Explore red zone by kayak
Plenty of Christchurch residents walk, run or cycle through the city’s largely abandoned red zone, but few get a chance to see it from water level.
A new kayak tour on the Avon O¯ ta¯ karo River offers the opportunity to do just that and it’s a remarkably relaxing way to get a whole new perspective on this part of Christchurch.
Katarina Te Maiharoa set up Christchurch Sea Kayaking in late October after a stint living at Castle Hill helping run the St Andrews College outdoor education centre.
Before that she was a professional kayak guide in Milford Sound, Fiordland and in the Abel Tasman National Park, so with my limited kayaking experience, I feel in good hands.
Trips start at the jetty at the Margaret Mahy Family Playground with a full safety briefing. The trickiest part after that is trying to climb into the kayak while avoiding the copious quantities of duck poo.
The 19km river tour from city to sea crosses the estuary to Moncks Bay, and Te Maiharoa is planning a shorter 14 km paddle ending at South Brighton Park.
Departures are timed to hit the outgoing tide so the paddling is easy and Te Maiharoa, who starts the trip with a karakia, provides a chatty commentary laced with stories related to her Waitaha heritage. After letting out a cooee to test the echo, we emerge from under the Madras Street Bridge, gliding past the Firefighters Reserve and the striking twisted steel girders from the twin towers that make up the 9/11 Memorial.
With the sharp contrast of bright sunshine and deep shade, the rumble of traffic above, and the dappled reflections on their undersides, the bridges are one of my favourite parts of the river experience.
As we hit the red zone, it is noticeably quieter and the city centre feels very distant. Former driveway entrances and gardens are the only reminders we are passing through a once-bustling part of the Garden City.
There is plenty of wildlife ducks accompanied by powderpuff cute offspring, Canadian geese, a fantail and a black swan. Occasional walkers and their dogs are the only human presence.
We don’t see any, but there are also eels, trout, inanga (whitebait), and further down-river flounder too
Te Maiharoa says vegetation on the banks has been left to grow so there is somewhere for whitebait to spawn.
Sadly their popularity leads to whitebaiters putting unsightly plastic ‘‘spotting’’ strips into the water, and one man has so many lined up on the river bed it looks like an underwater pedestrian crossing.
Te Maiharoa scoops up a floating plastic bottle with her paddle and stows it in the boat.
One of her aims is to educate people about the importance of caring for our waterways. ‘‘I’m hoping as a business I can be an advocate for the river. It needs a lot of love.’’
"I'm hoping as a business I can be an advocate for the river. It needs a lot of love."
Katarina Te Maiharoa, Avon O¯ ta¯ karo kayak guide