w h i t e w a t e r • r i V e r • s e a • m u l t i s p o r t ... - Canoe & Kayak

70 years young and
still paddling grade 4
Some call him River Ron, while others call him Old Man River.
I prefer to think of him as a Gentleman Paddler. He likes to
call himself a Government-Sponsored Paddler.
Ron is a life member of The Waikato Kayak Club. Formerly known as the
(Hamilton Canoe Club.)
He started with the club long before I even thought of paddling and so I’ve had
to get help with this story from more experienced paddlers.
We take it for granted that we can crash down a bolder strewn rapid, in tough
plastic boats, bouncing off rocks and even using rocks to launch ourselves over
drops if need be. But when Ron had finished helping Noah build the Ark and
then took up kayaking it wasn’t that simple. Back then if you weren’t careful
you would have nothing left of your boat except perhaps the cockpit rim still
around your waist like a bent hula-hoop. We also take it for granted that no
matter what river we are on, we can always follow someone who has been
there before and knows the best lines. This wasn’t always so and Ron could
tell a few stories of paddlers who spent nights in the bush and helicopter
rescues. Yes helicopters have been around for a long time.
A lot of our better-known rapids are named after people who had difficulties
running them but none that I know is named after Ron. Whether that means
he has never had trouble on any remains a mystery.
Recently the club did a Rangitaiki trip on the ‘Jeff’s Joy’ section of the river. As
usual Ron was waiting at the take out when we arrived, ready to fill his van
with boats and their owners for the drive to the put in. This time Barb had
not come along so we were without our favourite shuttle driver. As you can
probably guess, the run is named after ‘Jeff’, its main rapid. Jeff didn’t have
much joy running this wonderful piece of white water.
Ron has lived through the timber and canvas age, the ply wood and the
fibreglass age, and has embraced the plastic age with enthusiasm and has
had more than his fair share of plastic boats.
On this trip he had his relatively new red Jackson creeker. At the put in we were
ready to paddle off down the short flat section to the start of the white water
action. The crew was Anne our scientist and genetics expert, Drew the mad
council mower operator expert, Justine and Robbie our new Scottish imports
and cold water experts, Brian our school teacher and large family expert, Linton
our computer expert, Michelle and Gavin our McLarens Falls experts, myself a
nail bangeriner expert and Ron our Government Sponsored Paddler.
All the main rapids are right at the start, so you need to be warmed up and
have your stuff together right away. The first rapid contains Rocks A and B.
They aren’t named after anyone; rather I think they are named after the first
letters of swear words of your own preference. Ron once told me that before
Rock A had its infamous reputation and long boats were the only boats, the
main tactic of getting passed it was to run straight up onto it, let the current
take the tail and wash you around the corner. Makes me cringe to think of it.
Ron always runs this section but has long since given up the old tactic. He now
eddie hops with the best of them. However, Justine making her first decent,
unwittingly used the old tactic in a much shorter boat. Luckily it all turned out
ok. The current did its thing, took her around the corner and out of harms way
but I don’t recommend it.
We all caught the eddies just above the next named rapid, Fantail. I noticed that
Ron was with the non scouters who were sitting in their boats, peering down
the rapid. Before I could get into position with my camera, Robbie, Michelle,
16 ISSUE FORTYone • 2 0 0 7
Brian, Gavin, Drew and Ron had peeled out of the eddie, taken the hard left
line over the first two drops and were heading for Jeff’s.
I gave the camera to Michelle, who had walked back up to the top of Jeff’s
and made my run. And yes I hit the only exposed piece of rock in the whole
section. It stopped me just long enough to give me no speed as I dropped
into the hole below. But with great skill and bravery I braced my way out and
headed for Jeff’s Joy. Of course this clumsy piece of paddling WAS caught on
the camera and shown at the next club meeting as a very small part of a very
exciting club carnage review.
When I reached the pool at the bottom, there was Ron; waiting patiently for
the rest of us and looking pleased with himself. He had just run what can be
(depending on flow levels) a grade four rapid. I got out of my boat and climbed
back up to Michelle, just in time to see first Anne then Linton showing off their
dog paddling expertise below Jeff’s Joy while Ron helped to retrieve paddlers
and gear. The rest of the run was the usual fun trip. The young guns surfed
every available wave and Ron took his turn showing how it should be done.
I don’t know how many times Ron has run this section over the years but it
must be about 100.
Recently the club has had members paddle some fairly bumpy bits of water,
like for instance, Huka Falls and McLarens Falls (with varying degrees of style
and grace) but will they still be paddling rapids like Jeff’s Joy when they are
seventy. Well, they quite possibly could be but they have a long way to go
first, like another 50 years.
Congratulations Ron from your club mates at the Waikato Kayak Club and a
big thanks to his friends at Canoe & Kayak Taupo for putting on a birthday do
for him.
Terry
Dave Austin is another Waikato Kayak Club Life Member who has known Ron
since Lake Taupo was an active volcano (almost) and has a few snippets to
add that will pose more questions and hopefully, more stories.
I got to know Ron around 31 years ago. It must have been somewhere like
the Full James rapid as he was not an ardent follower of slalom. He lived in
Ohaupo, Trish and I in Whangarei. We had ideas of touring N.Z. in our Bedford
camper, came down from Whangarei to Hamilton around 1977 and stayed
in our camper at Ron and Barbs house for what was supposed to be a few
days and ended up being two months. They had the old house which later
was demolished for the new Lockwood. Around 1985 I remember helping
Ron make a fleet of fiber-glass boats with the distinctive Ron Moore knee
bubbles in the deck. Many will know the time he took his beloved cortina
station wagon to Full James. It was turned into a convertible by a falling tree.
And Ron will try to forget the day he paddled K Gorge in flood and went for
a swim. Thank god that only the boat came off second best and Ron was OK.
But it was a nasty swim.
But one person, his wife Barb, has kept him on track and taken him all over the
place on canoeing trips, with copious amounts of food and drink for everyone.
As they say, behind every great man is a greater woman (I will get 10 brownie
points for that one from Trish).
As I get closer and closer to sixty, the more I admire Ron’s ability to run
rivers which some find difficult. He shames me into keeping on running the
rapids too.
70 who would believe it? To think I knew him all those years ago, when I was
a mere 23 year old.
Happy paddling Ron
from Dave (& Trish) Austin