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.