In mid April, Jon Parker, Dean Benvenuti, Cam from the USA and I met Scott Bothwell from Gisborne and kayaked the Hopuruahine Stream and the Ruakituri River, both next to lake Waikaremoana. First we paddled the first 500m of the Hopuruahine Cascades, which was pretty intense and took over two hours including scouting, exiting the river via a cliff and taking photos. We got out just before an 8 m drop which may have been paddleable, but we didn't have time to assess it or the big...