Whanganui expedition

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I don’t know if it was because we were in Lord of the Rings country and a fellowship seemed appropriate, or whether it is just a remnant of vet university that requires a large group for an outing, but there were 10 of us that eventually set off. A complicated ‘friend of a friend of a friend…’ type of arrangement connected us all together. Our destination - the Whanganui River. One of New Zealand’s so called nine ‘Great Walks’ - ironically the only one you can do sitting down, as a 3 day canoeing trip.

The aim of the trip was pretty simple - survive the 3 days canoeing down the river without drowning in the rapids or killing your canoeing partner. Optional extras included eating your weight in snacks and getting Repetitive Strain Injury to the shoulders and elbows.

The weather forecast was just as you would imagine it would be for a bank holiday weekend in the summer where camping is involved - wet. Rain and thunderstorms throughout, cloudy at best reported from the Met office. Great. We awoke early on Saturday morning, and packed our belongings into the small waterproof barrels provided, surrounded by a thick grey fog. I noticed that Kate had managed to bring as much for the one weekend as I had entire possessions with me. Limited to 2 barrels each we narrowed it down to 5 barrels per pair (yes I know the maths doesn't quite add up).

When we finally reached the river we had the challenge of packing all our essential items (food, tent, sun cream, chocolate) into the canoes, whilst leaving enough room for two people to sit and row, whilst ensuring that everything is strapped down. Our driver assured us that it was much easier to hang onto just an overturned canoe whilst going down rapids than it was to swim after half a dozen unsecured barrels and jandals (flip flops to those of you that don’t speak Kiwi). When we had all managed this we looked at the grey sky, offered a short prayer to the appropriate Gods, and pushed off into the river.

Amazingly all 5 canoes floated, and we started our epic journey down the river. We had a total of 87kms to be paddled in 3 days, with only brief stops for food and sleep. Day one we set about getting to know our canoes and the river. The Whanganui is longest navigable river in the country, and historically was a transport link between the interior and the sea. Despite this there is little evidence of the previous settlements other than the odd non-native tree marking attempts at farming, and landing banks remaining from pre road and rail days. The river itself is a deep brown colour, like a strong tea colour as opposed to muddy, as the water is actually clear and quite clean. The sides form a steep gorge covered in thick native bush and the river winds lazily between fascinating rock formations, over small rapids and past sparkling waterfalls.

Day one everyone is waiting for the rain and steadily paddling downstream. However the rain never appears, and we are blessed not only with a dry day, but blue sky and sunshine as well. After paddling for 6 hours we hit the first campsite, but decide to push onto the next to shorten the next day. It seems like a good idea at 5pm, but as we continue, and the campsite fails to materialise around the next bend we all start to suddenly feel the strain in our arms, and rumbling in our stomachs. Finally the shout goes up - we’ve arrived! All we need to do now is secure the canoes - and haul all the now rather heavy barrels up a steep hill to the crowded campsite. Then the tents need to be put up, squeezed next each other we all attempt to put the right pole through the right hole, and attach the correct rope, and assemble somewhere to sleep. That done it is time for dinner. The menu varies from fresh pasta and sauce (yummy), to packet soup and pasta (not quite so appetising). Although it is only 9.30, it is dark, and my arms are actually causing me so much pain that 2 aspirins have done nothing to ease them, so I retire to my tent to sleep. The only comfortable position is with both arms above my head, and in this rather bizarre position I manage one of the best nights sleep in a week.

We awake to hear the promised rain pattering on our canvas roofs. In a fit of wishful thinking we all as a group turn over and wait another few minutes in the hope the rain will stop. Fortunately our prayers yesterday were to Gods that were listening, and Katy’s week of positive thinking pays off, and the rain stops. Remarkably my arms feel better, nothing more than a mild stiffness. So a leisurely breakfast, and with half our total journey completed yesterday we set off slowly down the river again.

As we are in no hurry we let the canoes drift together, and end up all 5 canoes next to each other, each of us holding onto the next canoe. In this way we sociably drift down the river playing ‘Guess Who’ (ranging from Maori princesses to Kirsty’s brother), and deciding that this is the way to do tramping (hiking - again Kiwi translation). Someone then proposes an “A and P” show (Agricultural & Pastoral - you can tell there are too many vets on board) for the evening - each canoe has to come up with a game to be played that night at the campsite. The rest of the day is spent in beautiful sunshine, swimming in the river, eating snacks, and devising possible games for the nights' entertainment.

That evening we arrive earlier at the open campsite and after setting up the tents and going for a group wash/swim in the river, the games start. Katy and Pip devise a hide and seek of the barrels - each team has to find a hidden barrel, and then come up with 3 skits using the prop found in the barrel. Steph and I found ourselves with a yellow roll mat - obviously doubling as a telescope, Rapunzel’s hair and Bananaman’s cloak. Next Andrew and Kate have us twirling around in circles and then completing a relay race, with several people unable to stop themselves falling on the floor. Andy and Sian have a nut catching contest - one player throws a nut a tent distance, and their partner has to catch it in their mouth (Johan came into his own in this game with an impressive 4 out of 4 score). Kirsty and Johan timed us running around with paddles balanced on our hands, and by this time every one was ready for dinner. The final game was a version of Ready Steady cook. With leftovers a dessert had to be produced in the space of 10 minutes. Admittedly Steph and I had the best part of this game (judges), but the results were incredible. Unfortunately there are no photos, but with a mouthwatering menu of chocolate crispy cakes a la banana, chocolate covered florentine, chocolate orange, and poached pears with cheesecake (minus the cheese), I can assure you that the display looked as good as it tasted. Some made a real effort with presentation - weaving leaves into flowers, using banana leaves as plates, whilst others deciding a banana placed as a smiley face was good enough!

After all the excitement it was off to bed at a slightly later 10.30pm. Again we awoke to rain and the sounds of other campers getting up and on their way. Again we ignored the rain in an attempt to get it to go away. Prayers still holding, the rain did just that, and when we finally crawled out of tents thee was even a small patch of blue sky. As the day cleared and the sun came out we devised a new canoe arrangement that allowed the 5 canoes to form an almost streamlined shape, where most people could paddle, and steering was possible. In this way we happily floated under the sunny sky swimming, snoozing, snacking and sunbathing until the rapids appeared.

We had been warned about the rapids on the final day, with a 50:50 chance of falling in (which in the telling became a 10% chance of survival). It was decided to split apart, and take our chances in pairs. The first rapids were a narrow corridor of huge bumpy waves, the key was to paddle as fast as possible to try and stay above them. We survived, despite taking on water, although Katy and Pip were not so lucky. More water was taken on board, and although neither fell out, it was a slow sinking that left them both rather wet...
The second rapids saw all succesfully navigate until Andy and Sian came down, then a great shout of "Paddle, PADDLE" then SPLASH! from Sian as she bounced off the back of the canoe into the water. Fortunately she saw the funny side. With the end in sight Steph and I ended up heading into the rapids backwards , and although getting wet on our way down, managed to stay althogether. Pip and Katy were not as luck, and again found themselves taking on too much water. 20m form the end found us all hysterically bailling out the canoe, whilst our transport bus left without us.

We landed 10 minutes ahead of schedule, but sat waiting for 2 hours for the bus to return with sufficient space for us all. All in all a wonderful way to spend a Bank holiday weekend - beautiful weather, amazing scenery, lovely friends, fantastic food (well some of it), and great fun.

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Photos

Just the 10 of us...
Front - Sian, Pip, Kirsty
Middle - Andrew, Me, Kate, Katy, Johan
Back - Andy, Steph

Packed canoe
Steph stands proudly beside our canoe - all the barrels carefully strapped in place.

Spectacular scenery
The high gorge walls create beautiful waterfalls, but the lack of wildlife is noticeable. The only animals we saw were goats, and the odd duck.

Sociable canoeing
We tried numerous arrangements of canoes, each with advantages and disadvantges. This combination was prone to jack knifing and could really only be powered by the front 2 canoes

Happy campers
Preparing for the A&P show, everyone is a little excited...

River dolphins?
No not quite, just quick cool down

Lie back and relax
Tramping the hard way...