Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Pair on extension paddle

By Dean Taylor
Bay of Plenty Times·
22 Jan, 2013 04:02 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

While most people looked forward to taking it easy over the summer break, Hayden Titchener and his partner Julie Grant were heading off on an adventure.

The Dunedin couple set off on December 28, and paddled their $200 Trade Me canoe the length of the Waikato River.

It was meant to be from the source to the sea, but volcanic activity meant they started from the Blue Pool on the Tongariro River, paddled the Western Bays of Taupo and then to Port Waikato.

The former Te Awamutu man caught up with his parents Lois and Ken on the journey - they helped the couple at Arapuni Dam.

Mr Titchener is a contract outdoor instructor, working mainly for Otago Polytech and Outward Bound.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He says in his work he is always trying to get young people to extend themselves, so this 400km paddle was him extending himself.

"It's all relative," he says.

His partner is an outdoor leadership and management instructor at Otago Polytech, so they are both used to outdoor adventures.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This trip was something new.

Miss Grant says she wanted to explore more of New Zealand, especially the North Island. They bought the fixer-upper second hand canoe and planned their journey - making provisions stops at Taupo and Cambridge and carrying their needs with them in the open boat.

5Holing the boat on day one wasn't in the plan, but duct tape held out until they could get it plastic welded in Taupo.

While that added a day to their schedule, they finished ahead of time, underestimating the current as they got further north.

And it did provide the challenge they were after.

Lake Taupo had a reasonable swell, which meant extra care was needed.

And carrying all the gear and canoe around the dams was hard work.

Many didn't have tracks and some required lowering everything with ropes.

They also met some lovely people who helped, fed them and gave them somewhere to stay or camp.



The couple spent a bit of time in Te Awamutu before returning home and planning their next challenges.

First up on their agenda is a bike tour of Samoa and later sailing and sea kayaking around Stewart Island.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times
|Updated

Malachi Subecz inquest: Cousin made 10 attempts in three days to raise alarm about carer

Bay of Plenty Times

$1m buyers crazy for Hare Krishna barn with cars in the lounge - 'my busiest open home in three years'

Bay of Plenty Times
|Updated

'Shocking' cuts: 160-plus jobs at risk, campuses face closure


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Malachi Subecz inquest: Cousin made 10 attempts in three days to raise alarm about carer
Bay of Plenty Times
|Updated

Malachi Subecz inquest: Cousin made 10 attempts in three days to raise alarm about carer

'My concerns were real and unfortunately they were proven to be correct.'

15 Jul 01:19 AM
$1m buyers crazy for Hare Krishna barn with cars in the lounge - 'my busiest open home in three years'
Bay of Plenty Times

$1m buyers crazy for Hare Krishna barn with cars in the lounge - 'my busiest open home in three years'

15 Jul 12:52 AM
'Shocking' cuts: 160-plus jobs at risk, campuses face closure
Bay of Plenty Times
|Updated

'Shocking' cuts: 160-plus jobs at risk, campuses face closure

14 Jul 11:58 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP