WHANGANUI – NATIONAL PARK VILLAGE

Section Distance = 171.5 km

Total Distance = 450 km

This section involved a little flip flopping (changing the direction of the hike) due to flooding on the Whanganui River and lining up safe paddling dates. 

WHANGANUI – RIVERTIME LODGE 

Left Te Whare Kereru and headed north after a rest/re-supply with another few days of road walking ahead of me. Up and over ‘gentle Annie’ which wasn’t overly steep but seemed to go on forever. Great views over the river and I ended up being the only guest at the Rivertime Lodge for the night. 

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RIVERTIME LODGE – PIPIRIKI 

Some of the highlights of walking the river road were the stunning river views, concretia balls (and the circular depressions where they have fallen out of the cliff walls) and entering the Whanganui National Park!!!

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I ended up getting a lift for the last few km into Pipiriki as my feet were giving me trouble again. All this road walking is killing my feet, take me back to the muddy trails! For some people the goal is to hike every single step of this trail. For me if prioritizing my feet means hitch hiking a small road section to make it in the long term, I will do it rather than not be able to walk at all the next day. Each person hikes their own hike and the best part of Te Araroa is how you make it your own. 

Section hike a little bit each year, thru-hike one island or complete the whole length in one go… it’s your hike!

The weather had been less than ideal (thunderstorms and heavy rain) which unfortunately raised the river levels to a point where it was unsafe to paddle as planned once I reached Pipiriki…initiate plan b, or c, or g, whichever plan I am up to now 🤦‍♀️🤣🌧

But a couple of rest days exploring the area and a change of hiking direction (see Te Araroa Part 5 Taumarunui to National Park Village) brought me back to the river! 

Because my Whanganui River journey was cancelled due to flooding, I had another itinerary change. To give the river time to subside and re-book my canoe hire I chose to skip north to Taumaranui and hike south back to the river and hope that in that time it had gone down enough to paddle. Welcome to flip flopping!!!

But to keep this section together I’ve included the Whanganui River Journey in this blog…

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WHAKAHORO CAMP – JOHN COULL HUT 

Time to paddle!!! 🛶☀️😀

I teamed up with fellow TA hiker Andrew for the 3 day journey from Whakahoro camp back to Pipiriki. Now that the river has gone down from flood levels it’s time to rest the feet and test the arms instead. 

There was quite a bit of debris along the river banks from the flooding last week but the weather was warm and sunny 🌞 the rapids small and the scenery stunning!!!

We paddled through the chasm with towering cliff walls rising on either side, covered with native bush and all that could be heard was the sound of the paddles in the water and birdsong. It really gave a sense of being ‘out of time’ and I was waiting for a moa to come walking out of the ferns.

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JOHN COULL HUT – TIEKE KAINGA HUT

This section brought us to the bridge to nowhere. Originally built to assist the families living and farming the area to cross a steep gully, it now receives more annual visitors than the total number of people it was built for!

Jetboats do daily trips up and down the river to this iconic landmark and after being overtaken by 3 of them (going just a tad faster than us 🚤🚤🚤) we arrived just in time for lunch. The roar of the jet boats can be heard long before they reach us and general river sharing etiquette is, if a canoe has entered a set of rapids the jet boat must wait for them to clear it before continuing. If a canoe has not entered rapids pull to the side and allow the jet boat to pass. 

Canoe tip – the canoe should be angled at 45 degrees into to the wash of the jet boat to avoid being swamped and don’t forget the wash is going to hit the walls of the canyon and come back at you from behind… 

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TIEKE KAINGA HUT – PIPIRIKI 

Our last day on the river was a combination of still calm water and our largest rapids yet!!!

And although we succeeded in our goal of not falling out of the canoe, the river at one point did fall into it…in the form of a 1m high wall of water straight to my face! (I wish I had a video of this 🤣 but the camera was tucked securely in a dry bag for obvious reasons)

There were several large caves on the last stretch which I of course had to explore 😃

Some hard paddling and lots of bailing later we glided into Pipiriki.

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This section has been one of my favorite so far (I’m going to say that a lot over the course of my TA journey I’m sure) but floating down the river really felt like a world away. 

Next stop Te Araroa Part 5  Taumaranui to National Park Village.