Thought you might be interested in some photos of a recent river rafting trip for a kayaking friend's 50th birthday. The waterfall is 7

meters high and is promoted as the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world.  We have had a great summer - warm and dry, great for kayaking, not so great for farmers. I have done dozens of day trips but not so many overnighters although that will change with Easter and a few long weekends coming up.

I have been in hog heaven over the last few months because I have finally been told where the scallops are on the Manukau Harbour (Auckland's other harbour).  It involves a paddle of about a kilometer offshore to shallow water. You have to get out of your boat and feel for the scallops with your feet unless it is unusually calm and shallow, in which case you can see them. There is a limit of 20 per person per day so I have even managed to drag my non-kayaking wife and son with me on several occasions to double the take.

Apart from that this time of year also involves one of my other favourite hunter/gatherer kayaking activities - picking blackberries. There is nothing that beats drifting slowly down a river in the hot sun harvesting berries as you go.  We have a big kayaking conference this week and I am going down to co-present a paper on food with the emphasis on the hunter/gatherer side of things. Should be fun and I intend to cook some mussel fritters and make a seafood chowder for those who turn up for the session.

Hope you are all well. I really enjoy receiving your e-mails and love to hear of your trip plans. Hopefully I will be able to join you on one some day.

Kind regards,

Greg Dunning (A.k.a. Musselman)

Auckland, New Zealand