Yesterday we paddled a 35km section of the Whanganui river, the only section of the 145km of navigable water we have never done. The river journey is one New Zealand's 'Great Walks', meaning we have now done two, the other being the Tongariro Crossing last month.
Our day started at a DoC (Department of Conservation) campsite called Ohinepane, about 22km into the river journey, around 15mins drive from the town of Taumarunui. We loaded our big purple canoe (which Robyn named Gertrude, Trudy for short) up with a couple of barrels and dry bags and set off round the corner straight into a rapid. With an audience watching from the campsite we were both pleased we sailed down it with no problems. After leaving the watching crowds behind we hardly saw anyone else until our end point at Whakahoro a few hours down the river.
The first couple of hours had a few small bouncy rapids and a few longer flat sections, and with the sun out made for a very pleasant paddle. We rounded the corner to Poukaria campsite and made our approach to the rapid of the same name only to see a couple of other canoeists fishing their paddles and gear out of the trees. This gave us a very clear marker of where not to go....
Morning tea was at the campsite with a nice hot coffee out of a flask and a couple of hard boiled eggs. We had a little nosey around and then hopped back in Trudy for another 17km, our next campsite stop being at Maharanui. Along the way we had another few rapids to negotiate, most with a very clear line down them which makes it nice and easy. Before Maharanui we had a stop at Maraekowhai to see the Niu poles, two of only three left on the river. One is for war and one for peace. The war pole, Rongo Niu, was erected by local Maori to try and repel the Pakeha (white man) around 1860. The peace pole was then erected after the settlers war to try and dampen the influence of the war pole.
From Maraekowhai we had about another hour to Maharanui, in which time the heavens opened and we were on the receiving end of a couple of heavy thundery showers, not that much fun while canoeing really. As Murphys Law would state, as we pulled up at the campsite for another drink and bite to eat the rain stopped and the sun came back out, highly frustrating. Maharanui was like lots of other DoC campsites and we didn't really stay long before heading off to tackle the last 4 or so km down to Whakahoro, the starting point for a three day river journey, and last road access for 87km.
To reach our destination we had to paddle around 400m up the Retaruke river, a very dirty tributary of the Whanganui, responsible in part for the Whanganui's very unique colour.... As we started our paddle up the Retaruke we passed Lacy's Landing, one of the best preserved paddle steamer landings on the river, and further up the site of the old house boat mooring, where the house boat which ran from Whanganui to Taumarunui stopped overnight from 1928 to 1934 when it was destroyed by fire. We powered up to the boat ramp and emptied out our gear, then stashed Trudy in the bushes, ready for a big hire group later in the week.
Our overnight stay was in the Whakahoro bunkroom, formerly the school house for the lower Retaruke valley. Original intake in the 1940's was eleven students, and it then closed in the 1960's at which time DoC took it over and converted it into backcountry accommodation. An interesting place to stay, we learned this morning that it is due for an upgrade, repostioning in the campsite, and listing as a heritage hut. Good job we stayed while it is still cheap! A nice bottle of wine and some pre-cooked food did the job as the facilities are pretty basic, long drop toilets included.
We had arranged to catch a ride back to HQ with another canoe operator, who turned up 90mins late, meaning we had lots of time to soak up the scenery this morning while enjoying a coffee courtesy of Blue Duck cafe.
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