Matt Coles - Hucks the Wonder of Westport

Matt Coles a Westport local has made the first descent of Big Totara falls. After a bit of extra rain Matt, Shannon and Sam went up there on Friday for a look and it looked good so off they went. After several hours of logistics Matt finally took the plunge. Thanks for the report matt and the photos.





The falls themselves are about 1.5 km up from the normal get in for the Big Totara. For those that have been on the Big Totara the amount of water flowing over the falls in the photos are not enough to actually do the run but seem to be ok for the falls themselves. But watch this space as I'm sure others will get up there to see what it looks like at normal flows to make the full descent from the waterfall to the road bridge. I was up there once when it was bank to bank (remember that run Kev) for the bottom run! I can only imagine what the falls look like at that flow!!






Shannon hitting a good line! (Photo - Matt Coles)

Sam not such a good line but he was ok!! (Photo - Matt Coles)

CROWDS ON THE WAIMANGAROA

The Waimangaroa River north of Westport had not seen this much action since the historic days of the Denniston Incline. Today our numbers were 7 far from the normal 2 that descend these waters. 2 English a few Kiwis and a token German to make a nice crew for the run. Not expecting the levels to be as high, it was a pleasant surprise to get there with a normal to high flow making for perfect conditions for boating not to mention fairly good for the photos with the sun beaming down on us.

Matt Coles taking on the crux of the run.



The crew having a look at the crux rapid from above.



Matt leading the way.



Matt



Local boater Chris Osauskas looks on as Matt completes his line.



Sara the only female on the river lines it up.



Sara taking doing it with English Class.



Artistic Kayaking!!!



Shannon having some time away from the students.



Model stroking all the way!



Shannon punching the thick stuff.



Englishman Adam waiting patiently gets his turn.



Now you see him.



Now you dont!!!



All in a days works.

Wonder of Westport 2011

Back in for another look at this great looking waterfall near Westport. We had 55 mil of rain over the course of the previous day so it seemed like a good time to go check it out. Unfortunately we did not manage to run it as we decided that we needed a bigger crew rather than just the two of us so that our safety options were better!

Isaac having a good look at the lines before deciding against it.

Lower down we found a neat little gorge that could offer up some extra stuff up higher when the water level is right for the bottom section (this is below the falls thought). Not sure if it was a first decent of this part of the river but Im fairly sure that it is.

Running the drops on the little gorge.

A stunning place to be on a Monday morning.

Footage of the falls themself