FLUID TRAILS

After a previous bikerafting expedition, Muel and I started map plotting for another more challenging route in the South Island. We have been adventuring together for decades both on the bike, on the river commercial raft guiding, and on packrafting trips. Muel is an ideal wingman, always keen to assist for the sake of the team and his jolly banter keeps the morale up during long days in the backcountry.

For me this was a chance to revisit old haunts and link up the icons of the National park. Also to test the theory of carrying mountain bikes on packrafts down grade 3 rapids with all the gear required for an extended trip.

A couple of members from the Waiau-Toa Odyssey team pulled out and I had a filmmaker then I didn’t, so I had to reassess the structure and find a team. I had been keen on asking Rose Green to join us, Rose is an accomplished rider having competed in the megavalanche on a homemade full suspension tandem mountain bike, plus many other epic bike missions. I had done a couple of river trips with Rose and I decided that with some training she would probably be capable of navigating grade 3 in a tiny inflatable raft with a bike strapped to the front of it, I hoped.

A good friend who I had worked with making another film, Dylan Gerschwitz, answered the call for assistance with the drone work and handheld camera work through the first section, The Old Ghost Road (OGR).

So in late Spring with all the preparations made, the four of us travelled up to the Buller (Kawatiri) River to base ourselves at Tim’s place at Whale Flat. Tim is the owner of rafting company Ultimate Descents where I started my rafting career