Every time he turns at Centre Pass to survey the magnificent view down the Seaforth Valley to the Fiord, he wonders will it be the last time he gazes on such a magnificent view? It is the last thing you do, you should do it at least once. Steve will do it again and again. […]
Well, we have tried our faux packraft against our Alpacka raft on a four hour Grade 2+ section of the Wonnangatta River on an overnight trip (during which we saw 9 deer!) and apart from some slight abrasion to the lamination of the poly tarp (nappy) the $40 raft stood up splendidly. I found a
I bought a $40 raft (Intex) from Clark Rubber and reinforced it with a layer of poly tarp which can be attached to it with polyethylene tape (from greenhouse suppliers), ‘Gaffer’ or ‘Duct’ tape. You could also use tarp clips if you prefer. This makes it well-nigh indestructible. The tarps come in three weights: 100grams/square
We have the ‘Fiord Explorer’ which is a bit heavy but takes two. I took it down the Seaforth River in Fiordland afer a 3.5 day hike in! For a one person boat you could try the ‘Alpacka‘ or the ‘Scout’ (if you are as small as Della). These boats will handle any water you
You could imagine Della and I doing this Grade 5 water in our Alpacka raft but the truth is water a little more gentle than this. Don’t try this sort of thing in any other brand of pack raft though:
Spent New Year canoeing-hiking in the Wonnangatta-Moroka wilderness, the most remote spot in Vic. Could be half way round the world in the time it took to get where I was. Beautiful serene wilderness slowly recovering from wildfire. Saw many deer but they are out of season.
Della and Steve had a number of hiking trips into the Victorian mountains eg up the Wonnangatta and the Moroka and a couple of multi-day canoe trips on the Thomson and I don’t remember where – and we hope for many more. Steve also had a multi-day canoe trip with friend Brett Irving who has
This was to be the year we were to give up on farming and start a new life of fun, fun, fun. ‘Every man has an idea that will not work’, they say. We did succeed in selling the main sheep flock but now we have a farm with not enough stock and which is
Here is the unedited video I took with my (alas late) friend Steven Cleaver canoeing this wonderful river in 2006. It had somehow vanished from this website – how alarming! As a foretaste, here is Steve powering down one of the Thomson’s signature rapids:
