Some of the practices described here may now be dangerous. Repeat them if you so desire at your own risk, but be careful!
The Autapu Rapid is located about 7 km above Pipiriki.
It is a straight run with a series of pressure waves which make it an exciting rapid if you go right through it. The waves are on a slight angle to the flow, so you tend to get kicked out to the right and rolled over. Be warned and keep your bows at right angles to the waves. If you are more timid (or wise), you can bypass the waves and go down alongside them once you have gone through the head of the rapid. But don't get too far away from the waves as you will then be in the backwash which will slow you up considerably.
Alongside the rapid is a shingle bank which you can access easily with the assistance of the backwash. You can stop there to drain your canoe of water if you shipped water, or to enjoy the spectacle of others going through the rapid.
When I first started going down the river with Scout parties, the Autapu was one of our favourite rapids because of the roller-coaster rides that it gave us. Back in those days, we used to go through the centre of everything, and as our canoes were mostly canadians, we inevitably got swamped in this rapid.
On the Third Dominion Scout Cruise in 1954, we had the use of a Maori canoe. It was long enough to hold 6 crew with their gear and was so long and heavy that it cut through the waves rather than riding over them. It filled with water of course, but being made of wood, didn't sink. When it floated into calm water, the crew who were swimming by that stage, rocked it from side to side, sloshed out the water and climbed back in to paddle on again.
I discovered the advantages of kayaks on my third trip and then designed my own which was especially intended for Whanganui River cruising. It had roomy bows to give bouyancy to help lift it over the waves, and it made stowing gear easier. Many of my Scouts made these canoes.
On these trips, we would usually stop at the Autapu and camp by the shingle bank (this campsite has been washed away now by floods). With empty canoes we would enjoy ourselves shooting the rapid time and time again. It was easy to drag the canoe up to the head of the rapid and make another trip. We would go down on lilos and then we would swim it. Actually, swimming is not quite the right word as all you had to do was to tread water hard, especially in the troughs, to keep your head above the water. The current took you through.
The rapid was no real obstacle to the riverboats, they just forged ahead up the backwash, crossed into the main channel upstream of the waves and carried on up river.
On a couple of occasions, the river was in flood when we arrived at the Autapu and it was buried by floodwaters - the river waters extended from bank to bank and there were no waves. The campsite was submerged and the wisest thing to do was to head to shelter at Pipiriki.
You will note that in the photos, no one is wearing a life jacket. As far as I am aware, they were not made for leisure canoeing until about the mid 1970s.
We were all good swimmers - indeed, it was one of our requirements that you had to be able to swim 100 yards (about 93 metres) in clothes before you would be accepted for the trip. And as we had experienced members taking the lead and following at the rear, anyone who fell out or swamped could get assistance from them.
Back in those days, there was no 'ozone hole' to worry about, so we all got good suntans on these trips of ours which took us through from Taumarunui to Wanganui in about 10 days.
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