As promised, here are some pictures from the trip down the Maruia River yesterday. This is an incredibly beautiful area. My breath was taken by the scenery as much as the whitewater. The some of the rapids were bigger than anything we had paddled before but we did pretty well. I didn't swim at all, although Devon went in twice. We had to scout out a few of the rapids, but only decided to walk one. The water was perfectly clear and the trout abundant. The whole 17.5km took us about four hours to descend and I can't wait to go back!
The drive to Maruia is long, but at this time of the morning theres no traffic and the scenery is well lit. (Kids! Do not use your digital camera while operating a motor vehicle!)
Some rock formations near the falls.
A fencepost along the track to the put-in.
A nice sandy beach along the way. Sunbathing anyone?
At the put-in, after 150m dragging the kayaks along a track through the bush.
The rock tower we constructed on the river bank at the take-out. With the falls down-river we didn't want to miss it!
The Maruia Falls again. This willow tree stump has become wedged in the rock at the lip of the falls. It is growing and has sprouted many new branches. Its hydroponics, mother-nature style.
10:21:27 PM 
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