Days 44-49 | Km 1152-1362 | The Whanganui River
Waking at dawn on the banks of the Whanganui River
Running a 71Km Ultramarathon on the Queen Charlotte track 2 days prior to run/walking 50km with a 10kg pack on, followed then by 5 days of sitting and paddling a canoe through rapids WAS NOT A CLEVER IDEA!! Even physio’s can do the dumbest of things sometimes!!
By far I found the Whanganui River the hardest part of my journey so far. With my upper body having little to do in the last 2 months my arms were feeling pretty puny; all my muscle felt like it had been gravity assisted into my legs, which doesn’t really help with paddle power so much. 5 days however of 7-10 hours paddling (yes you read that correctly) and I felt like Arnie. Without any mirrors to deny me of my Schwarzenegger physique, I’m going to throw it out there that this girl definitely had some biceps on her by the time she reached Whanganui!
Arnie in training
E rere kau mai te awa nui nei
Mai i te kāhui maunga ki Tangaroa
Ko au te awa
Ko te awa ko au.
The river flows
From the mountains to the sea
I am the river
The river is me.
For centuries tribes of the Whanganui River have travelled by canoe, fished for eels, settled in villages along its banks and fought over it. From this great river, tribes take their name, their spirit and their strength. It is their awa tupua—their river of sacred power. In fact the river has such an inseparable connection to the Maori, it is their ancestor, a person—a tupuna. The Whanganui River is a legal person.
On March 20, 2017 New Zealand Parliament passed legislation declaring that Te Awa Tupua—the river and all its physical and metaphysical elements—is an indivisible, living whole, and henceforth possesses “all the rights, powers, duties, and liabilities” of a legal person. Click here to read more in this National Geographic article.
On Day 44 I woke at dawn at Taumaranui Canoe Hire in order to have a canoe safety briefing. Karen and her family run the business and are just top notch in providing care, hospitality and ensuring your paddle will be the safest possible. Whilst sipping coffee and munching on warm home baked bread and butter, a group of us were given an old school white board presentation and video tutorial on how to paddle rapids. This included how to avoid wrapping your canoe around the infamous ‘big rock’ (yes there is still one there yet to be retrieved), and dealing with the aptly named 50/50 rapid where 50% of people capsize. I had an inkling my paddle buddy, Tash and I, were going to get wet at some point!
Tash - my paddle power canoe accomplice!
Tash’s partner is also an Outward Bound instructor like Jamie. We bonded over salty seas and peeing in buckets during instructor sailing training last year when we spent 3 days on OB’s cutter together. We knew we were the A-team when it came to paddle power so who better to recruit as my canoe accomplice than this get out there and go gal!
Taumanruni canoe hire HQ
Hitching from Taumaranui to National Park Village to begin where I left off was a piece of cake. I seem to have mastered the knack of thumbing a lift - stand still facing the oncoming traffic (if your walking the same way drivers can’t judge you and lets be honest here, who has chosen not to pick up a hitch hiker because in an instant you make a split decision that their facial hair looks ‘too scary’, their shoes look ‘too dirty’ or they just plain looked ‘too grumpy’!?). So, stand so the drivers can see your face, wear a massive grin like your the happiest person ever to be stood on the side of the road with your thumb out - and be confident with that arm, no limp elbows or floppy wrists - you tell that traffic what you want with a positively straight arm and spritely thumb up! Lastly a little jig and a head bob to the oncoming cars shows you’re a cheery sole / harmless goon. Seriously I have hitched a lot now and it works a treat every time. *disclaimer - you be the judge if you actually want to get in the car that stops, you don’t have to take the first option if your 6th sense is screaming at you not too!
Running into Whakahoro where I’d meet Tash and our canoe the next morning I stumbled upon Leah & Mathias. Leah was struggling with a sore knee and it wasn’t long before I sussed that if I gave her some physio on the fly she’d be able to make it to Whakahoro too that day and then be able to join Tash & I for the journey (although I would of helped anyway!). These guys were a very cool US/Swiss couple who’d be hiking with a german couple all of whom I totally wanted along for the journey so, now crowned Leahs ‘physio fairy’ she made the distance and man did we all have a blast on the river!
Tash and I took turns in Captaining from the back of the boat and being the power house at the front. We managed to navigate Big Rock and avoid becoming a statistic as one of the 50% that capsized at 50/50. We were super proud of ourselves! Maybe this made us a little over confident, or the fact that one unnamed rapid caught us unawares on a corner whereby we had to simultaneously navigate overhanging branches, but our boat didn’t stay dry for long… I don’t think many people can say they capsized in Jerusalem but Tash and I can wear that crown with pride!
Poor Tash captaining from the back saw everything in slow motion, whereas myself head down paddling at the front was blissfully unaware we were on a sinking ship. 3 big waves had spilled into our boat as we attempted to navigate the trees and the rapids, I was wet yes but hadn’t realised the volume of water now onboard had placed Tash very much in the water and me sitting high ontop of the waves. Emergency stop, boat emptying with a high tech bucket scoop and we were back in action. Our co-crew did the kindest thing ever and pulled over before the next rapids, our soggy selves were handed hot coffee which cheered us up in an instant.
Day 4 on the river the weather took a turn, 4 hours straight we paddled our hearts out in pooring rain and wind to reach the next campsite. We were freezing cold and singing songs from the Lion King at the tops of our lungs to ignore the fact we were so cold, worked a treat. That evening surrounded by drip drying clothes we played cards, drank wine and patted ourselves on the backs for surviving. Day 5, our final day on the river was dictated by the tide. We couldn’t leave the campsite until an hour after high tide meaning by 2pm the wind had picked up. Although we now had an outgoing tide we very much had an incoming head on wind. We worked so hard to reach Whanganui that day we had no time for snack stops, we scrambled onto the final boat ramp looking like mini hunchbacks of Notre Dame until our hip flexors stretched out and out butts kicked into gear so we could stand tall again.
We made it!
For those of you interested in the entire Whanganui river journey check out the document and video below made by the Department of Conservation.