Thursday, April 20, 2006

The Mighty Whanganui

Easter 2006
14 happy campers
18 university degrees
13 paddles
7 canoes
3 days on the Whanganui River
2 German scientists
1 taniwha (or possibly a hippo)




Route Map

Helpful tip #1: The river is close to the central plateau and in April, it's COLD... so take extra clothes or extra boys to keep you warm.


Me on the river

John and Richard fell out of the canoe on the first day. It was possibly THE calmest, most obstacle free part of the river. At a lack of how to explain why they were swimming and their canoe was still up right they came up with the plausible excuse that it was a hippo! ... until we discovered that hippos can't float (yes that's a fact!) so they decided it must have been a taniwha (may be he didn't like John's rendition of "Te Waka" - which involved John repeating Te Waka and wacking his boat with the paddle - I personally loved it ;0)

Misty morning (mystical even?)

John bales out the canoe while Richard &
Adrian pose as Japanese school girls. Peace.


Helpful tip b: Make sure you have enough rope before you head out! Otherwise you have to tie all your canoes together and then tie the front one to the shore. Which doesn't inspire confidence on the long walk to the bridge to nowhere.

Me climbing up the single rope holding our canoes to the shore

Helpful Tip iii: If you're planning on making a fire take some fire-starters. We were burning our safety instruction sheets and worst of all the directions to the pub!!!


Scuba Steve AKA Richard takes a walk in the bush


Me in my tramping jandals

Helpful Tip j: Jandals are not the ideal footware for canoeing. They have no traction (as I discovered when I slipped down a hill and bruised my bum on a vicious rock) and your toes get cold. On the upside the are good for slapping people ;) and they float really well when you get tipped out of your boat!

The Bridge to Nowhere

Me and Rod on the Bridge to Nowhere


The Bridge to nowhere really does lead to nowhere! but it is extremely picturesque and kinda cool... however it could totaly benefit from a coffee cart. I was toatally in the mood for a Double-mocha-frappa-latte-cino by now!

Helpful Tip #6: Bring Coffee!

Helpful Tip #7: If you bring coffee, bring enough to share... it'll instantly make you firends ;)

Why we had 14 people and 13 paddles.
"Protection from what? "Zee Germans"? -Turkish, Snatch (2000)

Ray sits stranded on a rock while John bales out his canoe.

This photo's a little fuzzy cause it got water on the lens.
"It's a Race!" -Enricho Pollini, Rat Race (2001)

The company told us they had only one capsize per week. We managed to skew their data nicely by getting 6/7 boats over. Causes ranged from Taniwha, logs, Ray jumping on the edge of Andy & Charlottes canoe, rapids... and general craziness. :) It was a totaly enjoyable trip and I recommend you all do it! [but don't use a company called 'Blazing Paddles' their safety procedures were shocking!!!]

posted by Bree @ 4:01 pm

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