Days 64-71: Whanganui River Journey

Finally back on the trail! The river journey was a perfect place to pick back up on the trail - we spent 5 days paddling about 160 kms down the Whanganui River, ending in Whanganui city. We went with a group of 8 people - 6 TA walkers, and 2 people crazy enough to hang out with 6 TA walkers for a few days - so it was like a big party most of the way.


From Wellington, we took a looong bus ride up to Ohakune on NakedBus, the NZ budget bus company (think Bolt Bus in the US). This was our first ride on NakedBus. We had heard a lot of negative offhand comments about it ("NakedBus? Oh, half the time the bus doesn't even show up"), but had to give it a shot because the InterCity (think Greyhound in the US) tickets were sold out.

The trip was fine for us, but we definitely figured out where the bad rep comes from. Along the way, we stranded 2 riders in a tiny town (long, complicated story behind it, but they got off at the wrong stop because the bus driver forgot to tell them that another bus was not coming along to get them), and left 3 people at a rest stop and had to turn around to go back to get them. For once Liz's bad travel karma did not torpedo our trip though, and we made it to Ohakune without any problems.

We stopped by Yeti, our canoe rental company, to say hello. Gavin, the owner, referred us over to a nearby ski lodge where we could camp for $10/night. The lodge was very nice - plenty of room, and in good condition. 

The next day we did our shopping for the trip, and it was glorious. There are so many more food & drink options when you are floating, as opposed to carrying, your food. Chips and salsa, wine, jarred sauces, wine, ginger beer, wine... endless possibilities. 

That afternoon we met up with James, Michelle, and Hayden (James's brother-in-law), and went out to a pub for dinner. All five of us got bacon cheeseburgers. Later that night, Lance, another TA hiker, showed up with his partner Edwina. Ben, the German software engineer, was our 8th, and would be meeting us the next day at the river.

Finally, on day 66 (Dec 29th), we loaded onto the shuttle, drove a few hours to Whakahoro, had the briefest of briefings ("Do you know how to paddle a canoe? Good."), and were on our way. Leading up to this, we were off the trail for exactly 30 days. Not the way we planned it, but it all worked out in the end, and we were really happy to be moving again.

Loading up the canoes in the rain

The first day of canoeing was a lot of fun - we had some good, but not very scary rapids, and the weather mostly held out while we were on the river.

On the river, complete with Liz, cooler full of alcohol,
and waterproof barrels full of food

Reclined paddling

Ducklings on the river.
They swam right in front of our canoe and scared the crap out of Liz

We stopped that night at the Ohauora campsite. Luckily it had a sheltered picnic table, because the skies opened up shortly after we got there, and it rained pretty hard all night long.

Rain is much more tolerable when you have roof over your head

Rainbow!

The next day, the river had changed completely. It rose by about 1.5 meters overnight, and was much muddier. It was also flowing much faster, which made for a really easy day - we floated 39 kms in about 5 hours and barely had to paddle.

Liz, ready to go with our canoe. Notice how much muddier the water is today.

Lots of rain == lots of waterfalls

We also stopped for lunch and took a side trip to the "Bridge to Nowhere". After World War I, NZ granted most of the land around the Whanganui River to veterans. It's really wild - hilly, thick forest, and remote. There were promises from the government of coming infrastructure, like roads, and many people spent years clearing land for farming in expectation of being connected to civilization eventually. Someone even built a bridge out in the middle of nowhere. Then it was decided that it wasn't economically feasible to build infrastructure in the area, and lots of people had to abandon their tracts of land. The only thing that's left now is this bridge, which leads... nowhere.

The Bridge to Nowhere with Liz & Ben, in the rain

The Bridge to Nowhere is a popular stop - the landing was crazy crowded

That night we camped at Tieke Kainga, which is a DoC serviced hut on a small Maori community on the river. It was a very nice spot, with a really friendly caretaker, Brent, who entertained us with lots of stories.

Part of a Maori carving outside the marae (meeting house) at Tieke

The third day of paddling, day 68, was a little harder. The river had started to drop, so the rapids were more fun, but the sections in between were also slower and required more work to get through. Halfway through the day, we stopped at Pipiriki to drop Hayden off. After that, we paddled further down the river to a tiny unofficial campsite near Ranana, recommended by Brent. We celebrated New Year's here with a bottle of carbonated Sauvignon Blanc, the closest cheap thing to champagne we could find in the grocery store. 

With Hayden off the river, Ben decided to keep the 2 person canoe,
rather than squashing his ridiculously long body into a kayak.
He tied two oars together with rope to form a Ben-sized paddle.

Unfortunately Ben missed out on the celebration. While he was scouting for a better campsite, he ran into the raised trunk of a minivan, and got a pretty good gash on his forehead. A local Maori bandaged him up, and offered a ride to the hospital if Ben wanted one. Thinking he needed stitches, Ben took him up on the offer, and headed down to Whanganui. Luckily, he didn't end up needing stitches, and arrived back at the campsite around midnight. Unfortunately we had all gone to bed already. Sorry Ben!

Day four on the river was a really long day. The river had dropped even more, but the rapids were few and far between, so we had to do lots of paddling to make forward progress. As a bonus, it poured about half an hour before we reached our stopping point, and completely drenched us. Luckily, we camped at Hipango Park, which had a nice covered area where we dried out. We chatted with James and Michelle for a while before bed.

Beautiful morning on the river

Yay, happy fun time

Ok, happy fun time is over, back to paddling.

Hey, what's going on up there? Doesn't look like paddling...

We stopped at Hipango Park after the rain, which luckily
had a nice covered area where we were able to dry out

Our last day was definitely the hardest, even though it was our shortest. After Hipango Park, the river becomes tidal. We also had a serious headwind. This meant that, if we stopped paddling we went backwards. If we paddled, we kind of stayed in one place. If we paddled hard, we moved forward slowly. It was a long day.

Packing up the canoe at Hipango

Was the paddling hard because of the wind,
or because Liz spent half the time doing this?

When we reached the end, Gavin showed up to pick up our canoes, and returned our packs (well, most of our packs - they forgot Ben's, and ended up returning it to him the next morning). Then, we said goodbye to Lance & Edwina, and rented a car... so that we could drive to a free beach house that Ben had secured from someone he had met a few days before the river! Renting a car to drive to the house was cheaper, and way more awesome, than paying for 5 people at the fancy, overpriced holiday park. That night we got a great sunset over the beach. Good work Ben.

Pretty clouds

More pretty clouds

The next morning, we headed back into Whanganui, and went our separate ways - Ben had to wait for his backpack, James & Michelle decided to skip ahead to Palmerston North, and we were planning to hitch past a nasty 19km state highway roadwalk.

Overall, the river journey was a lot of fun, but much more work than we had imagined - I think we both had a leisurely float down the river, a la tubing, in mind. Instead, we really had to paddle on most days, and our arms & shoulders were happy to be finished.

From Whanganui, our next section takes us up to the start of the Tararuas - one of the toughest parts of the trail on the north island, but also apparently one of the most scenic. Liz's foot is feeling good, but we'll be taking it slow and doing some short days to ease it back into things.

For future TA hikers, if you are willing to depart a bit from the official trail, I have some advice on the Whanganui section. The trail notes tell you to hike in to Mangapurua landing from National Park, canoe from there to Pipiriki, then walk or canoe to Whanganui city. This route is expensive, because there is no road access at Mangapurua, and the canoes have to be dropped off by jet boat.

Instead, I recommend doing this: book your campsites and huts at the i-site in Taumarunui. They do book up, so the earlier you can do this, the better. Then walk to National Park, and hitch down to Ohakune (easy hitch). From there, organize a canoe trip from Whakahoro to Whanganui city. I'd recommend Yeti Tours for your rentals, but there are also other options. While in Ohakune, do your grocery shopping for the trip, and leave it with Yeti. Hitch back up to National Park, and walk 1.5-2 days to Whakahoro, where Yeti will meet you with a canoe and your food, and take your pack. After the trip, Yeti will pick up your canoe and return your pack to you in Whanganui.

This option cost us $250/pp, plus the cost of the campsites/huts on the Great Walk portion of the Whanganui. Overall, easier and cheaper than the official trail, and it saves you the long road walk from Pipiriki to Whanganui. Credit to Brian (of the famous "Brian's Trail Notes") for this plan.