Keith Riley (left) and Pat de Jong paddle through a wave in white water on the Wanganui River on the West Coast. Photo / Zak Shaw Photography
In her professional role, Kelly Wood might have been wary of what her team put themselves through to win their division of the True West Adventure Race.
Wood, a 46-year-old Gisborne mother of two, has just started a new career in health and safety.
Before that, she was a firefighter for 15 years, first in South Auckland and Kawerau and – for the last eight – in Gisborne.
She was the only woman in the winning four-person mixed team in the True West 48-hour race, and the only team member from Gisborne.
Competing as Packraft NZ, Wood, Keith Riley, Barny Young and Pat de Jong completed the course in 1 day, 6 hours and 1 minute, well inside the 48-hour limit but only 27m ahead of the runners-up.
It was the second time Packraft NZ, with the same personnel, had won the race. The first win came in 2024 when the race started in Hokitika.
Last year, the team did the MAGNIficent adventure race in Fiordland for a different challenge. They finished eighth in an effort beset by navigational errors, bike mechanical problems and broken paddles.
This year, they were back for True West, which set off from Hari Hari, about 70km south of Hokitika. Their race started just after 3am on Friday, February 20.
For the next 30 hours, they hiked, rafted and biked 243km through some of the West Coast’s most scenic and challenging country.
“Probably the hardest part of the race was when we were on our bikes about two in the morning on Saturday after nearly 24 hours of racing,” Wood said.
“Keith [Riley] couldn’t keep his eyes open. We were going at 30km/h on our bikes and he kept falling asleep.
“We decided to stop, but we knew another team were pretty close, so we gave Keith three minutes to sleep on the side of the road, then gave him a No-Doz and he was right as rain. At transition, we had Coca-Cola.
“The race was in five stages and, after two of them, you could come back to your ‘bin’, replenish your food and grab your bike, and we had a stash of Coke there.”
The Packraft NZ team is named after team member Young’s company.
“He designs and imports them,” Wood said. “A packraft is an inflatable boat, weighing about 6kg. It’s rolled up and carried in a pack. We had two doubles between us. You carry your own paddle – a four-piece split paddle that goes in your pack. You do quite a bit of bush-bashing, so you don’t want your paddle getting snagged.
“You also have a helmet and a lifejacket or personal flotation device, and we have drysuits as well. They’re one-piece suits that keep you warm, with neoprene cuffs on the sleeves, and at the ankles and neck. It’s compulsory to have a wetsuit or drysuit.
“The river we were on – the Wanganui – was freezing, a southerly was blowing and it was raining.”
They had started the race on a clear night, but soon it was raining heavily. The Wanganui presented “big, bouncy water with lots of waves”.
“Originally, all teams had to portage [carry a boat between navigable waters] a 300m section, but when the river came up, the river safety team decided all teams had to portage a kilometre of Grade 4 section [more challenging water]. The greater part of the river is probably Grade 3.”
Wood grew up in Australia but has lived in New Zealand since she was 18.
Her sporting background is mainly in whitewater kayaking, and she has always trekked and mountain-biked.
“I got into adventure racing post-Covid,” she said.
“I used to compete in the New Zealand women’s whitewater rafting team, but Covid killed that. This is a new buzz – everything I like in one event: trekking, mountain-biking and kayaking.
“Packrafting is a pastime that has come about in the past few years. It makes rivers more accessible. You can walk into them and paddle out.
“The other three team members also have a whitewater kayaking background. We’re all outdoor enthusiasts. It’s just a cool dynamic ... very chilled, and we get the job done.
“I felt pretty good at the end of it – definitely tired. We really pushed it because we knew [runners-up] Team Gearshop were close behind. We were stoked to get the win.”
Their prize for winning their division was a bottle of wine and a $900 outdoor clothing voucher, to be split among the four of them. But for them – and the other teams – the big prize had already been enjoyed: the experience of the Nathan Fa’avae-designed course.
Training in Gisborne gets fitted into a hectic domestic schedule. The whole family – Wood, husband Rhys Hancock, sons Jonny, 11, and Seth, 9 – are outdoor enthusiasts. Wood’s training will sometimes comprise putting her sons’ and husband’s dive weights in her backpack and going up and down nearby hills.
“I just have to fit it in as best I can,” she said.
“Most of my kayak training is on the town rivers, flat water.
“We [the Packraft NZ team] haven’t decided what our next event will be; probably something down south, challenging and scenic.
“We are pretty keen to race together again, and it could be the next Godzone.”
The last Godzone adventure race took place in Marlborough across eight days in late November and early December last year after the 2024 race was cancelled. Details of the next race have yet to be announced.