Pensini Creek, Mt Haast and Rahu River

A fantastically fine forecast for the weekend saw Chris and William heading away with a long wishlist of things to do and places to explore.  After spending a frosty Friday night at Lyell we headed down the road to scope out the kayaking potential of Pensini Creek.  We had spotted this creek the previous Sunday while mountain biking the Mackley Pylon road and thought it might be worth a look.

We started at the old coal bins just before the road climbs steeply away from the Pensini.  Heading upstream it wasn't long before we came across the 1st small waterfall.  This was followed by a further 2 waterfalls and a short narrow canyon before a major steam confluence on river right (after a little over 1km). 

The 1st waterfall

The 2nd waterfall

The 3rd waterfall

Short canyon above the 3rd waterfall.  The log partially blocks the entrance.

We carried on further upstream for another 1.5km to the confluence with Slug Stream before heading cross country for 500m and linking up with an overgrown 4WD track (marked on old topo maps) which took us back to the Pylon road.
  

In the upper Pensini

In summary the Pensini has the potential to be a worthwhile class III/IV run with some of the bigger drops possibly being a bit harder and more committing.  It will require medium to heavy rain and should be a great addition to the kayaking runs in the area.  It will be interesting to see what some of the rapids look like with a bit of water in them - especially the canyon.  The section from the coal bins down to the Buller confluence also looks like a reasonable class III run.

Some large tree issues on the lead in to the 1st and 3rd of these waterfalls will require clearing before a full descent is possible - and these may prove too difficult to remove.  Some tree portages are also required in the upper Pensini (above the waterfalls), but there is more than enough clean river at the moment for us to return with boats when the opportunity arises.  There is plenty of wood in the upper Pensini waiting to be moved downstream during floods. 

The best access has yet to be determined but it involves driving to the top of the first hill on the Mackley Road (possible in a 2WD) before branching off down the old 4WD track on the terrace above the gorge.  Some bush bashing will be required to get to the creek unless you carry on all the way to Slug Stream.  Alternatively heading down the first creek you cross on the 4WD track might be the best option (shorter run).  The confluence of this creek with the Pensini is immediately upstream of the narrow canyon and above the 3 waterfalls. 

After crashing at Williams grandparents place in Reefton on Saturday night we headed for a jaunt up Mt Haast on Sunday morning.  Perfect weather and fair dinkum hot in the sun.

William on Mt Haast

Next on the hit list was to check out the Rahu River.  We had a look at the Lock and Rocky Creek confluences before walking the Newcombe to Rocky Creek section.  We found amazing beautiful gorge scenery, gradient 50m/km with continuous small features and very few tree hazards requiring portaging.  Looking at the map the steepest sections are above Rocky Creek and below Newcombe Creek (up to 65m/km and still to be checked out).  The Rahu River is looking like it has the potential to be a great class 4 run with medium to heavy run.

Looking up the Rahu just below the Rocky Creek confluence

William getting excited about the kayaking potential

Rain is forecast for later this week and the weekend so crossing the fingers we get enough to kayak a few new runs.

    

The Mighty Mangatini Stream

The Mangatini has been on the radar of some of the Westport kayaking locals for a few years.  I (Chris) had walked up the Mangatini from the Ngakawau confluence with Rory in the summer of 2008-09 but wasn't particularly keen on what I saw.  Time dulls the memory and after 3 years I couldn't really remember how good, bad, or ugly the thing really was - and of course I had never seen it with anything more than a trickle in it.  With renewed interest of the unknown and the enthusiasm of the younger generation it was going to happen sometime.

On Anzac Day after some light rain overnight William and I drove up to the Stockton main gate and carried our boats into the Mangatini.  Access is via the walking track to Tintown which runs parallel to the haul road until the 90 degree bend.  Crossing the haul roads continue towards the Mangatini and the Repo Basin.

William always enjoys the walk in

Arriving at the put in we found the stream at what looked like a low/medium flow good for a maiden descent (1.6 on the gauge) and proceeded to scouted the rapids immediately upstream and downstream.  What we saw looked interesting although a little different than the kind of stuff we normally paddle.

It quickly became apparent that the Mangatini can only be described as a unique New Zealand kayaking experience.  Characterised by big wide shallow slides on very grippy and abrasive bed rock.  The water is very dirty - the catchment consists mainly of the Stockton opencast mine - and it is almost impossible to tell if the water is 10cm deep, knee deep or over your head.  Boats tend to stick rather than slide nicely on the rock which is very hard on paddles/boats and potentially the body if you get it wrong.  

The drop above the put in

The 1st rapid - gauge on the left in the pool

Chris on the 2nd rapid

The first rapid looked good, so after a warm up we were off.  After another look at the 2nd rapid it was all go - at least for Chris.  The Mangatini then narrows up for the 3rd rapid which is good because the water gets a bit deeper.  This rapid has two 1m drops (a decent pool exists between the two) and then ends in a decent small waterfall.

A nice waterfall at the end of the 3rd rapid

Run hard right and styled it!

Keen for more the 4th rapid looked alright, although perhaps a little shallow at the bottom.  Should be right?

Moments before impact on the 4th rapid

The end result was the front of Chris' Mystick split top and bottom almost halfway to the cockpit rim.  Nice job!  No feeling of a massive impact - just a bit of water around the legs and the realisation of what had happened soon afterwards. 

Smashed! Big blue looking a little worse for wear

Another look at the beautiful boat breaker

So ended our first day on the Mangatini.  On the hour or so walked back to the Stockton main gate we took the opportunity to check out the stretch of river above the put in.  Up here the Mangatini is in a gorge with numerous sieves and tight squeezes (a no go).

Two days later we were back with old boats for another go.  We skipped the short section previously paddled by joining the Mangitini downstream of the boat breaker.  The Mangitini was a lot higher and looking like a bit more of a beast (not sure of the gauge reading).  The water was a darker grey and didn't smell to good. 

A few hundred metres and 2 portages later we arrived at the Repo confluence where the Mangatini flattens out for a bit.  A decent drop followed before the river heads to the left where there is a big sand bank eddy straight ahead.  

This one is runnable

From here the river is wide and shallow and we hugged the river right bank.  Eddies were deceptively absent and it wasn't long we were taking some evasive action as the river headed into the abyss. 

The Mangatini heading into the abyss - the 1st mega rapid

Climbing and hauling boats out a long portage ensued around the 1st of the mega rapids.  Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of the bottom of this one but I recall it is a huge slide ending in a 10-15m waterfall.  Back in the boats for a bit it wasn't long before we reached the 2nd mega rapid which was an easier portage on river right.

The 2nd mega rapid

At the bottom of the 2nd mega rapid

William having a good day out in the Scud

Next came the 3rd and final mega rapid - portaging the first half in the bush on river right and then beside the river.

The 3rd and final mega rapid

Below here we crossed the Mangatini and found the track which leads down to the Ngakawau River on river left below the next slide.  All and all a serious and memorable day of adventuring and portaging was had and the Mangatini is now no longer the big unknown.  It took us 4 hours to reach the Ngakawau below Mangatini Falls from the put in.