Dueling Banjos on the Whanganui

(*** Be sure to scroll down through the previous blog posts because we've finally attached some of our online photos. Click on any photo to access the online album ***)

(karen)
After many an evening spent talking to our fellow travellers in back country huts, we learned about a fun 3-day canoe trip down the Whanganui River. This is green, hilly country that seems completely untouched by the clear-cut farm land that dominates the region. In truth the whole area was farm land just after WWI, but it was found to be unprofitable and has since been abandoned back to the bush. It's nice to see that nature wasted no time in reforesting the area to it's original state.


It seems shocking that there is no easy way to head west to east through the middle of the North Island. To get to the Wade's Landing where we started the river trip, we had to drive 4.5 hours over mostly rural dirt roads. The kind of roads where the map shows a small town, and then you realize it must have been that dilapidated barn you passed 10 minutes ago. But we finally did find the landing and we spent the night in a small hut in the middle of a sheep paddock. Mom, you are finally going to get those sheep pictures I promised! (That's our white car next to the hut)




We packed our gear into 5 heavy-duty plastic barrels and strapped them into our Canadian-style canoe. Soon we were off on the river, me as the engine up front and Steve as the rudder in the back. The reason for this configuration is that I can't steer a canoe to save my life. There were several Class I rapids and a few Class II rapids on the river so it was important to have someone who could keep us straight. In a kayak it's not such a big deal, but to go down a rapid sideways in a canoe almost guarantees that you will capsize! Luckily Steve have his game face on and although we took on a bit of water in the larger waves we never tipped over...unlike several other folks on the river. Good on ya, mate!


As we unpacked our typical backpacker style ramen noodles and freeze dried veggies to make dinner, we looked around and noticed that most other people had packed all kinds of mouth watering treats for their meals. We then realized what everyone else already knew: it's a lot easier to carry food down a river in a canoe instead of on on your backs. We should have splurged a little I suppose, but oh well, it was nice to get to meet our fellow travelers and listen to stories from their own adventures.


[BTW, if anyone is intersted in seeing the Whanganui River and learning about some New Zealand history, there is a movie out called River Queen that was filmed where we did our canoe journey. I haven't seen it yet but I've heard it's worth a look]