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 <strong>Kayak</strong> Club. Formerly known as the (Hamilton <strong>Canoe</strong> 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 <strong>Kayak</strong> Club and a big thanks to his friends at <strong>Canoe</strong> & <strong>Kayak</strong> Taupo for putting on a birthday do for him. Terry Dave Austin is another Waikato <strong>Kayak</strong> 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
ISSUE FORTYone • 2007 17
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