January 22, 2010

Row row row your boat

I joined Jamie and the crew at Pipiriki having gone from a balmy 20C in Auckland to a rather chilly and damp 13C! Luckily Sunday we woke to blue skies and were treated to an adrenaline pumping Jet boat ride with Ken from www.whanganuiriveradventures.co.nz.  This was a jet boat ride that gave more than just a good adrenalin burst! Ken told us a lot about the local area and history of the river as the main mode of transport back in 1900s. What a great start to the leg!

 After a quick jump start to my car that was feeling a little drained after charging too many mobile phones overnight (the locals made sure I knew I should have bought a Toyota rather than a Nissan) we were on to the river. Kayaks felt a bit slow after the jet boat ride but it gave us more opportunity to take a look at the sites of the Whanganui River. We just had a short 16km kayak to warm into it.

On Monday the hard work begun with a 50 km kayak. Robyn told us that the average speed we could expect to keep up for the day was about 6km/hr…..that’s a long day on the river! The students Phillip, Craydon, Matt and Scott were great and I heard just one “are we nearly there yet” all day!  Great effort guys I was really impressed.

There was a lot to keep us interested during the day with goats, pigs, sheep and horses grazing along the steep slopes of the river. We had a few small rapids to get us thinking, one dunking for Phillip and Scott to freshen them up a bit and sacrifice a few loose possessions to the river god! It was great to mix it up a bit after each break getting to know others in the group, each with their own unique paddling style!  Toward the end of the day we had a few races and water fights which probably reduced our average speed somewhat.

It was a fantastic day but must admit to feeling happy to see our spot for the night. I think we all slept well apart from Jamie who was woken by a friendly hedgehog in the middle of the night…

We had just 22 km to tackle the next day but with the incoming tide it felt a bit like the 50km the day before. All of us realised the importance of setting a few mini goals along the way to keep us going and the large packet of scroggin was devoured at half time for a bit of an energy burst for the last part of our epic journey. I paired up with Jamie for the final part of the journey and it definitely helped being in a kayak with someone that had rowed the Atlantic in record time!

So we finally made it! Definitely looking forward to a hot shower and a soft bed but stoked with what we had achieved – 100km of kayaking in just three days. The Whanganui River has been classified as on of New Zealand Great Walks and I can see why – would highly recommend it to everyone.

Thanks guys. It was a great trip and all the best for the last couple of weeks – love what you are doing!

Verity

Categories: Cynthia, Jamie Fitzgerald, N12, North Island, Pictures