The put in:

From SH1, head down Kaimanawa Road, there is a left turn that takes you down and across the Potu intake weir. Cross the weir and swing left into the carpark area. Upstream of the weir is the Rangipo tailrace and Waikato Falls both are interesting to see. The weir itself takes water into the Potu Canal and feeds Lake Rotoaria then the Tokaanu power station. From the carpark on river right here is a track that leads down to the water that can be used for launching your boats.

The river:

This section is pitted with short steep sections and boulder gardens interspersed with stunning pools and clear water. Tree hazards are infrequent and there are generally good run outs to all rapids. There are a few holes that might hold a boat but these are avoidable. A confident paddler can scout from the boat on most rapids. The river is bordered by high cliffs on river left and occasional cliffs on river right until it opens out just after the Rangipo Prison road (Private, absolutely no river access), the river then mellows slightly and the gradient decreases, resulting in longer pools. Depending on the flows you can expect around two hours (plus geocaching time) on the water to Blue pool or about three and a half to four hours if you paddle to Turangi. The normal low flow is about 15 cumecs, at this flow the river is paddlable but a few rapids will be a bit bony depending on route choice. At 20 cumecs any bony patches are easily avoided. Flows of about 40 cumecs are still comfortable as this is about the natural flow rate of the river. Over 80 cumecs is high flows and some rapids move into the 3+ category. At 120 cumecs the river is in flood. The river has apparently been paddled at 900 cumecs but you wouldn't catch me on it at anything over 200 and even then only with a strong team.

You will likely see large numbers of trout in the clear water, they seem to know where the recreational fishing limits are and stay upstream in the gorge. On one paddling trip I chased a deer down two of the rapids, but it managed to get away. There are moderate numbers of Whio (Blue duck) on this section of river, it is likely you will see a couple of pairs. I have seen plenty of other bird life on the water including shags, paradise ducks and white faced heron. From a geological perspective there is plenty to look at with several distinct changes in rock types visible in some of the cliffs.

The cache:

This is placed about 2km from the get in. Just after a rapid know as "The Bitch" the river flows into a large eddy pool and takes a 90 degree turn to the left, an exposed rock shelf provides an ideal place to get ashore on river right. This area is sometimes used as a spot for commercial rafters to jump into the river with several height options available, including about a 10m jump into the main eddy pool. The original cache was found in different places by each group that located it and now appears to be lost. The cache was replaced with a log in a yellow waterproof torch body. The torch is tied high in a tree above the landing spot, just to add a touch of adventure and be well above any potential floods. Look carefully at the spoiler photo, the cache is just visible.

The get out:

A common get out is around the Blue Pool area, which is the first available road access point, the road to here is in good condition. Blue Pool is also used by the commercial rafters as a get out for the Grade 3 trips or a get in for the Grade 2 'family float' trips to Turangi. As a packrafter I chose to get out at Red Hut foot bridge, as this is the end of the best rapids, it's obvious and right next to the highway which is useful to hitchhike back to Kaimanawa Road. I have also paddled down as far as the SH1 road bridge, there are many accessible point around Turangi.

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY

Useful Links:

Tongario River Flows

Tongariro River Rafting company

Rafting New Zealand company