A Place for Dancing

An amazing day on the river in Hawkes Bay with Mohaka Rafting .

While I have always loved the sea, I haven’t spent much time exploring the other waters - I thought lakes & rivers didn’t hold as much fascination as the seemingly ever-changing ocean. of course, I was completely wrong, as I discovered on a scouting trip along one of NZ’s rivers. I had the opportunity to join the guides as they checked established routes on the mighty Mohaka for changed conditions after winter such as debris or altered flows. This journey would only increase my love of the water - and respect for its force and power.

Rivers are some of the truly wildest places you will still find. The Mohaka runs through the Hawke’s Bay farmlands, cutting a deep through the landscape. Driving in there are no hints of its wilderness; you aren’t surrounded by bush or mountains or remoteness. Instead you trundle through farmland framed with fences, dirt tracks and woolsheds. The land feels shorn, stripped, safe. You put into the river at a lovely open little pool under a bridge, a safe, mellow little area popular for swimming and picnics. But within a few minutes of gentle floating, you are already committed- there’s no turning back, no exit point until you reach the end. Despite being meters from farmland, you have entered the wilderness.

The river runs deep through the landscape, cliffs towering either side, the farmland and pine plantations sheer out of sight. It feels like a secret, a guerrilla bastion of raw nature smuggled through the tamed land. The water builds in power, raw, terrifying, and beautiful. Consequences are real and the scenery changes surprisingly as the river winds through different moods. The constant soothing splashing belies the dangers we navigate. We stop frequently, scoping out the upcoming rapids as best we can before committing to a route. People have died here on rafting trips.

The biggest difference between this and the ocean is that rivers are an inevitable journey. I imagine these waters tracing paths, following the river until meeting the sea, the endless cycles. It’s all connected. The water behaves on the river in recognisable yet unfamiliar ways- breaking rapids over rocks, creating peaks and troughs, clear and murky all at once.

Mohaka means ‘a place for dancing’. The water flows in a haka or a waltz. There’s fear but also frolicking, and even a little surf. In rafting terms, a ‘surf’ is when you purposefully pull up into a standing wave and try and stay riding it as long as possible, controlling it with strong paddle strokes.

You can’t help but experience something deep, full of wonder and gratitude to be taken on such a journey by this beautiful flow. For Māori, water has always been taonga, and awa of deep significance. For an ocean-goer, it was a different kind of journey, a different kind of rhythm and ebb and flow, a flux that moves you deeper and deeper before you stumble back out at the end. There’s something beautifully untouchable about this environment, that refuses to be tamed, that cuts through civilisation. Thank you for your gift, river, of this journey; I will try and advocate for you in return.

I experienced both the grade 3 and 4/5 trips. Both were stunning in their own way. Grade 3 allowed for more fun and playful, relaxed cruising, swimming and scenery. 4/5 the consequences are real and a bit scary, and the landscape more wild and spectacular. Just remember to listen to your guide and paddle, paddle, paddle!