Seasonal Outlooks

By Brian Megaw | October 16, 2023

Seasonal Outlooks Over the years, I have listened to so many seasonal forecasts. I distinctly remember attending a concessionaires meeting in Spring 2022 and being told that the outlook was for drought the coming summer and that we should gear up on that assumption. Of course, what did eventuate? The wettest summer in living memory. [...]

Against Expectations, Whio!

By Brian Megaw | July 24, 2023

Against Expectations, Whio! Going into this Winter, I did not have great expectations or hopes about the success of the Whio or Blue Duck breeding season. The easterly weather patterns since last Winter had brought regular flooding, and the continuation of these patterns meant that the primary breeding streams in the Ruahine Ranges were experiencing [...]

Guilty by Association

By Brian Megaw | July 18, 2023

Guilty by Association As many readers will know, following Covid, we have taken River Valley in a different direction. This different direction involves purposefully dropping the availability of accommodation at the Lodge. In particular, repurposing the space that was backpacker dorm rooms to a lovely big open meeting room, the development of new ensuited accommodation, [...]

Picking Yourself Up Again

By Brian Megaw | February 21, 2023

Picking Yourself Up Again Picking Yourself Up Again I can only barely comprehend the scale of damage that Cyclone Gabrielle has wrought on parts of the North Island, especially just over the Ruahine Range in Hawkes Bay. There will be a staggering cost in money, materials, time and mental health before the devastation is remotely [...]

Unprecedented Summer River Flows mean Great Rafting

By Brian Megaw | January 22, 2023

Unprecedented Summer River Flows mean Great Rafting A typical summer rafting season on an undammed free flowing North Island, New Zealand river such as our home river, the Rangitikei, works something like this. Spring – September to mid-November – plenty of water, but overall, river flows tend to taper off by late November, but even [...]

Is This a Summer Like No Other?

By Brian Megaw | January 11, 2023

Is This a Summer Like No Other? Day after day, a cloud barrier sits atop the Ruahine Ranges, a low mountain range east of River Valley Lodge. Most of the time, the rain associated with this cloud bank does not reach as far as Pukeokahu, the farming district where River Valley is situated. This is [...]

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