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A Freehold showcase. This organisation is fictional. The menu box on the left (the list at the bottom on a phone) tracks the menu items as you scroll, each one something you can ask for on your own build. Every build is bespoke: this shows the range, not a template.

Whitewater and touring on the braided Canterbury rivers

Get on the river. We have spare boats.

Southern Rivers Canoe Club gets people of every ability onto moving water, safely and often. New to paddling or twenty years in, there is a seat for you this Saturday.

A red kayak dwarfed by churning whitewater between tree ferns at Okere Falls on the Kaituna River.
A real New Zealand river. Okere Falls, on the Kaituna. On your build, this is your club's own river and your own paddlers, with a caption naming the exact spot.

Turn up on Saturday. We will sort a boat.

Meet at the river car park, 9am, gear provided.
Call or text 03 xxx xxxx · Email hello@example.org.nz

Book your first paddle
The season fixture board

What is on, one line at a time

SatWeekly

Saturday river run

An easy grade one or two stretch, at the pace of the group. First timers welcome.

Spare boats ready
TueWeekly

Tuesday pool session

Warm water, rolling and rescue practice. The best place to learn to feel steady.

Gear provided
SunFortnightly

Grade two river trip

A longer moving water day for paddlers who have done a few Saturdays. Safety cover on the water.

Some experience
SatMonthly

Moving water skills course

A full morning on ferry glides, eddies and reading the river. Bring a friend.

Spare boats ready
SunSummer

Flat water touring paddle

A calm lake or lower river ramble. Steady, social, no rapids. Good for all ages.

All abilities

Every session lands on the current line above, like a feature you meet as you paddle downstream. Not sure which line suits you? Turn up Saturday and we will point you at the right one.

Three kayakers running a drop together on a whitewater river.
The Saturday run: nobody paddles alone, and the group moves at the pace of its newest member.
A touring kayak beached on the shore of a calm mudstone gorge.
The other speed: flat water touring, calm and social.
Paddler stories

The recap from people who turned up not knowing how

Seen over a paddler's shoulder, a kayaker drops into churning whitewater below.
First season recap
I had never sat in a kayak. By the third Saturday I ran my first small rapid, upright and grinning. Nobody rushed me, and there was always a spare boat.
Mere, joined last spring
Back on the water recap
After my knee surgery I thought paddling was done. The club found a boat that suited me and eased me back in. Now I am out most weekends.
Tomasi, member of six years
River reports

A living page, kept fresh in a minute

A moody braided Canterbury river spreading across wide gravel flats under low cloud.
The braided rivers change week to week. The reports page keeps everyone reading the same water.
Sat
9 Aug

Waimak gorge running clean and low

A settled week has the river sitting low and friendly. Good conditions for Saturday newcomers. Wetsuits on, the water is still cold.

Flow: low and safe
Tue
5 Aug

Pool session moved to the later slot

The Tuesday rolling class shifts to 7pm for the rest of winter. Same pool, warmer changing rooms. Bring your togs under your gear.

Fri
1 Aug

Rain coming, weekend trip under review

Heavy rain is forecast in the headwaters. We will call the Sunday grade two by Saturday night. Watch this page or check with a trip leader.

Flow: rising, keep an eye on it
Static preview, not live here The site assistant

Answers in the club's own voice

Included with every Freehold site

A small chat helper trained only on your own words: your sessions, your gear, your safety rules. It answers the same questions a new paddler asks at the river car park, day and night.

On a real build this is switched on and answering for real. Below is a fixed preview of the kind of thing it says.