KC Wilson - River Man

You could say he’s somewhere between a Southern Man with a big heart and New Zealand’s own version of Bear Grylls, but KC Wilson is probably his own unique version of icon.
After all, who else can wipe out a possum, pluck it, skin it and roast it up in butter on a backcountry fire, tempting even the most reluctant hungry teenagers to tuck in and give it a try.
Born in Rangiora, North Canterbury, in 1976 KC grew up on his parent’s lifestyle block, roaming the hills on his uncles’ farms, hunting and fishing from a young age.
Cricket was his passion, representing North Canterbury until the age of 13 or 14.
Several bad concussions playing rugby and basketball forced him off the field for a few years and after the family moved to Nelson, KC discovered whitewater kayaking at Waimea College. “I picked apples one summer at 15 and bought my own kayak, joining the Nelson Canoe Club.” Now one of Queenstown’s most accomplished veteran rafting and kayaking guides, KC credits Waimea College teachers Marcus Swain and Ian Barnes with pushing him to be who he’s become. “They taught us safety, loaned us kids kayaks, rifles and fishing rods and let us go for it.”
The indoor classroom wasn’t for KC.
“Half a dozen of us boys got asked nicely to leave school,” grins KC, still unsure if he was just a bit too energetic for school. They were offered a certificate course in forest harvesting through the local Polytechnic. KC’s first love was outdoor adventure, however, ironically his applications to further this at Mt Aspiring College and Tai Poutini Polytechnic were declined, so forestry it was.
That was until, at 20, KC met long-time Queenstown Serious Fun River Surfing founder Jon Imhoof while river-boarding in Murchison. “They saw me on the river and were like, ‘Holy Moly! We didn’t know anybody did boogie boarding on rivers up here!” says KC.
That led to a role river-surf guiding on the Zambezi River in Africa for Serious Fun for four seasons from 1996. Here he earned his nickname KC - ‘Kiwi Chap’. “It’s a massive, huge river – Grade 5 – the best in the world.” Senior guides from Queenstown trained him up over there, but most of his close calls were off the water. “I got chased by a crocodile once, and charged by an elephant.”
His first season he guided river surfing and kayaking trips, advancing to rafting, from August until February.
In the second season KC met long-time partner and fellow outdoor adventurer, Australian Gabby Campbell-Lloyd, half his size, but equally as gutsy.
In 2000 he headed back to New Zealand to forestry for a bit, before he and Gabby guided on the Tully River in her homeland, Northern Queensland. Seasons were also spent guiding rafting and canyoning trips in Switzerland, Chile, Canada, and rowing equipment boats for Grand Canyon rafting expeditions in 2012.
“It’s a really, really nice way to travel the world,” says KC. “If it rained in Chile we were stuck in the village so got to know the locals, language and culture.” KC admits you “learn as you go”. “We’ve butchered a few sheep and goats in Chile just to survive. The clients think it’s great – a bit of lamb or chicken on the fire. It’s real.”
Real adventure is what people want, he says. Full-time rafting guide for Queenstown Rafting since 2004 and outdoor instructor for Wakatipu High School’s legendary Branches Camps for 16 years, KC says his two greatest role models have been boss Guido Leek and school head of outdoor recreation Ken McIntyre. “They’re absolutely amazing people. They taught me how important it is to teach kids about the outdoors.” He’s now paying that forward at Branches, on the Greenstone and Year 9 Journeys camps for the school, his great sense of humour popular with the kids. “Someone taught me for free. It’s the unwritten rule of river rafting,” says KC. Ironically, he’s instructing for Tai Poutini in Murchison and on the Rangitata River, and guiding Auckland kids down the Whanganui River.
He’s lost a few close friends on the river. “That goes with the territory, but they loved life and died where they wanted to be. I always tell junior guides, ‘You’re training for yourselves and to look after each other.”
There have been some close calls – one client jammed under a rock on the Tully River, others floating off face down after medical events, but all were revived by guides. KC’s broken ribs, his coxis, split open his chin and, excruciatingly, tore his anus on a raft seat.
Most amusing was the British client on the Zambezi who refused to get back in the righted raft for KC after a flipping, with a massive rapid approaching. “If you didn’t flip the raft you were out of a job. I yelled, ‘Mate! You’ve got to get back in the boat!’ He said, ‘No!No! Don’t pull me in! I’ve lost my shorts!’” The safety kayaker had to rescue the modest, pale-skinned Brit, paddle him ashore, and give him his own shorts.
After 10 overseas seasons KC and Gabby bought 16ha (40 acres) at Miller’s Flat, their home and escape, where they work the land and live self-sufficiently, commuting to Queenstown. While KC teaches kids how to survive on wild meat, he and Gabby raise, hunt and kill all their own meat, have massive veggie gardens and use sustainable solar energy with a wet-back stove. “We’re totally off the grid and eco-friendly.”
A holiday for these two means heading into the mountains between Haast and the Hollyford, during the roar, hunting for up to 17 days. “That’s our time out.”