The River! The closer we got, the more excited we were. Everyone hiking the TA knows what is meant by “the river”: a stretch of Te Araroa in the North Island is actually on the Whanganui River. For the ones who prefer to hike or even cycle it, there is an alternate. Still, most hikers paddle the 170 km from Whakahoro Landing to Whanganui at the coast, where the river eventually flows into the Pacific Ocean. The Whanganui River has its source on the slopes of Tongariro and winds its way through archaic scenery of ferns, native bush, and steep cliffs where you’d easily think of Jurassic Park and almost expect to hear roars of dinosaurs. I also find it quite unique that the river is a legal entity! The whenua (Māori word for land or ground) plays a particular role in the Māori worldview and the Whanganui in particular.
I had, to be honest, mixed feelings approaching the river: I made the river journey about six years ago after I finished hiking TA on the South Island, and I capsized with my kayak at least once every single day. I got my fair share of intimacy with the Whanganui already and was not looking forward to getting more. Having grown up in the mountains of the Thuringian Forest, bodies of water feel slightly intimidating. But as it is part of the trail and John hasn’t paddled it yet, we’ll do it! The river itself is an easy one (graded with 1+, meaning easy), with occasional rapids; however, there are fewer rapids and faster flowing after rainstorms. It’s unnecessary to say I had my fingers crossed for a bit of rain to cover the worst rapids.
Leaving Tongariro National Park closed the chapter of volcanic vastness, and only within three days of hiking, we made it back to the lush bush. The trail brought us to the canoe launch site at Whakahoro, where lots of TA hikers gathered to get ready for the river. Planning the paddling journey was logistically challenging as we had to coordinate vacant campsite spots along the river with canoe hire availability at Taumarunui Canoe Hire.
Even though I started pretty tense, the river was good to us, and we had five days of sunshine; we managed the rapids pretty well. I eventually figured that a little bit of adrenaline on the water was a nice change to the long, slow-flowing, calm sections.
Even though it was a bit overwhelming to be in a relatively big group of hikers/paddlers (at the first hut, there were 68 people in total!), it was fantastic to catch up with a couple of people we hadn’t seen in a while. Also, at the river, it was the first time that hikers felt a bit more like a community: there was no cell reception (and therefore no distraction by phone), everyone did what the others do (no hitch-hiking, no skipping possible), and everything felt more like a shared experience.
All in all, the river was not a floating experience; we had to paddle to get to somewhere constantly. The rapids were manageable, even the notorious 50/50 rapid (50% capsize, 50% don’t), and the scenery mind-blowing. However, the river somehow lacked a little life: we only witnessed some birds along the shores. In the end, I enjoyed the paddling but was happy at the same time to be back onto solid ground and back to hiking. But it is an exciting experience being on a river where things are inevitable: you cannot stop, sit down and discuss what’s next. Sitting in a canoe that goes down a river (and towards rapids, etc.),, needs quick decisions and commitment to decisions. That’s almost an interesting lesson for life I learned on the Whanganui.
