We're at the halfway point so check out our tracking map
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January 1st: Taumarunui Cherry Grove to Poukaria campsite (35km)
Yeti Tours put us in at Cherry Grove in Taumarunui- Having just celebrated Christmas there we were quite familiar with that area. We had little in the way of instruction; I guess once we let slip that we had had some experience with canoes they pretty much gave us a spot device and sent us on our way.
The first day of our 4 day trip had the most rapids. Cody was in the back steering and I was in the front motoring along. We didn't flip, but came close. Lesson learned, don't cross your legs when going through rapids. Our canoe glanced off an underwater log which threw me off balance. Cody said I leaned to about a 45 degree angle out of the boat. Thank goodness he countered my lean on the opposing side otherwise we would have gone over.
Around lunchtime we saw a sign for a cafe from our boat. It was going to be the only cafe we would encounter on the river; so of course we stopped and scampered up the hill to have lunch.
It was quite pricy, but we'll worth the experience. The cafe was also a beautiful lavender farm and garden. They sold lavender beauty products, and lavender honey.
We each enjoyed a large vegetable quiche, salad, and desserts on the porch overlooking the garden. Luckily no one else was there which made for a tranquil and relaxing experience.
Thank goodness we were only paddling after that lunch because both of us ate far too much we're hikers so what's new.
Back in the rapids we saw a black Longfin river eel jumping and dancing out of the water. This was the strangest behavior we'd seen yet. These eels can normally swim from the ocean, climb up rocks and dams to get to mountain streams so they are quite agile. Another cool fact is that they can live to be over a hundred years old.
We made it to the first camp in good time. We did 35 kilometers in 4.5 hours. If only we could make those kinds of times hiking.
January 2nd: Poukaria camp to Ohoura campsite (49km)
Unlike yesterday we started out today with very little Rapids. We occasionally went through some shallow riffles but most of our time was spent toughing our way through large pools with a head wind.
The jet boats were a new addition to this section of the river and they were by far more formidable than the rapids we just encountered.
Cody and I felt like big clumsy sitting targets for them. Not once did a jet boat slow down to go by us. They would generate a wake that would have tipped us over had we not stopped every time and repositioned the canoe stern forward into the wake. This slowed us down some since we seemed to be running into more jet boats as the day went on.
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By far the coolest thing we came across today was a cave. It was about as tall as a two-story house but not quite as deep. The walls were brittle and made out of a sandy material that people had carved their names into. The cave had probably taken thousands of years to make as the high walls of the canyon around us implied that the water levels fluctuated greatly. We had been warned that the water levels could rise over 12 meters in a single night. Luckily for us we had clear skies ahead.
Second coolest were all the waterfalls...
We arrived at Camp shortly after the cave visit. There were at least 30 people there so we worried about not being able to get a campsite. Luckily we spotted a few familiar faces; Rob Joss and Gil had already claimed a spot...right next to the long drop toilets! I guess it was an appropriate place to put all the smelly TA hikers.
Some Israeli guy running off with all of our stuff
The gang back together again
Tent city
We saw and heard many possums that night in camp. They were obviously used to being around people and seemed bolder than the possums that we were used two in the bush. The possums in New Zealand were introduced by fur traders from Australia and they are a lot prettier and more polite than American possums. Here they are considered a pest and New Zealanders try their hardest to exterminate the population by using poison and traps.
I'm still working on getting a picture if the cute little buggers, but for now here's one I grabbed off the web.
January 3rd: Ohoura campsite to to Tieke camp (34km)
We left camp paddling with Rob, Joss and Gil and picked up Kenzie, Cam and Peter along the way at a different campsite.
Rob and Joss were by far the most entertaining on the river since they had perfected the art of going down rapids backwards. Cody and I should take tips from them for our next River race.
We saw a canoe that had been recently wrapped around a log; the paddles were still stuck in the canoe. All of us thought this was quite impressive since it was the only log in the middle of a large stretch of the river.
Later that day we pulled up to a traffic jam by the river and park or canoes in order to hike up to the bridge to nowhere.
That bridge was built for returning war veterans after World War one so they could farm and a newly developed settlement. Unfortunately a major highway was built and everyone deserted the town leaving behind a magnificent bridge that literally goes to nowhere.
While returning back to our boat from the bridge to nowhere we saw a jet boat haul off with the wrecked canoe.
That would have cost the unlucky paddlers over $400 not including the damage to the canoe. Lesson learned paddle and pay attention.
On a lighter note, Cody set the trend for stand up paddling in the canoe.
We ended our day at Tieke camp, it was our last night all together. We circled our tents in our own TA group away from all the other campers.
This particular camp was hosted by a Maori family; and they had a Pa (Church) on site. For a fee we could have joined their nightly ceremony but we decided just to watch from camp. No pictures were allowed to be taken. Traditionally the ceremony first starts with lengthy introductions from both the visitors and Maori family; and a song must be sung buy both parties as well. The women campers we're expected to sit on the floor behind the men and children who got chairs. After the ceremony the tribe and campers rub noses in farewell.
We were visited by two fat wood pigeons that night, they were feeding on the small seeds from the tree near our tents
(these are the same birds that get drunk off of fermented berries, and gorge themselves until they are too heavy to fly) Cody and I were practically drooling at the sight of these scrumptious looking targets. It would be just an easy slingshot away...But since the birds are protected this was just a trail food fantasy.
January 4th: Tieke camp to Pipriki (21km)
Everyone left camp early in the morning to make it to our pick up time. We've had unusually good weather and today looked like it would be just as georgous.
Later on in the day we stopped to take lunch. Four guys floated with their 2 sunken canoes towards our lunch spot; they had both taken the fun rapid above our rest stop at the same time and collided.
Near the end of the river trip we we're gifted with one last cave and this one was the best of all. It had a very large waterfall inside.
We paddled 21 km that day and ended our trip in a middle of nowhere town called Pipriki.
We were there by one but weren't allowed to leave until 3pm since Yeti was holding our bags hostage. Yeti Tours were alright, but here's why I would go with their rival Blazing Paddles. Our canoe was so worn the bottom was warped from over use. My paddle was so worn it had fiberglass that was constantly cutting into my hands. Our dry bags were not waterproof. And we didn't get any food! The other TA hikers who had gone with blazing paddles had completely new gear, new canoes, and were given fresh plumbs, eggs, and bread when they were dropped off and picked up. For all future TA hikers you should go with Blazing Paddles. Cody and I were later told that the yeti outfit use to be run by passionate paddlers who had a great reputation. The new owner of Yeti Tours does not canoe or kayak; and is only concerned with making money. Hence why our gear was over 25 years old and why I was paddling with a piece of insulation.
We hiked 12 km down river rd. to a Nuns covenant that was listed in our guidebook as a place to stay. Unfortunately the nuns weren't home and we had to fend for ourselves. We ended up striking a deal with a Maori woman who lived next store to the Nuns. We all took turns mowing her lawn in exchange for a place to set up our tents. She was also the towns only "quickie mart" so we were able to pick up a few snacks-bonus! I suck at mowing so Cody had to go over a few of my spots.
Apart from being bitten by hundreds of sand flys, we had a relatively nice stay.
http://mrcocard.followmyspot.com/jaz-and-cody-new-zealand
January 1st: Taumarunui Cherry Grove to Poukaria campsite (35km)
Yeti Tours put us in at Cherry Grove in Taumarunui- Having just celebrated Christmas there we were quite familiar with that area. We had little in the way of instruction; I guess once we let slip that we had had some experience with canoes they pretty much gave us a spot device and sent us on our way.
The first day of our 4 day trip had the most rapids. Cody was in the back steering and I was in the front motoring along. We didn't flip, but came close. Lesson learned, don't cross your legs when going through rapids. Our canoe glanced off an underwater log which threw me off balance. Cody said I leaned to about a 45 degree angle out of the boat. Thank goodness he countered my lean on the opposing side otherwise we would have gone over.
Around lunchtime we saw a sign for a cafe from our boat. It was going to be the only cafe we would encounter on the river; so of course we stopped and scampered up the hill to have lunch.
It was quite pricy, but we'll worth the experience. The cafe was also a beautiful lavender farm and garden. They sold lavender beauty products, and lavender honey.
We each enjoyed a large vegetable quiche, salad, and desserts on the porch overlooking the garden. Luckily no one else was there which made for a tranquil and relaxing experience.
Thank goodness we were only paddling after that lunch because both of us ate far too much we're hikers so what's new.
Back in the rapids we saw a black Longfin river eel jumping and dancing out of the water. This was the strangest behavior we'd seen yet. These eels can normally swim from the ocean, climb up rocks and dams to get to mountain streams so they are quite agile. Another cool fact is that they can live to be over a hundred years old.
We made it to the first camp in good time. We did 35 kilometers in 4.5 hours. If only we could make those kinds of times hiking.
January 2nd: Poukaria camp to Ohoura campsite (49km)
Unlike yesterday we started out today with very little Rapids. We occasionally went through some shallow riffles but most of our time was spent toughing our way through large pools with a head wind.
Hooray for large pools and head wind!
The jet boats were a new addition to this section of the river and they were by far more formidable than the rapids we just encountered.
Cody and I felt like big clumsy sitting targets for them. Not once did a jet boat slow down to go by us. They would generate a wake that would have tipped us over had we not stopped every time and repositioned the canoe stern forward into the wake. This slowed us down some since we seemed to be running into more jet boats as the day went on.
By far the coolest thing we came across today was a cave. It was about as tall as a two-story house but not quite as deep. The walls were brittle and made out of a sandy material that people had carved their names into. The cave had probably taken thousands of years to make as the high walls of the canyon around us implied that the water levels fluctuated greatly. We had been warned that the water levels could rise over 12 meters in a single night. Luckily for us we had clear skies ahead.
Second coolest were all the waterfalls...
We arrived at Camp shortly after the cave visit. There were at least 30 people there so we worried about not being able to get a campsite. Luckily we spotted a few familiar faces; Rob Joss and Gil had already claimed a spot...right next to the long drop toilets! I guess it was an appropriate place to put all the smelly TA hikers.
We saw and heard many possums that night in camp. They were obviously used to being around people and seemed bolder than the possums that we were used two in the bush. The possums in New Zealand were introduced by fur traders from Australia and they are a lot prettier and more polite than American possums. Here they are considered a pest and New Zealanders try their hardest to exterminate the population by using poison and traps.
I'm still working on getting a picture if the cute little buggers, but for now here's one I grabbed off the web.
January 3rd: Ohoura campsite to to Tieke camp (34km)
We left camp paddling with Rob, Joss and Gil and picked up Kenzie, Cam and Peter along the way at a different campsite.
Rob and Joss were by far the most entertaining on the river since they had perfected the art of going down rapids backwards. Cody and I should take tips from them for our next River race.
We saw a canoe that had been recently wrapped around a log; the paddles were still stuck in the canoe. All of us thought this was quite impressive since it was the only log in the middle of a large stretch of the river.
Later that day we pulled up to a traffic jam by the river and park or canoes in order to hike up to the bridge to nowhere.
That bridge was built for returning war veterans after World War one so they could farm and a newly developed settlement. Unfortunately a major highway was built and everyone deserted the town leaving behind a magnificent bridge that literally goes to nowhere.
While returning back to our boat from the bridge to nowhere we saw a jet boat haul off with the wrecked canoe.
That would have cost the unlucky paddlers over $400 not including the damage to the canoe. Lesson learned paddle and pay attention.
On a lighter note, Cody set the trend for stand up paddling in the canoe.
We ended our day at Tieke camp, it was our last night all together. We circled our tents in our own TA group away from all the other campers.
This particular camp was hosted by a Maori family; and they had a Pa (Church) on site. For a fee we could have joined their nightly ceremony but we decided just to watch from camp. No pictures were allowed to be taken. Traditionally the ceremony first starts with lengthy introductions from both the visitors and Maori family; and a song must be sung buy both parties as well. The women campers we're expected to sit on the floor behind the men and children who got chairs. After the ceremony the tribe and campers rub noses in farewell.
We were visited by two fat wood pigeons that night, they were feeding on the small seeds from the tree near our tents
(these are the same birds that get drunk off of fermented berries, and gorge themselves until they are too heavy to fly) Cody and I were practically drooling at the sight of these scrumptious looking targets. It would be just an easy slingshot away...But since the birds are protected this was just a trail food fantasy.
January 4th: Tieke camp to Pipriki (21km)
Everyone left camp early in the morning to make it to our pick up time. We've had unusually good weather and today looked like it would be just as georgous.
Later on in the day we stopped to take lunch. Four guys floated with their 2 sunken canoes towards our lunch spot; they had both taken the fun rapid above our rest stop at the same time and collided.
Near the end of the river trip we we're gifted with one last cave and this one was the best of all. It had a very large waterfall inside.
We paddled 21 km that day and ended our trip in a middle of nowhere town called Pipriki.
We were there by one but weren't allowed to leave until 3pm since Yeti was holding our bags hostage. Yeti Tours were alright, but here's why I would go with their rival Blazing Paddles. Our canoe was so worn the bottom was warped from over use. My paddle was so worn it had fiberglass that was constantly cutting into my hands. Our dry bags were not waterproof. And we didn't get any food! The other TA hikers who had gone with blazing paddles had completely new gear, new canoes, and were given fresh plumbs, eggs, and bread when they were dropped off and picked up. For all future TA hikers you should go with Blazing Paddles. Cody and I were later told that the yeti outfit use to be run by passionate paddlers who had a great reputation. The new owner of Yeti Tours does not canoe or kayak; and is only concerned with making money. Hence why our gear was over 25 years old and why I was paddling with a piece of insulation.
We hiked 12 km down river rd. to a Nuns covenant that was listed in our guidebook as a place to stay. Unfortunately the nuns weren't home and we had to fend for ourselves. We ended up striking a deal with a Maori woman who lived next store to the Nuns. We all took turns mowing her lawn in exchange for a place to set up our tents. She was also the towns only "quickie mart" so we were able to pick up a few snacks-bonus! I suck at mowing so Cody had to go over a few of my spots.
Apart from being bitten by hundreds of sand flys, we had a relatively nice stay.
