Clarence River

Saturday 28 November

The cold and cheerless weather which has been keeping the bulk of us inside letup just long enough for our “Day on a Wild River” event to take place. The weather was not especially kind but began benignly enough with fog and a hint of emergent peaks. A small group of 21 met at local Woodbank School and divided into groups to make their way to Clarence Mouth. About this time a southerly came through and, though dry, conjured up a more wild sense of the Wild river. .

Parties cycled, walked, four-wheel drove or rafted (thanks to the donated services of Ben Judge of Clarence River Rafting). The river bed was an expansive sea of lupins, and we saw hawks gliding on the air currents and flushing our small birds from the undergrowth. The rafters stopped on a small island near the mouth to observe the nesting activity of blackbacked gulls. By the time we all met up, we welcomed the hot sausages cooked as a fundraiser by Clarence School. A few hardy souls walked over the river-gravels to the actual mouth and compiled a bird list. Others huddled in the lupins and warmed up the best way they could. One of the many highlights was a gem of a speech by local man Dylan Simpson who covered every aspect of the river. His words were like a journey itself through history and through land, but also managing to focus attention on the future of our wild river.

By 2pm the most hardy were heading for home, but we agreed it was a great day and well worth the effort. The event attracted mostly families and the rafting provided a special treat. We had great publicity provided free of charge by the Kaikoura Star, but surprisingly found that the best approach for getting people along was phoning them. Our weather was ambiguous and we suspect that had this not been the case, many more people would have come and have enjoyed the day.

Further Information

Contact Ailsa, phone 03 319 6797