Not sure how I missed this video when it first came out? It’s gorgeous I love it. Perfect level of rapids for me. Fun but no death if you make an error 😂. Would love to see more packrafting
Definitely one of the best beginner friendly packrafting trips you can do! We have one more packrafting video on our channel about the Hokitika Gorge on the West Coast
So good Huw! Need to go back when there's some more flow. The rapids at the end are so fun We're heading up the West Coast for about 8 weeks in November, so hopefully do a lot of Packrafting in that time
The gorge with the strainer is the one right by the hut, you can just put in before it and paddle a bit up the gorge a bit to check it out. You'd only hit it if you put in by the hut and tried to paddle through the gorge. It's an easy paddle, all the rapids are near the end and are easy to portage if you want. If you go onto packraftingtrips.nz there's a good write up of the trip
Awesome stuff! Did y’all do any courses or anything to get yourself into packrafting or just went straight into getting the gear and getting out there?
We took a 2 day course with Packrafting Queenstown, which is highly recommended. If you're just out on a lake or something like that, then a course probably isn't necessary. If you're planning to run rivers then I'd say it's mandatory
Thanks Chris, the video was great! We are from Australia and have just been to South Is NZ. We have done the Hooker Valley Trail while overthere and now like this one on Caples River when next we go over. How many kilometers did you walk before you came back packrafting? Thank Marli & David (Brisbane)
From Greenstone Carpark it's about 9 km (2-3 hours) to Mid Caples hut. Just before the bridge to the hut there is a path down to the river and is a good spot to put in Have a wonderful time!
Good to hear from you again Gary!! Danya has a Wolverine and I have a Gnarwhal. Danya loves hers, but I kind of wish I went with a custom Caribou with self bailing floor, just to save on some weight. Packrafts are awesome though!
@@ChrisandDanya Thanks for the update - I've gone for a Ranger for bike touring/car based/photography platform but am looking at a smaller lighter one for hiking/WW so your thoughts on saving weight are interesting. Keep up the great work with your videos.
I believe the Caribou could get a great option for you! It's designed for bike rafting and is pretty lightweight and capable. The Scout is Alpacka's lightest raft you can get, but is definitely designed for calm water
awesome! that water looked amazingly clear. Have been looking into the pack rafting idea more lately but man those rafts aren't cheap hey. Are the rafts you're using here the Alpacka "classic" ?
They definitely aren't cheap! I'm using a Gnarwhal and Danya is using a Wolverine, so boats that are good for pretty much any situation. Probably overkill for the level we'll be at for the next 2 years. Are you located in NZ? There is definitely cheaper options, but Alpacka is definitely at the top for quality + durability
@@ChrisandDanya Cheers! was just back on the Alpacka site and noticed the differences. Im in Aus but after watching your vids since you moved its made me want to get to NZ even more. Between The MTB and the hiking was enough now heres another thing to add to the list of possibilities lol
One of the biggest reasons we bit the bullet and bought them while we were here, is that NZ is so good for packrafting. There are so many trips to do and it's got a really good community. There are some local packrafting companies in NZ that build them as well. If we didn't buy the Alpacka's, we would have gone with a local brand, Koaro Packrafts. I also think the ones we got are a bit overkill, as I don't think we'll be doing anything over Grade 2 and you can do that in a Caribou or Classic raft and save a lot of weight. One other thing to keep in mind is the PFDs + Paddles can be quite expensive as well. It's not a cheap hobby 😅
@@ChrisandDanya great advice! I'll keep researching and take a look at the Koaro rafts. Its always a compromise isnt, what you want to do, weight, cost ect Thanks again for the tips.
The own thing we'd suggest is a self bailing floor, which you can add to most boats. Otherwise you'll be pulling over to empty your boat every time you go through a rapid
Nice one!
Thank you!
Not sure how I missed this video when it first came out? It’s gorgeous I love it. Perfect level of rapids for me. Fun but no death if you make an error 😂. Would love to see more packrafting
Definitely one of the best beginner friendly packrafting trips you can do!
We have one more packrafting video on our channel about the Hokitika Gorge on the West Coast
Excellent stuff Chris, perfectly filmed and presented. In watching these you can really see your positivity.
Thank you Mark! 🙏
W❤️W! That’s Awesome! Cheers for more incredible and exciting adventures! 🥂❤️✨
Thanks for watching Juan! 🙏
Great fun! The water colour & clarity is amazing. Nice work once again to bring us great footage-thanks a bunch!
Thanks for the continued support Alan!
The water colour is always so beautiful in New Zealand. I don't think the video even captures it that well!
All your videos look amazing!! Can’t wait to watch more of the most beautiful country in the world. Miss NZ 😢
Thank you so much ❤️🙏
We hope you get the chance to visit NZ again!
More more more! ☺️
Sooooo good! How amazing is the caples as a first mission
So good Huw! Need to go back when there's some more flow. The rapids at the end are so fun
We're heading up the West Coast for about 8 weeks in November, so hopefully do a lot of Packrafting in that time
That looked like so much fun moose 👍👍👍👍
Was so good, can't wait to do more trips
Lovely! And very well filmed.
Thank you!
the nature is so beautiful !!
We are very lucky!
Great video, looks like so much fun, you guys are living the life!
It is so much fun, we are definitely very lucky!
That looked amazing. Definitely keen to watch more of your trips
Got some more in the bank, just need to edit!
That looked like a lot of fun! Definitely excited to see more of those!
Got some more recorded, just need to edit them
👍👍❤❤
Well done. Anything for a challenge with you two.
It wasn't too much of a challenge 😅. Some of the packraftjng we did on the West Coast was a bit of an eye opener!
Nice video, enticing me down south for this. Where was the gorge with the stainer? Did you have to portage? Any info on that aspect would be grat.
The gorge with the strainer is the one right by the hut, you can just put in before it and paddle a bit up the gorge a bit to check it out. You'd only hit it if you put in by the hut and tried to paddle through the gorge.
It's an easy paddle, all the rapids are near the end and are easy to portage if you want. If you go onto packraftingtrips.nz there's a good write up of the trip
Awesome stuff! Did y’all do any courses or anything to get yourself into packrafting or just went straight into getting the gear and getting out there?
We took a 2 day course with Packrafting Queenstown, which is highly recommended.
If you're just out on a lake or something like that, then a course probably isn't necessary. If you're planning to run rivers then I'd say it's mandatory
Thanks Chris, the video was great! We are from Australia and have just been to South Is NZ. We have done the Hooker Valley Trail while overthere and now like this one on Caples River when next we go over. How many kilometers did you walk before you came back packrafting? Thank Marli & David (Brisbane)
From Greenstone Carpark it's about 9 km (2-3 hours) to Mid Caples hut. Just before the bridge to the hut there is a path down to the river and is a good spot to put in
Have a wonderful time!
Loved it - just ordered my first packraft for bike/raft packing here in Oz. Looks like you both have the Gnarwhal - still happy with them?
Good to hear from you again Gary!!
Danya has a Wolverine and I have a Gnarwhal. Danya loves hers, but I kind of wish I went with a custom Caribou with self bailing floor, just to save on some weight.
Packrafts are awesome though!
@@ChrisandDanya Thanks for the update - I've gone for a Ranger for bike touring/car based/photography platform but am looking at a smaller lighter one for hiking/WW so your thoughts on saving weight are interesting. Keep up the great work with your videos.
I believe the Caribou could get a great option for you! It's designed for bike rafting and is pretty lightweight and capable.
The Scout is Alpacka's lightest raft you can get, but is definitely designed for calm water
awesome! that water looked amazingly clear. Have been looking into the pack rafting idea more lately but man those rafts aren't cheap hey. Are the rafts you're using here the Alpacka "classic" ?
They definitely aren't cheap! I'm using a Gnarwhal and Danya is using a Wolverine, so boats that are good for pretty much any situation. Probably overkill for the level we'll be at for the next 2 years.
Are you located in NZ? There is definitely cheaper options, but Alpacka is definitely at the top for quality + durability
@@ChrisandDanya Cheers! was just back on the Alpacka site and noticed the differences. Im in Aus but after watching your vids since you moved its made me want to get to NZ even more. Between The MTB and the hiking was enough now heres another thing to add to the list of possibilities lol
One of the biggest reasons we bit the bullet and bought them while we were here, is that NZ is so good for packrafting. There are so many trips to do and it's got a really good community.
There are some local packrafting companies in NZ that build them as well. If we didn't buy the Alpacka's, we would have gone with a local brand, Koaro Packrafts.
I also think the ones we got are a bit overkill, as I don't think we'll be doing anything over Grade 2 and you can do that in a Caribou or Classic raft and save a lot of weight.
One other thing to keep in mind is the PFDs + Paddles can be quite expensive as well. It's not a cheap hobby 😅
@@ChrisandDanya great advice! I'll keep researching and take a look at the Koaro rafts. Its always a compromise isnt, what you want to do, weight, cost ect
Thanks again for the tips.
The own thing we'd suggest is a self bailing floor, which you can add to most boats. Otherwise you'll be pulling over to empty your boat every time you go through a rapid
Where was the put in and take out?
Put in was just before the bridge to McKeller hut. Take out is at Greenstone carpark