Travel and Whanganui Day 1

Day 27 March 4th

We got up early and drove to Tamaranui. We camped at a Holiday Park there and prepared for our canoe trip down the Whanganui River. This had been something that my mom had arranged on my request, so I was really excited.

Day 28- March 5th

We drove out to the company we would be renting canoes from, Blazing Paddles. We packed all of our stuff into waterproof barrels, parked our car, and got into the truck of our company. We drove an hour to the put in where we loaded our stuff into our canoes and left. Our “guide” (he wasn’t coming with us, just giving us the canoes) gave us maps and some advice about canoeing. I was in a canoe with my mom and my dad and sister were in the other one. We didn’t have a lot of stuff: four large 10 gallon barrels between us all, so our canoes were a little tippy.

It had been drizzling all day, but just a few minutes after we got in the water it started downpouring. We were all soaked in ten minutes. My sister wasn’t very happy, but I was having fun. I personally think that landscapes look a lot better in the rain. Unfortunately, I can’t use my DSLR camera in the rain without a waterproof housing, which usually cost more than the camera itself.

It stopped raining after a while and my sister cheered up. I was able to take out my camera and take pictures, finally.

Because of all the rain, the river was higher than normal. We saw a lot of waterfalls and some large logs floating down the river. The river was also very muddy and silty, but I guess it is usually clear. The banks were usually steep, canyon like rock walls, or just heavily forest cliffs. It also had a sort of medieval look. The tree ferns gave it a tropical look, but at the dame time dark and middle-earth like. The rain and fog added to the image. 

We went through a few small rapids, but nothing very bad. Then we went through another rapid and hit a wave wrong and took on some water. We were able to bail most of it, but now my mom was nervous about the rest of the rapids. There weren’t any more big ones that day and we landed at John Coull hut, our campground, at about 7. There was a hut there with beds and a stove, but it was full so we slept in tents. We hung our clothes out to dry, but it started raining a little so we had to take them down.

There were two park rangers at this camp. They actually worked for DOC (Department of Conservation, the equivalent of the park service) doing other things, but had signed up for ranger duty for a week. It was sort of like a paid vacation.

There were a few other groups at the campground. Two of them were guided trips, so the guides cooked them dinner and brought all of the supplies. I am glad that we weren’t on a guided trip, as there would be nothing to do except paddle.