Packrafting Trips Rees Valley & Wanaka from Queenstown

Queenstown Pack Rafting Trips

Packrafting Queenstown specialises in small group guided packrafting trips and courses from our base in Queenstown, New Zealand. Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand and offers some of the most beautiful and pristine environments to explore.

Packrafts – lightweight, packable boats, have changed the way we travel through the backcountry. Weighing only 3kg (6 pounds) and packing down to the size of a sleeping bag means these boats can easily be carried into previous inaccessible and untouched rivers. Despite their small size and weight, Packrafts are incredibly tough, easy to paddle and capable of handling some challenging whitewater. Our trips are designed to take full advantage of this as we hike, bike and paddle through the most gorgeous packing scenery in New Zealand.

We don’t do crowds. Our small groups mean that we can enjoy the remote and peaceful nature of New Zealand’s backcountry, far away from the throngs of other people. On our full-day trips, you can choose between our blissed-out License To Chill trip on the Rees River or our more challenging Aspiring Packrafter. We also run more immersive overnight trips and our most adventurous multiday trips to get away from it all.

 

License to Chill – Packrafting Rees Valley Day Trip

Price:  $319:00 per person
Duration: Allow 8 Hours
Pick up:  Queenstown

Departing from Queenstown, we drive along Lake Wakatipu towards Glenorchy before leaving civilisation behind us and disappearing into the Rees Valley. At the end of a dirt road, we’ll spend some time getting prepared before starting our walk.

The hike-in is stunning. Hanging glaciers, towering mountains and a river that flows through open grasslands. This fantastic wilderness area is known for its whitetail deer and the backdrop to many Hollywood movies. It’s not unusual for us not to see any other people in the valley as we wade through the river and amble along the track towards our lunch spot. The hike is relaxed and easy, without steep hills and should take between an hour and a half to two hours to cover 8-9km.

We’ll have a heart feed sitting opposite the impressive Lennox falls before being introduced to our pack rafts. Your guide will show you how to inflate them (not with lung power as many people imagine!) before giving you a full briefing and how to safely navigate the river….then we’re away!

Paddling back along the river gives you a new perspective on the valley and turns the “out and back” trip into a circular route. The Rees river is a super mellow, braided river that you can either float along blissfully on or seek out the small waves and faster flows of the occasional small rapids.

Eventually, all good things must end, and we’ll have to take off the river. Your guide will show you how to deflate and store your boats back into your backpacks before the short walk back to the car park where we started. For many of our guests, this is not only the best thing they’ve experienced in the area but the highlight of their entire New Zealand experience!

 

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Mt. Aspiring Packrafter – Wanaka Day Trip

Price:  $389:00 per person
Duration: Allow 8 Hours
Pick up:  Queenstown & Wanaka

This is the ultimate day trip adventure and the most exciting guided packrafting day trip in NZ. We walk in, flanked by the towering peaks of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Mt Aspiring National Park. Then after a well-earned lunch, we ramp things up a notch and take to the river.

The Matukituki rive is still beginner friendly but caters for those looking for a bit more of a challenge. Punctuated by fun and bouncy grade II rapids with idyllic floating sections, you’ll spend the afternoon floating between blissed and relaxed and grinning your way down the rapids.

Your day starts in Queenstown, where your guide will meet you and drive you over towards Wanaka and the start of our hike. We’ll gently make our way up the river towards our lunch spot near the Mt Aspiring Hut.

After lunch, your guide will give you a full briefing and teach you all the skills you’ll need to successfully take on the rapids…which start almost immediately! Your guide will show you the way, but you have the freedom to make your own way downstream, bouncing through the little rapids and grinning at walkers as you pass by. We finish our paddle a few minute’s walk from where we parked.

Your guide will return you to town, tired but satisfied after a rewarding day out in the wild. This is what days off were invented for.

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Overnighter – Packrafting Rees Valley (2 Days)

Price:  $849:00 per person
Duration: Two days approx (Includes overnight camp)
Pick up:  Queenstown

At the Northern end of Lake Wakatipu, the pristine Rees Valley is about an hour’s drive from Queenstown. 

Far away from the crowds and draped in stunning scenery, the Rees valley will become our home and our playground for two days. 

We split our time between hiking through the valley to our exclusive camp, exploring side creeks and paddling down the glorious Rees river. 

Underneath the hanging glaciers and flanked by towering mountains, the Rees river is a packrafting paradise and an ideal beginner’s river. 

Here we are remote and don’t often see other people. We take care of everything from your packrafting gear and tents to food and even a camp toilet, so nobody has to “go bush”. (Not all adventures need to be tough.)

Day 1
After meeting your guide in Queenstown, you will be run through a full plan for your trip to ensure everyone is well prepared for your adventure before driving off to the start of the trail.
Your guide will then give you the last bit of packrafting equipment you need and help you pack it away before you start your hike.
You’ll cover about 14km on gentle terrain with very hills and take a lunch stop to break up the hike. Shortly after lunch you’ll reach the final destination for the day and set camp.
Then we take to the river. This afternoon on the river is not as much about covering huge distances as it is getting used to the boats and how to inflate them etc.
After working up a bit of an appetite, we’ll return to camp for dinner. There’s deliberately a bit of “down time” at camp. This time is your own, you can thumb through your book, stretch out on a yoga mat, take some incredible photos, or simply chew the fat with your guide. You’ll sleep well in your tent that evening, tired but satisfied.

Day 2
Breakfast will be lovingly prepared by your guide before we break camp and take to the river! Most of your activities today will involve blissfully floating along the river, drinking in your gorgeous surroundings or seeking out the little rapids and wave to play in. We’ll stop for one more alfresco lunch before returning to our vehicle and starting to return to Queenstown. We’ll say our teary good byes (and promise to write) mid afternoon-ish. We aim to get you back to your accomodation with time enough to have long hot shower before your dinner plans

This is the perfect first time packrafting overnight trip. It can be as mellow or as exciting as you want it to be with only small groups allowing your guide to Taylor your experience to your needs. If your short on time but want to try a mini packrafting adventure or are looking for a camping trip with a difference, then this is for you. Your guide will give you expert tuition every step of the way and will take care of all your food. This trip is designed to be as easy as it can be to undertake a self supported packrafting adventure. Pack are as light as they can be, the hiking is flat and we have plenty of time to reach camp, the paddling is downstream and we endeavour to look after every detail and creature comfort we can.

 

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Three Days Overnighter – Packrafting Rees Valley

This is definitely our most challenging trip, but by the same measure, it is our most rewarding.

Price:  $1299:00 per person
Duration: Three days (approx)
Pick up:  Queenstown

We’re incredibly lucky to be able up unplug and disappear into the beautiful Rees Valley. Only an hour or so from the bustling Queenstown but it feels like a different world. On this expedition we’ll use a variety of modes of transport, camp out under the stars and tackle some fun and bouncy whitewater rapids. It’s the perfect blend of relaxation and adventure. Sweet dreams are made of these!

Day 1
After meeting your guide in Queenstown, you will be run through a full plan for your trip to ensure everyone is well prepared for your adventure before driving off to the start of the trail. Your guide will then give you the last bit of packrafting equipment you need and help you pack it away before you start your hike. You’ll cover about 14km on gentle terrain with very hills and take a lunch stop to break up the hike. Shortly after lunch you’ll reach the final destination for the day and set camp. Then we take to the river. This afternoon on the river is not as much about covering huge distances as it is getting used to the boats and how to inflate them etc. After working up a bit of an appetite, we’ll return to camp for dinner. There’s deliberately a bit of “down time” at camp. This time is your own, you can thumb through your book, stretch out on a yoga mate, take some incredible photos, or simply chew the fat with your guide. You’ll sleep well in your tent that evening, tired but satisfied.

Day 2
Breakfast will be lovingly prepared by your guide before we break camp and take to the river! Most of your activities today will involve blissfully floating along the river, drinking in your gorgeous surroundings or seeking out the little rapids and wave to play in. We’ll stop for one more alfresco lunch before taking to the water for the second time. On the menu for the afternoon is a 7km section of Grade II whitewater and a mountain bike back towards our camp spot. Our accomodation tonight is a privately owned backcountry hut, complete with a fire to warm your cockles.

Day 3
After breakfast we break camp for the last time and take to the river again. Back through the whitewater!! A chance to relive yesterdays excitement (or correct yesterday’s errors?!) before we float out of our wonderland back towards civilisation. A pub lunch a cold beer is our motivation as head down stream towards Glenorchy and then back into Queenstown…. exhausted, but happy as Larry 

This is definitely our most challenging trip, but by the same measure, it is our most rewarding.