"Oh You Bloody Hillbillies"

October 23rd - October 26th

WHANGANUI RIVER

As some of you may already know, Scott is almost done school for the semester. Classes are over and he is now into final exams. It worked out that Scott had 2 weeks between exams, and as you can see we are making very good use of this so-called exam prep period (with plenty of time to spare for studying). With only one exam left over a week away, we took off for another adventure: A three day canoe trip along the Whanganui River.

Before we left we were telling one of our Kiwi roommates what we were going to do for the next 3 days. He just shook his head, laughed, and said "Oh you bloody hillbillies!" I guess he is kinda right, canoeing and camping alongside he river... how much more hillbilly can you get.

On Sunday afternoon we drove down to Ohakune, a small ski town about 235km south. We arrived at about 4pm, just in time to pick up our barrels and equipment from Yeti Tours. Then we found a place to camp and started packing for the 3 day canoe trip we would start early the next morning.

After packing up and eating dinner, we went back into town to watch the Rugby World Cup Final that was on that night. It was a New Zealand vs France final. We went to the Powderkeg Chalet to watch the game. It was a nail-biter and the room was full of tense anxious Kiwis. Luckily, the All Blacks won they game 8-7. We are very glad they won because if they had lost, we'd be travelling among very depressed Kiwis for the next 6 weeks.

We went to bed straight away after the game because we had to be up at 5:30am (OK... we hit the snooze once, so 5:45am) the next morning.

Map of our trip

Day 1: Whakahoro to John Coull Hut

We met Alan with Yeti Tours at 7am that morning, strapped the canoe to the top of his van, threw our barrels into the back and he drove us out to Whakahoro, about an hour and a half drive from Ohakune. This is where we started our 3 day journey.

With just a quick little briefing on safety and technique, we waved goodbye and started paddling away.

The river runs through a beautiful canyon that was estimated to have been created about 1 million years ago. It was formed of soft sandstone and mudstone from the ocean-bed, and has been eroded by water to form sharp ridges, deep gorges, sheer cliffs and LOTS of waterfalls. Tree ferns and plants that cling to the steep riverbanks.

 Day 1: A little chilly but ready to go

The riverbank was full of lush green trees and ferns

The river was fairly calm through this section. There were a few small rapids that were somewhat of a learning experience for us. We haven't done a whole lot of canoeing before, so it took a while to get all the gears right. Scott was in the back and responsible for steering, and Nikki the front paddler. 

 
We came upon our first set of rapids and went right for it. We didn't get it exactly right, and Nikki got drenched...

But we were glad that we didn't have to go for a swim!

We stopped for some lunch

and

 a little stretch break

Oh... and a pee break too.

Nikki took the picture of the outhouse, well, for no good reason really... and it just so happened to turn out to be one of the coolest photos of a toilet we've seen in a long time thanks to a fogged up lens.

One thing we learned pretty quickly to avoid (or if we couldn't avoid them, how to handle them), were great big whirlpools. The first one snuck up on us and let's just say we almost went for a swim. Luckily we both came out from it dry and laughing so hard.

The other thing we had to learn how to deal with was the jet boats that come ripping down the river. We were warned about them, and told how to deal with them, but we were also told that we most likely wouldn't see one on the first day, but more likely to see a couple on the second day. Within the first hour of being out on the river, we hear the awful noise of one coming from behind us. We paddle hard over to the right and wave politely at all the wussy people who didn't have the guts to endure the 3 day canoe trip but would rather just have an hour long jet-boat ride. The boat passes quickly without slowing down, and then we are left to deal with the massive waves it creates. So, we turn hard so we are facing straight into the waves and ride them out. By then, the boat is far enough away that we are left to enjoy the peaceful sounds of nature again.

It was a little overcast in the morning, but the blue sky and sun made an appearance later in the day and Nikki was finally dry and warm enough to take her toque off after lunch.

We were happy to see the sun because it allowed for much nicer photos

Sandstone cliffs

We arrived at John Coull campground at about 3pm, having paddled 37.5km in 5 hours. We were the only people at the site so far, besides the camp warden. We set up camp and enjoyed the afternoon sun.

Feeling pretty good after a day out on the river 

Someones hair could use a little work though, but hey... we're apparently supposed to be hillbillies, so I guess it is fitting.

We started cooking some dinner and by then a couple other groups had arrived. We were secretly wishing we would be the only ones out there, but there ended up being 8 others. It was a little chilly out, so after dinner we joined the others in the hut, met Tommy from Germany and Krajn from Holland. We played some cards with them (including our very own invention of a game called Burning Frogs... we'll teach you how to play it when we get home).

We left the warm hut and went to our cold tent for the night. We didn't stay cold too long though with our sleeping bags made for Canada's climate. In the middle of the night, we were both woken up by a creaking sound coming from the top of our tent. (and no, this is not the cheap tent that was mentioned in the last blog... this was a rented one from Yeti Tours). We just fell back asleep and in the morning, this is what our tent looked like...

Now we know why there was an extra pole with the tent.

Day 2: John Coull Hut to Tieke

We had some breakfast, packed our stuff back into the barrels, loaded our canoe and off we went for another day of paddling starting off at about 10am.

Day 2: Pushing through the aches and pain of yesterday

The riverbanks started getting quite a bit steeper and higher than where we were yesterday 

 We saw many wild goats along the riverbanks. One of the other groups said that in the 3 days, they counted 29 of them. We didn't count, but we saw a whole bunch of them.

Goats!

After about 2 and a half hours, we came to Mangapurua Landing, where there is a short hike up to The Bridge to Nowhere. We pulled over, tied up our canoe and went for a hike. It was about a 40 minute walk each way through the dense forest filled with ferns.

The Silver Fern is considered a national symbol of New Zealand

Remember those steep cliffs along the riverbanks I was telling you about... It was more fun looking up at them from on the river than it was looking down from on top of it. 

Beautiful day for a little hike.

This was not the Bridge to Nowhere. This one went somewhere but was a little sketchy.

 The Bridge to Nowhere

The Bridge to Nowhere is a bridge that actually doesn't lead anywhere. Without getting too far into the history of it... After WW1, the government gave the land in this area to veterans returning from the war. They built the bridge in anticipation of building a main highway through the area to access these farming areas. However, the area quickly proved unsuitable for farming and it was abandoned. The roads were never built, but this amazing bridge still stands. The only access is via the river and there is only a hiking trail that leads to one side of the bridge. The other end just leads into bush.

You're on a bridge to nowhere and you're getting there fast.

On the way back to the canoe, Scott decided to explore this little canyon.

 Scott in the canyon under the bridge

Nikki above the canyon on the bridge

 After a much needed 2 hour break from canoeing, we were back at it and heading towards our next campsite. It was only another hour and a half away. The signage for the site wasn't great and we can see how it could be easily missed. Luckily we saw it at the last second and paddled hard to get to the shore before being taken downstream by the strong current. We tied up and set up camp for the night.

The sun was out and it was a beautiful, warm afternoon spent relaxing and enjoying the views.

Day 2: Paddled 29km in 4 hours (6hrs if you include the 2 hour hike).

Once everyone else finally made it to the campsite (with one group actually missing it and needing a jet boat tow from across the river), we hung out playing some more Burning Frogs and learning some other German card games until retiring to our tent for the night.

Day 3: Tieke to Pipiriki

After packing up the barrels once again, we started out our day on the river at about 9:15am. We heard from the warden that morning that the weather was supposed to turn on us later that day. But we lucked out and only got a tiny sprinkle of rain for a couple minutes.

Day 3: Ready for the big ones

This section of the river weaves through a deep gorge, and passes through three of the biggest rapids of the journey. We were looking forward to those!

Many years ago, the Maori people used this river for transportation and trade, as it is the longest navigable river in New Zealand. As we were paddling along, we wondered how they managed to get back to their villages upstream, as the current and rapids can be so strong. When talking with the warden, we learned that they used long poles and dug them into the sandstone cliff walls to pull themselves upstream.

These holes along the cliff wall was the result. Really cool to see.

We stopped for lunch on a rocky beach. We weren't in much of a hurry, so we chilled out there for a while. Tommy and Krajn caught up with us and stopped for lunch too.

We knew we had some hard work ahead of us to get through the upcoming rapids, so we laid back and floated along and enjoyed the nature sounds.

The other amazing thing about this journey is that there are endless waterfalls. Every few hundred meters, on either side of the bank, we'd pass another waterfall. There were so many, so we picked our favorites to share with you.

The Vomiting Wall Crack                                           The Drop of Doom   

  Double Trouble                                                      The Stumpy One

The Wishbone

This next one is one of our favorites, not only because the waterfall was pretty spectacular, but also because we were able to get another canoe in the picture, which gives a much better perspective on how steep and high the cliffs are.



Tommy and Krajn checking out the drooling cave

We came to section with the bigger rapids. No fear... just go! Luckily, Scott was much improved with his steering through them, and Nikki had her paddling technique down. We went through the first 2 just fine, and was actually a lot of fun because they started just as the river curved sharply like an 'S'. 

The third, and last, set of rapids was the most interesting one. It looked like it would slam us into the bank if we didn't do it right, so there was pretty much only 1 route: straight up the gut. The waves seemed big from a distance and only got bigger as we got closer. We steered in just right and hit the main set of waves straight on and steady. We didn't capsize, but that doesn't mean we didn't get wet. The waves were higher than the bow and came straight up and over into Nikki's lap.

There was water in the canoe up to our ankles and it made the canoe heavy and hard to move around, so after we were out of the set of rapids we had to do a little bailing...

Just a few minutes later, we made it to the ramp at Pipiriki, just a half an hour early for our 2pm pick up. We paddled 21.5km in 4 hours today.

Nikki had to pee so bad, and the toilets were about a 5 minute walk up the hill (where is my whiz-easy when I need it). Luckily this guy let her jump in the back of the truck and hitch a ride to the toilet.

Our driver showed up a few minutes later, we tied up the canoe and drove back to Ohakune where Bertie was waiting for us. We stopped for some dinner and then drove back to Hamilton.

WE DID IT!

2 Hillbillies, 3 days, 2 nights, 88km, and 13 hours of paddling!