Perilous Canoe Attempt On Clarence River

Press, Volume C, Issue 29480, 5 April 1961, Page 14

Perilous Canoe Attempt On Clarence River

Two Christchurch men, Mr Warren Jones and Mr lan Clark, had a narrow escape from death when they were pinned under water against a big rock in the Clarence river which they were attempting to navigate by kayak at Easter. After eventually fighting their way to the surface, they repaired their damaged craft and continued their journey, but crashed over an unexpected waterfall. They abandoned the attempt after covering 25 of a projected 125-miie trip. Mr Clark is an adult education tutor at the University of Canterbury and Mr Jones is a motor parts wholesaler. Both are experienced mountaineers and canoeists. ,

In February last year the same twb men successfully navigated the Waimakariri river from the Bealey hotel to the Gorge bridge, a distance of about 40 miles, in six hours. They used the same 18ft two-man German folding kayak in which they came to grief on the Clarence. The six hours on the Waimakariri were so exhilarating and the scenery and quietness so satisfying that they planned to try the Clarence this summer. They were aware that Dr. Brian Mason and Mr Joe White, about seven years ago, were the only persons known to have made this trip by canoe. The earlier pair had to spend a day and a half repairing their smashed canoe.

Four-Day Trip Messrs Jones and Clark, both members of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club and experienced in river work, intended to try the Clarence last February but were delayed until Easter. As Easter was early and the summer had been dry, their guess that the river would be low proved right, but they die not bargain on the coldness of the water. If all went well they hoped to journey about 125 miles from the

junction of the Acheron and Clarence rivers, behind Hanmer Springs, to the Clarence bridge on the main highway in four days. They put the canoe in the river early on Saturday morning and had a taste of its perils within five minutes. The kayak got wedged between two big boulders with deep pools on either side, but they got it free without getting into the water. The next two hours passed unevenfully, apart from thrills on the rapids. Twelve to 16 miles down, stream at the entrance to the gorge they beached their craft to repair two holes in the rubberised canvas covering of the canoe. From there on the valley closed in, the river flowed more swiftly and obstacles became more numerous but the trip seemed to be going fairly well. Then, on rounding a bend, the men saw a rock 20ft high and almost as wide, in the middle of the river with the water rushing away on either side. They tried for the righthand stream but found themselves powerless in the grip of the current. The kayak crashed head-on into the rock. Trapped Under Water The bow crumpled and then, seemingly quite slowly, the stern swung broadside on to the river and the kayak was pinned by the pressure of the water to Lae rock. The next moment it had turned over. As he went under, Mr Clark remembered vididly the warning given by Mr Joe White about the dangers of being pinned under water by pressure. “Joe White did not exaggerate in the least.” he said yesterday. Ten feet under water Mr Clark fought frantically on finding his foot caught in the ribs of the kayak. When he did get himself free he found the bulk of the kayak prevented him reaching the surface. But in the nick of time the current threw the canoe clear and Mr Clark was swept with it round the deep channel to the right. A moment later he saw Mr Jones surface. He had been pinned to the rock by the pressure of water alone. The only way he could get free was to put his back against the rock and make a mighty lunge against the current with the full strength of his legs. Lower down the swimming canoeists were able to catch and beach their kayak, straighten the bent frame as best they could (the cover

had not been holed) and, though shaken and cold, resume their journey about 3 p.m.

The gorge narrowed still further to a river width of only about 15 feet It began to rain. Rounding another bend the men came upon “a sick-making sight” The river appeared to vanish immediately ahead, though it was visible several hundred yards down. By the time they had realised the meaning of this they were being swept over a waterfall and thought this was the finish. It was—for the kayak if not for them. Crash Over Fall

The craft rushed over a seething mass of white water, dropped, and landed with a sickening crunch on a broad flat-topped boulder. For a moment it poised, ridiculously still, and then lurched clear half full of water. With the aid of the current and with a lot of luck the crew edged it to the bank and found a narrow ledge on which to land.

The kayak was so badly damaged—perhaps its back is broken—that the crew decided they could never complete repairs and the journey by the end of the Easter break. The nearest route to safety was the way they had come, back up the gorge to

the Acheron river and so to the Hanmer road. They dismantled the kayak and stowed it 30ft above river level and put their gear in two of the folding canoe's three carrying bags which they packed upstream. “Moon Rainbow” For three hours they “boulder-hopped" up the Clarence and, where the gorge had sheer cliffs, they climbed over spurs until they reached the Dillon river junction where they slept under matagauri bushes for the night Seeing “moon rainbtlw” was their only compensation. On Sunday at 6 a.m. they began another four and a half hours of precarious scrambling until they reached the Acheron junction. On the Hanmer road they got a lift and spent Sunday afternoon in the hot Hanmer Springs pool. Messrs Clark and Jones estimate that they covered 25 miles of their projected 125mile trip down the Clarence. They still have to tramp it again to recover the kayak. And what of their next canoe trip? “The Avon on a quiet Sunday afternoon will do me for a bit,” said Mr Clark.