Taupō's Peter Cook has travelled the length of the Waikato River on his paddleboard. Photo / Supplied
Taupō's Peter Cook has travelled the length of the Waikato River on his paddleboard. Photo / Supplied
Taupō's Peter Cook loves the outdoors and loves a good challenge.
He got a good dose of both recently when he decided to travel the length of the Waikato River, from Lake Taupō to Port Waikato, on his paddleboard - getting out to walk around hazards such as dams, of course.
"I started at the yacht club and paddled down the river with all my sleeping gear and food," he says.
"I went all the way to Port Waikato, which was about 420km over eight days. I had to walk around control gates, the Huka Falls and all the other dams.
"It's something I've had in my mind for a number of years. I enjoy paddleboarding, I enjoy adventures and I enjoy rivers so it ticked a lot of boxes. There's something special about hopping on a river and just going."
Peter says he was lucky to get perfect weather for the journey.
"That made it easier. The hardest bit was walking around the dams because the board weighs about 15kg, it's a big, long board, but the longest walk was only a couple of kilometres.
Peter carried his camping gear on his paddleboard, ready to set up camp each night. Photo / Supplied
"It felt good to get to the end, I would've been happier if it was longer I think. You just get into the groove of it."
He did not do any specific training for the journey, as an avid paddleboarder, he is on the water often anyway.
"Because it's not a race or anything, I just go as far as I can each day. I just set up camp each day with no preplanned places to get to.
"I've done water sports all my life and I used to do a lot of kayaking, the paddleboard is a nice change from that. The family and kids are all into it as well so it's a cool thing to do together.
"I'd rather do something like that than a sea kayak, you see more, you're more comfortable, you're not sitting on your bum all day.
"People say 'oh, you must have awesome balance' but I don't really, I just do a lot of it."
Peter Cook's trusty paddleboard which he travelled down the Waikato River on. Photo / Supplied
Peter is no stranger to long-distance journeys.
He paddleboarded around the perimeter of Lake Taupō about five years ago, which was about 150km, and swam the perimeter over 13 days about 12 years ago.
Looking ahead, Peter would like to take on the Whanganui River.
"That will involve a bit more wilderness than the Waikato. A lot of the Waikato River you're close to roads and towns - but not all of it. Whanganui will be a lot more away from civilisation, which will be nice, and a few more rapids up the top which will be a little more challenging.
Peter Cook spent four days paddling down the Waikato River. Photo / Supplied
"I'll probably look at doing that next summer. With the chance of falling in, it's more of a summer activity.
