Jon and Rach's Big Trip: The Riverflow

Friday February 1st - Thursday February 7th

It's been a week of two halves really with the first part being pretty active and the second part being pretty relaxed. There's been drama and high emotion so brace yourselves for the next five minutes.

After our Tongariro Crossing adventure and Rach's parachute jump we continued the active theme by doing a 3-day canoe trip down the Whanganui River. This journey is part of a 5-day one you can do that is one of New Zealand's 9 Great Walks. You walk nowhere but 8 Great Walks and 1 Canoe Journey isn't as snappy a title. The 3-day trip takes you 88km downstream during which time you have to navigate your way through numerous rapids, most of which are only Grade I (slightly lumpy water) but on the final day you encounter a Grade II one (potential for capsizing in an open canoe).

Our first day of the journey was the longest at 38km and with a low flowrate in the river thanks to very low rainfall it was pretty hard going, "canoeing through treacle" was what Rachel likened it to. For the 2 nights we were camping and made the most of not having to carry our food by taking 'proper food' with us. For the first time as well we even treated ourselves to some wine as we had plenty of barrels to fill.

The second day was similar to the first with great scenery as you canoe down river gorges with the occasional wild goat for company. It was only 28km on this day but we did get out of the canoe and walk to the Bridge to Nowhere. As the name suggests this is a bridge that goes nowhere. Built in the 1930s it's a pretty comprehensive concrete structure that was supposed to provide access to new settlers and help them make money from the land. In the end they didn't fancy it and went elsewhere leaving this huge bridge in the middle of the forest. It does attract plenty of tourists now though and the majority arrive by jet boat which means that the poor old canoeists have to hang on when these things come shooting by. Luckily we were at the end of the main tourist season so we only saw a couple.

The third day is the shortest at a mere 22km but it does have this large (for an open canoe) Grade II rapid. We'd been told the best way to approach it and felt pretty confident until we came to it behind a family group of 5 canoes and a kayak. The kayak made it through easily enough but of the 5 canoes 3 capsized, one after the rapids as it had too much water onboard and was unstable. We didn't have much choice, we had to go through it. The rapid itself was OK, pretty lumpy and big waves but not too bad but we took on a huge amount of water and my slight frame in the back it meant we became very unstable. A couple of wobbles and we thought we were going for a swim but we made it to the pebbly beach and bailed out. Another couple behind us manged to sink their canoe, he was very pleased with himself, she wasn't and had a face like thunder, very funny. We made it to the end with no more dramas and looked back on a very enjoyable 3 days.

From the canoeing we dorve to the west coast and a little town called Raglan. Famed for its surf beaches Rach was keen to get to the sea and get on a body board. We spent 2 nights here in a tipi set back in the bush, a very tranquil spot and different from what we'd stayed in before. It also had some of the most vicious mosquitoes we'd come across too. The beaches were pretty good here but it was the surf that was most impressive. The waves were huge and after a brief play I ran away to watch from a safe distance as Rach continued to get thrown around. A good spot and nice to relax for a couple of days.

From Raglan we crossed the North Island and went to the Coromandel Peninsula. This coastline is very picturesque with plenty of coves, bays and sandy beaches. I'd hoped to get out to White Island, an active volcano, but the wind was too strong so the trip was cancelled. Something for the next time. We spent a night at a campsite in a place called Hahei. From here we went to Cathedral Cove, a beautiful beach and huge arch eroded by the sea. We spent slightly longer than planned in Hahei as there was a small misplacement of some car keys on the beach. 3 hours of searching by hand, foot and rake failed to turn them up and so a few phonecalls to the local garage, several hours and a wad of cash later we had a new key. I won't say who's fault it was that the keys were lost, only that Rach is now the designated responsible adult of the two of us.