Mazowe Gorge

12 Mar 11 - About 0.7m or more over Hippo Pools Weir

Expecting a low level, Andy LM and I arrived at Sunugukai to find a very high river. According to the locals it had suddenly come up in the night. With some trepidation we approached the first rapid and had a good look, before running a simple centre line. A very nice standing wave at the end of rapid invited me in, but noticed a very deep hole just after it out of the corner of my eye - and boy was the hole deep!

The second rapid (first big one, where David performed his cliff-hanger) looked more menacing than ever, with several pinning opportunities after the initial drop. We opted for the chicken run on the right, with a 2m portage, before negotiating the last few holes.

The next standing wave looked very good, but requires a lot of effort to get onto (a one-hit wonder with no eddy). We skirted the Hippo's, nervously, and spent a bit of time at the "Castle Rock Twins" - and they were as welcoming as ever. The left of centre part of the upper twin had turned into a very nice standing wave, and the lower Twin was easier to surf.

We didn't scout the second large rapid, opting for the chicken run on the right from the outset. Halfway down we stopped to take a look and it actually looked very runnable - all the holes and pour-overs were flushed out. If I was in a creek-boat I would have gone back and run it....

Andy agreed that the scenery is awesome, and the river has a good mix of waves and rapids to keep it interesting all the way down. We stopped to see Iain at Hippo Pools (but he wasn't in) and then ran the weir (left of centre).

Ken loaded up and we set off on the muddy dirt road (still in good condition). We admired the hills and valleys on the way to Murewa and we were home by 2pm.