Thrillseekers such as Tauranga's Royce Morgan have been taking full advantage of the wet and wild weather that's been battering the country in the last month.

He says at first glance it may look like the umbrella sport – white water kayaking – however this community of forecast-checking adrenaline junkies, who chase rising streams, come under a different sub-category.

'We call it ‘creeking'. It's the more extreme side of white water kayaking,” says Royce.

'We go to small rivers or streams that don't typically have much flow, and after a lot of rain or snow melt, it makes it paddle-able.”

'I first got into it through polytech when I was studying white water and bushcraft. White water kayaking became more of a hobby over time, and I slowly worked up to doing more tricky stuff as I got more confident.”

The best part of creeking in Royce's eyes is the community around it, as 'it is an individual sport, but you don't typically do it alone”.

'There's a whole community on it. People don't do the gnarly stuff by themselves. We want people watching each other's backs, there's loads of groups we belong to on social media that plan where to go.

'I've met people not only from New Zealand but people from all over the world from this sport. People travel to be able to do this style of white water kayaking.

'We've met Canadians, Argentinians, Germans, and loads of New Zealanders have gone travelling to do it too. I've seen lots of amazing courses in the United States.”

Royce says starting out he had 'lots of confidence, but not terribly much skill”.

But after partnering up and learning from other kayakers over time with some 'calculated risks” he has grown to do many rivers and streams across New Zealand under extreme conditions.

Royce Morgan is one of many thrillseekers across the country chasing wild weather to go ‘creeking'. Photo: John Borren.

One of Royce's favourite creeking memories is going down the Tuakopai River in the Kaimai Ranges.

'I've only managed to get on it a couple of times, because it needs a tonne of rain and it washes out very quickly.

'It's a little creek with about seven or eight waterfalls. It's really rare it comes up so when we see the forecast and think it's going to be the conditions we want, we have to just get up and go for it.

'Last year that specific creek only came up twice. We've been really fortunate this year because with all the rain it's come up about three or four times. It really varies year to year.”

Royce says him and fellow enthusiast are spoilt here in New Zealand, and the Central North Island. 'There's amazing rivers all over. From steep creek runs on the West Coast, to the Kaituna River and the Wairoa River that gets released for us in summer, we're very lucky.”