take small shuffling steps;
• move diagonally downstream with the current to conserve your energy;
• have a leader to control the crossing make sure that everyone can hear instructions before you get into the river;
• have the strongest people at the upstream end to break the flow for the others;
• have the upstream person just slightly ahead of the person next downstream and so on down the line.

The reach chosen by John offered the right levels of challenge for the range of exercises we practiced. We started by learning how to ford a river in a group, grasping each other’s pack straps to bind the group together; groups of four to start with, then groups of two. We also learned a bail-out procedure known as the “caterpillar”, enabling a group to turn around and retreat to the shore if they encounter water too swift or too deep for a safe crossing.

Next John showed how someone fording a river on his/her own can use a long sturdy stick for support. This usually means looking around for a piece of driftwood of suitable dimensions and strength. John seemed to cut a biblical figure as he demonstrated this technique, carving a safe path through the waters, mighty staff in hand.

Over lunch, Allan Wickens regaled us with drowning stories, drawn from his extensive experience with the police and search-and-rescue. He certainly changed my perspective on the braided rivers of the eastern South Island – they may look cute, but they’ve been the undoing of more than a few overconfident travellers.

After lunch came the best bit: learning to use your pack as a flotation device if you lose your footing and get swept off your feet, and how to steer to shore. John persuaded us to “fall over backwards” in the middle of the river, once again leading by example. I was amazed by how buoyant my pack was, and how well it kept my head out of the water. The rest of us eagerly lined up to have a go, some squealing with delight as they splashed downstream. There was one minor alarm when Jean drifted further downstream than she would have liked, necessitating a quick dash to help her find her feet again.

It struck me how useful the pack technique could be for crossing rivers too deep to ford. Of course it would be important to pick the right spot to cross, and to be realistic about the level of difficulty; and, as was stressed on the course, never to take on a river in flood. On reaching home I was impressed by how dry my pack and contents had remained, and the exercise left me determined to make sure my pack is well water-proofed on any tramp likely to involve a river crossing.

This was probably the most enjoyable and satisfying outing I’ve been on in three years with WTC. I would recommend it to anyone else who has little experience of river crossing, as it will give you skills and confidence in dealing with one of the most important challenges facing trampers on long walks. More information on river safety can be found at:

www.watersafety.org.nz/resources-and-safety-tips/safety-info-tips/rivers     or

www.mountainsafety.org.nz/safety-tips/River-Safety.asp

We were: John and Jean Wilson, Susanne Henley-Smith, Allan Wickens, Margaret and Keith Robbins, Robyn Coleman, Maureen Foulds, Chris Lusk (scribe).

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A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water.