The Taruarau River is a tributary of the Ngaruroro River it has a very steep and tricky gorge below the Napier Taihape Road. It is only runnable through winter and early spring or after rain. It has a great Class III+ – IV section known as the Hot Springs gorge, The run is very highly…
Category: Hawkes Bay
Mohaka TeHoe (III)
This is a half day run through a scenic gorge. The Te Hoe can hit Class III+ in higher flows. At low flows it’s technical boulder gardens with all harder rapids being portageable. By Road To get to the put-in drive down Waitara road about 8km to Glenfalls. From Glenfalls continue 5km to Auroa Road…
Mohaka Farm / McVicars to Glenfalls (I/II) to Everetts (II)
A great introduction to packrafting can be had by camping at Mohaka River Farms or Glenfalls on the Napier Taupo Road (SH5) and running the easy Class I /II sections. On the subsequent days the Glenfalls to Everetts run steps up the difficulty to Class II. It’s got a consistent flow right through the year…
Ngaruroro Lower Gorge (III/IV)
The lower gorge, with it’s manuka native bush and surrounding steep and rugged hills, provides an impressive and scenic wilderness area. The 39km section includes a gorge containing more challenging white water than in the upper river, which provides just enough excitement for advanced paddlers. Hugh Canard described it as a sneaky one that creeps…
Upper Mohaka River (II+/III) from Poronui Stn to SH5
This is a fantastic weekend packrafting trip… Walking access only, beautiful clear river through native bush clad mountains. Trout, great camping options, easy hitchhiking options, and oh yeah… 2 amazing HOT-SPRINGS! The River is 90% grade II, but Sphincter rapid (portagable) is a grade III. Thank you to Chris Coutts for the information and photos…
Ngaruroro River (II-IV) Kuripapango to Whanawhana
This section does not have any huts, so any packrafters would need to take camping gear. Quite a popular run with local Kayak clubs. No walking required, but a few options for side trips. There’s more information and links to other photos and trip reports on the Ngaruroro Kuripapango to Whanawhana on Rivers.org.nz webpage. View…
Ngaruroro River (II+/III) Boyd Hut to Kuripapango
The Ngaruroro is one of the great wild rivers in the north island, suitable for long, relatively easy packraft trips through fantastic scenery. There are countless options for making this trip long or short, with a helicopter or fixed wing flight to the start, a car shuttle and a through trip or even doing loop…