Canoeing the Wanganui!!

We had a week back on the boat to do our washing and a few boat chores before we set off on our last trip. Canoeing the Wanganui is one of 'the' great trips to do in NZ. Its basic, as in camping, but it is very remote and highly recommended. We were worried about being cold so thick clothes and thermals were packed. The trip started in a small town south of Taupo which is quite a drive so we stayed in Hamilton overnight with Brenna and Scott.

We had another scenic drive to Ohakune near Mount Ruapehu where we did a walk to a waterfall. Unfortunately, as the summer has been so dry the waterfall was not very impressive. It was a very clear day though and we had great views of the mountain.

We were collected by our tour leader, Jamie, the following day and driven to the river. There were 11 of us, a couple from the US and the other 3 couples were Kiwi friends of Jamies. We all helped unload the gear and leaned how to load up the canoes before we set off. The river was very shallow but there were a lot of rapids. Thankfully the rapids were small though one couple did manage to get caught up on a log and tip over fairly early on. The first day was fairly short and we arrived at our camp site. This consisted of a flattish bit of land, quite a distance above the river, a tap (rain water fed) and a long drop toilet! It was hard work carrying all the gear and cooking equipment up the hill. We then struggled to put our tent up and get ourselves organised. We had a lovely meal and a few drinks before heading to our sleeping bags. Jamie had provided sleeping rolls for us but it's been a while since we have camped and we found sleeping very uncomfortable. Lying awake at night we could hear rats and possums around the tent and the NZ owl called a Morepork was very noisy.

We were up at 6am the following morning and had our breakfast in the dark, a good warming porridge! After carrying all the gear back down the hill we were on the water by 8.30am. This was our longest days paddle and we were grateful when Jamie suggested we raft up together and he started a little outboard engine. It saved our aching arms but we did have to separate whenever we came to rapids.

The camp sight was up an even steeper hill this time but thankfully we were staying 2 nights. We had a lie in the following morning and after breakfast we went for a walk along a ridge above the river. We found the walk quite steep but one of the guys, Bob, did the whole thing in his flip flops!

One of the reasons we chose the trip was the food and it didn't disappoint. We had roast beef, stuffed roast chicken, scones, crumble and carrot cake. We all took our own alcohol and were grateful for the lighter loads we had to carry and paddle as we consumed it!

The next day we stopped off at the 'Bridge to Nowhere'. This is a road bridge that was constructed for the residents in a remote area but by the time it was competed everyone had left the valley so it was never used! Now it is just a tourist attraction. We had lots of small rapids and we all started to look forward to them as it gave us a break from paddling. Jamie did use the engine on some of the long slow stretches which was nice!

The final campsite was a Maori Marae. It was very busy but still as basic as all the rest. There was much talk around the camp about the final day as we would be going down the biggest rapids, the biggest being a grade 3 white water. As we approached the first big rapid we could see canoes in front of us going up and down like a bucking bronco. I was at the front of the canoe so was met by walls of water while Mike had a good view from the back but was responsible for keeping us straight through the rapid. We all got through without tipping except for one canoe. When we got to the biggest rapid the same couple capsized again! We managed to stay upright but we took so much water on board that we couldn't move as the canoe was so unstable. We managed to drift to shore and bale out before we tipped! The last set of 3 rapids we really enjoyed, we knew what we were doing by that point and having got the big ones out of the way we could just enjoy them.

By the end of the trip we were all fairly tired from sleeping in tents and desperate for a proper toilet and a shower. Even so we had a great time!

Since getting back to the boat we have been painting the wood around the outside of the boat again! We are fed up with varnish as it comes off so easily so we have covered it in gloss paint in the hope it will last at least a year. We have also provisioned the boat ready for leaving NZ. It is getting colder here now. We have had an amazing summer, the best on record for NZ, but Autumn is now here and we need to get somewhere warm! We aim to leave Whangarei this week and sail to the Bay of Islands. There we hope to meet up with friends on Astarte for Mikes birthday before heading to Opua to clear out and sail to Fiji.

PS As at time of posting we are in Opua after a good sail up the coast.

South Island Trip

The next instalment!!

We had 3 days back on the boat before we left again to head to the south island. We did this trip with friends Chris and Dave who we met in the Caribbean and who had crossed the Pacific a year ahead of us. As our car was too small for the 4 of us plus baggage, CD borrowed a bigger car from a friend.

We drove over 800km to Wellington in one day. As there are no motorways and the roads are only partly dual carriageway the trip took us nearly 12 hours. We stayed the night with Jackie and Steve in Wellington and Steve cooked us a wonderful BBQ, very welcome after our long day. The following morning we left early to get the ferry to Picton on the south island. It's a 3 hour crossing and fortunately the sea was lovely and calm. We had great view of the Marlborough sound as we sailed in.

We started our drive down the east coast to Christchurch stopping at a number of vineyards in Blenheim including Cloudy Bay which we found a bit disappointing. We really like Peter Yealand wine and so a visit to that vineyard was top of the list! Our visit there was early morning and we had a drive round the estate which is organised on very eco-friendly lines including having 'Baby Doll' sheep with short legs to keep the grass short between the vines but without eating the grapes and vines!

Christchurch centre is still closed off due to the earthquake but it was interesting to see how the town is regenerating itself and to see the damage to some of the older buildings. The shopping centre in containers was a real example of Kiwi ingenuity. Many of the interesting places have been damaged but we had a pleasant visit to the museum and a lovely walk through the botanical gardens.

We had a long drive to Aoraki Mount Cook next. The views were absolutely stunning and we had a wonderful day walking with views of the glaciers and lakes and mountains. The drive back down the mountain to Dunedin was also wonderful with lots of lakes and hydro dams. We stopped for a visit to the Moreki boulders which look like giant pebbles on the sea shore.

Dunedin is the home of the Speights brewery which we toured. At the end of the tour we had 30 minutes to try the beers and to drink as much as we wanted! The following day we had a trip on the Taieri gorge railway through the gorge. The train is an old steam locomotive and takes about 3 hours to go through the gorge and back. More of the trip was through Dunedin itself than we realised but the gorge was pretty and it is amazing to think of the railway being built without the aid of modern machinery.

We had amazing weather for the whole trip with only half a day of rain though it did get colder as we headed further south. Our most southern stop was Invercargill and we drove along very rough and rugged coast line to get there. One of the stops recommended was a visit to a hardware store (!) to see the original 'Worlds Fastest Indian' motor bike (the Anthony Hopkins film of the same name is worth a look). It was amazing, the store was full of old bikes, cars, tools etc. It was a combination of a very well stocked hardware store and a museum. We spoke to the owner and his son and he took us to show us a car used in the film but not yet on display.

Once we could tear ourselves away from the hardware store, we headed to Milford Sound with another stunningly picturesque drive. We stayed at the lodge right on the sound so that we could kayak the sound the following day. It was a perfect day for kayaking and seeing the Sound, blue sky and no wind. The down side was that as it was so calm the wildlife stay in the outer sound (further away than we could kayak) to avoid the sandflies! The scenery is stunning and we were very lucky to see it without rain as usually it rains 50% of the time.

From Milford we headed to Queenstown which has become an urban sprawl around the lake it is on and is very commercial and touristy. We were glad to leave it behind and head to the west coast with another stunning drive. We spent the night near Fox glacier and planned to get up for sunrise for a walk around Lake Matheson for stunning views of Mount Tasman and Cook. Unfortunately, when we got up there was thick fog and we couldn't see anything! Change of plan!!

We went to see Fox Glacier where there was no fog. The road to the glacier has been extended but still the walk to the foot of the glacier took an hour. I (KB) found it very depressing as the glacier is a fraction of the size it was when I last saw it. If anyone wants evidence of global warming the shrinking of the glaciers is it. After seeing the glacier, we did then walk around Lake Matheson with the stunning views before heading to Franz Joseph Glacier. Again, this has receded so much that it is quite a distance from the lookout to its base and not very visible unless you walk for about 5 hours..

We continued our drive up the west coat with a stop at the Pancake rocks and a scenic drive along the Buller Gorge to Motueka. We stayed on a fruit farm with amazing views over Abel Tasman national park. Our trip into the park the following day was by boat. The boat took us to one beach and then we walked a track along the coast to our pick up point. It was a well marked track but rougher and steeper than we expected. Chrissy really suffered with her bad knees. There are lots of lovely bays and beaches in the park and we were looking out for good anchorages for next season!

The following day we drove west to the last place on the north west tip of the south island, Puponga. Here we did a 3 hour horse ride across Old Man ridge to see Farewell Spit. We rode up a steep hill across the ridge and back down the other side. It was great fun but we all suffered, Chris could hardly move, especially after the walk the day before, and I had saddle sores! Mike seemed to be the one who hurt least at the end!

After the ride we headed to Nelson where we met up with friends on Pacific Bliss who have based themselves there. We stayed on their boat too long as usual and drank too much home made beer! We then continued on to the Marlborough Sounds. On the way we took a detour up one of the sounds which turned out to be a very bad move. We had been having problems with the car over heating during the whole of the trip but Mike and Dave had nursed it round. However, when we were in the middle of nowhere it decided to have a major fit. We were stuck for half a day attempting various fixes and in the end, we managed to get to our next stop, Havelock, with a large water supply from some helpful locals.

We had stopped in Havelock to take a trip on the Pelorous Sound mail boat. The boat delivers mail to the people whose house have no road access. We had wonderful weather again and the day was lovely. We passed lots of mussel farms which is a big industry in the area, said Hi! To some locals and went for a short walk on one island..

Then it was time for us to head back to Picton for our ferry with a stop at a garage on the way to buy a new radiator reservoir for the car. Dave and Mike fitted the new part while we were at Jackie and Steve's in Wellington. We had another lovely evening with the family before we headed back to Whangarei.

New Zealand - North Island

Over the next few days we hope to update the blog with our New Zealand activities. This will be in several instalments of which this is the first.

North Island Trip

Once we were safely moored in Whangarei we started our next round of boat projects. This included being lifted out of the water and having the hull bottom 'copper coated'. This is a hard anti-foul which is supposed to last 10 years. In theory we should not need to spend time out of the water other than to grease the prop and change anodes. The downside was that we were out of the water for longer as the application is fairly slow compared to the usual anti-foul paints. While this was being done we installed a new galley sink and did a number of other repairs.

After a few days back in the water we left the boat and went on our first trip by car. We had purchased a car as this was much cheaper than a long term rental. Our first stop was Auckland to catch up with friends Cameron and Catherine and then on to Hamilton where we stayed with another friend, Brenna. We had a lovely visit to the Hamilton gardens which have individual gardens for different countries. After an overnight stop on the way south and a visit to Huka falls near Taupo, we arrived in Wellington to stay with Steve and Jackie. We had a few days looking around Wellington. It had changed a lot since I (Karen) was there 22 years ago and the waterfront was unrecognisable. Jackie came with us for a visit to Zealandia. This is an area which has been surrounded by a predator proof fence and native species of birds introduced. We saw lots of different species and most were very unafraid of humans which probably explains why they need protection from animals such as cats and rats.

After Wellington we headed to the east coast and to the art deco town of Napier. It was the art deco festival while we were there and we had a great time. The whole town was dressed up in period costume, even the local children and there were hundreds of vintage cars, motorcycles and bikes. There were lots of events including 3 air displays, a parade, concerts and a big picnic. This was not a usual picnic! People had gazebos with carpets, sofas, table and chairs and the best china! We felt very under dressed in our casual clothes and picnic blanket!

On the way back to Whangarei we stayed in Rotorua. We visited a thermal area but as there had been very little rain it was very dry. Our motel overlooked another thermal area and from our balcony we could watch a geyser exploding into the air and listen to bubbling mud. After a walk around the blue and green lakes the next morning, we headed back to the boat.