PRANZ 2027 National Meetup

We’re heading back to Murchison and the Four Rivers Plain for another week of epic packrafting, awesome rivers, and excellent company. Murchison sits at the meeting point of the Buller, Matakitaki, Mangles and Matiri Rivers, with the mighty Maruia just down the road. This gives us a huge range of paddling options with reliable flows and, being in the same catchment, we can avoid having to decontaminate between rivers. Win!

Where we’re staying

We’ll be based at Riverside Holiday Park, which has cabins, powered sites and camping options. You need to book your own accommodation directly with Riverside, and accommodation is an additional cost.

Cabins and powered sites should be booked in advance through the Riverside website.
Non-powered/camping sites CANNOT be booked in advance. Please pay Riverside Holiday Park directly when you arrive. There will be space for you!
A marquee with some tables and seating will be set up for socialising and events, whatever the weather. If you can, please bring a camp chair too!

Please arrive at Riverside by Wednesday morning and attend registration between 10am and 12pm.

Food

We’re stoked to have the awesome Reefton Community Kitchen looking after us again, with dinner and dessert provided Wednesday–Saturday inclusive. We will also provide welcome drinks and nibbles on Wednesday afternoon – a perfect chance to meet your fellow paddlers.

Breakfast is NOT provided this year, so please bring your own. We will provide tea, coffee, and milk in the Riverside Kitchen. To reduce fridge space requirements, please support local and restock in Murchison. You can use the campsite kitchens to prepare breakfast and lunch, and there’s a Four Square, cafés and a decent pub in Murchison for supplies and sustenance.

The paddling

There are loads of great runs around Murchison, and we’ll provide suggestions and advice on what’s good to paddle. Trips are not guided, though we’ll do our best to make sure groups include people who know the river and the put-in/take-out points.

To get the most out of the Meetup, we recommend having completed an introductory packrafting course or having some experience paddling Grade 2 whitewater.

You are responsible for paddling within your own ability. Come along to hone your skills, try some new rivers and meet other packrafters, but know your limits and make good decisions.

All paddlers must have a whistle and a whitewater-appropriate PFD and helmet when on the river. More information about equipment and river trips will be circulated closer to the event. We reserve the right to exclude anyone from a trip if they don’t meet the required safety standards. We care about keeping everyone safe and having fun out there.

A big thanks to our sponsors

We’re hugely grateful to all the sponsors and supporters who help make the PRANZ Meetup happen. We’re also excited to announce Blue Duck Packrafts as a major sponsor for 2027. Blue Duck will be bringing packrafts to try and some excellent prizes, as well as helping out with a bunch of free workshops.

We’ll be announcing more sponsors as they come on board, so watch this space!

Workshops & sharing the stoke

We’ll be seeking registrations of interest for workshops and will release a tentative programme as soon as we can.

Got something you’d love to learn? Or a skill you’d love to share? Let us know! Maybe you’re keen to run a session on paddle skills, eddy-hopping or something else entirely.

The Meetup is run by the community, for the community, and there’s a huge amount of knowledge and experience within PRANZ. We rely on our legendary paddlers to share some of it!

Email pranz.national.meet@packrafting.org.nz with ideas or offers to run a session, or if you have any questions about the event.

Giving back to the rivers

We’re proud to put $5 from every ticket towards the Buller Access Fund, which helps keep the local rivers accessible for paddlers. The Fund supports the people who get out there after storms to clear fallen trees and other debris and keep our rivers running safely and enjoyably. It’s a small way for us to give back to the people who help keep these awesome rivers open for all of us.

A little help from everyone

One of the secrets to keeping the Meetup affordable is everyone pitching in. When you sign up, you’re agreeing to be allocated a light task or two during the week - helping with things like setup, dishes, setting up for dinner, or other little jobs.

Nothing too heroic. Just enough to keep things running smoothly!

Tickets

Buy your ticket by 18 December. Late registrations will not be accepted this year, and we may sell out before then.

We’ve sold out in previous years, so don’t leave it until the last minute!

Lock in the dates, pack your boat, and get ready to get wet.

Contact the host of PRANZ 2027 - Murchison