A Red Deer River Look - Alike

We finally had things line up, so we could get the raft on the water. Its first voyage of 2013 was great. Both Dave and I have been itching to use our boat since we got to the south island, but the weather has dealt us some big blows this year with rains turning many floatable rivers off color and high for extended periods. The last 2 days the stars aligned and gave us blue skies and some decent water conditions to head off and explore a west coast river. It turned out to be a really relaxing float with only a few spots to drive hard with the paddles, although we welcomed the new exercise.One of the highlights was watching our friend Serge get a smash of a take on top for the first time pounding cicadas from the front of the raft as Dave and I lined him up on banks to fish the edges. Another highlight was beaching the raft on the side of the river and exploring feeder streams and spring creeks that join the river - waters that you wouldn't otherwise be able to fish due to access. The main river we chose to raft  reminded us so much of our home water, the Red Deer river. For those of you familiar with the Red Deer, you'll see what I mean. Same banks (full of left over logs and beaten down bushes after high water), same long glides, some similar sized fish and even a few poplar stands on the side of the river to boot! Pretty neat to feel so at home in so many ways here.