When Gareth Winter wants to find out about something, he doesn't mess around.
So when he wanted to find out about the Ruamahanga River, he didn't just sit back and look at books: he jumped in it. Mr Winter, Masterton's town historian, entered the river near the Roaring Stag Hutnear the top and swam, tubed and walked down the other 100km. It took eight days all up, the trip ending with a beer at the Lake Ferry Hotel.
It was an epic undertaking, broadening the understanding of the great river, of its history and of people's impact on it.
Although a book is in the works, those who can't wait could head to Aratoi and catch Mr Winter talk about his experiences in A Ruamahanga River Journey on Wednesday, February 22, at 7pm.
Mr Winter says people have often been unkind to the Ruamahanga: "A lot of it is about how we throw stuff into it and it doesn't like it. Trees have also been removed from the lower end of the 70 Mile Bush and some have been put back ... but not as many as were taken away in the first place."
