Save the dates, the PRANZ annual meetup is back for the 9th edition! The 2024 event will be held from Thursday 11th to Tuesday 16th January at the Riverside Holiday Park in Murchison. We’re moving “up the road” (SH6) this year to Murchison, but taking the amazing catering from the 2023 event with us.
The event has been extended to 5 days and the organising committee is looking to include more diversity of activities including workshops, presentations, and short courses. The usual group paddles will be on offer to take advantage of the many river sections nearby, including the mighty Buller and tributaries.
The location should make for short travel days, as we have so many sections available nearby.
The crew who did the fantastic catering at the Reefton meet will provide catering with dinner on Thursday and breakfast and dinner on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Monday and Tuesday will be self-catered, or you can take advantage of the local Murchison cafes and restaurants. There is a Four Square in town for food supplies, but the options are limited so bring what you need with you if possible.
We’ll be staying at Riverside Holiday Park, which has a range of cabin and camping options. You will need to book your own accommodation through their website. There will be a marquee set up with seating – heaps of space for socialising and events, whatever the weather.
The organising team has lined up some amazing workshops, some of these will incur an additional cost as they are being run by professional instructors. We will be seeking registrations of interest in workshops and will let all plenty to do and will release a tentative program as soon as we are able. If you have any suggestions for content you’d like to see included or can deliver, feel free to drop us an email, otherwise lock in the dates, and get ready to get wet!
We realise there is a lot of experience in the community that could be shared, so if you’ve got a skill you want to share, or a session you want to run, eg knot practice or how to gopro, get in touch.
Key Details
Riverside Holiday Park, 19 Riverview Road, Murchison 7191, New Zealand
Dates: 11 – 16 January 2024
Cost: $200 per person, plus your accommodation at Riverside. Some optional workshops may come at an extra cost.
How to get tickets
1. BE A PRANZ MEMBER. PRANZ registration is $45 (1st August – 31st July membership year)
2. REGISTER for the event on the form below.
3. PURCHASE EVENT TICKET, $200
4. Book your accommodation at Riverside (tent spot, cabin, or caravan park)
4. Make sure you are on the 2024 National Meetup event page on PRANZ Facebook to keep up to date with changes and announcements.
Sign up!
Now go book your accommodation at https://www.riversidemurchison.co.nz/
What to expect
Location
National Packrafting Meetup locations are chosen for their variety of accessible river sections, with mainly G1-2+ options (portagable G3) for low or high river flows and oh the scenery!
Riverside Holiday Park, 19 Riverview Road, Murchison 7191, New Zealand
Schedule
The event starts with registration on Thursday afternoon and a welcome dinner. Friday, Saturday and Sunday will have group paddles, workshops, and other activities.
We’re expecting that many will want to take advantage of the location to do an overnight paddle, and so will dial back the activities on Monday and Tuesday.
Accommodation
The event registration fee does not include accommodation. Riverside Holiday Park has options available to suit everyone. Book early if you want to snag a cabin.
If you want to stay elsewhere go for it, but you’ll need to be at Riverside for food, trip organising, and most of the socializing.
Transport and Carpooling
We encourage carpooling. Please bring cash $5’s/$10’s to reimburse drivers.
Day Trips
Most days will be divided into a morning and an afternoon session. That might be two river runs, or a river run and a workshop, or a late cafe based start and an afternoon river run.
The Meetup will include options for packrafting each day depending on weather and river flows and will be discussed at briefings each morning. The trips at the event are entirely volunteer-led.
Outings take place on sections of rivers with rapids up to class 3.
We encourage doing the same section more than once, to see what you can learn from the second time. It means you know where the play spots are and can maximise the enjoyment and learning.
We do our best to have volunteer-led trips for everyone, but please remember that we only have as many trips as the volunteers are willing to lead. Be kind to your trip leader 🙂
There will be official PRANZ trips, and privately organised trips.
We don’t want to see anyone going through the blacklisted spots during the PRANZ event. This will likely include Ariki Falls and Maruia Falls.
Social
We will have a large covered area for the event at Riverside. This plus the catering and accessible river sections will allow a good amount of time for socializing with everyone in the evening and for a variety of talks and workshops off-river too!
Didymo
The event will have a space set up for everyone to clean their boats before heading home.
Getting There
This is a busy time of year for ferries if coming from the North Island, so please book early.
We encourage carpooling, you can use the Facebook event to coordinate.
Pre-meet Instruction
The PRANZ national meetup is a great place for newer paddlers to meet others and hone their skills but isn’t for absolute beginners. We expect that participants will have done a packrafting beginners course or other whitewater paddling training. Check out our list of training providers.
Volunteering
This is the main national event for the association and relies heavily on volunteer work to make it happen. We could not do it without you!
Activities
Ideas “floated” so far include:
Commercial operators running courses, bike rafting, self rescue practice, boofing session, gear repair workshop, outdoor 1st aid, family river option, public intro session to come experience a packraft, swift water rescue course, trip reports – 15mins for people to present and inspire, packraft polo, BBQ night, film night, commercial operators demoing boats & gear.
We’re seeing what we can make happen.
