Paddling to Pipiriki: a canoe trip down the Wanganui River

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PADDLING TO PIPIRIKI A CANOE TRIP DOWN THE WANGANUI RIVER Harry Smith Down the Wanganui And the Manawatu I'll paddle and paddle My little long canoe James K. Baxter ("The Maori Boy") W ell, I may not have done the Manawatu yet, but on ANZAC weekend I finally realised one of my EXPLORER long-standingambitionsanddidacanoe trip down the Wanganui River. The trip began at Whakahoro, west of Raurimu, where we arrived in the early hours of the morning after a seemingly endless downhill drive on narrow gravel roads. "Real men sleep outside!" announced Jo as soon as the truck came to a halt, and most off the punters followed her out into the darkness and the drizzleto grovel about pitchingflysin themud. Ahandfulofthewiser members remained behind in the truck, smiling knowingly to themselves at the enthusiasmandfollyoftheinexperienced EAPIORER and quickly spreading out into all the vacant space to settle down for a comfortable night. Any returning members off ftherabble werel kept safely at bay by securely tying the truck door shut! (I won't mention whose idea this was except to say that Iwas closest to the truck door!) Next morning, after donning life jackets, Prows on the Wanganui Harry Smith stowing our gear away in waterproof barrels, and tying them securely in the got the hang of paddling and settled siderose: steephillsides, clothedinthick, Canadian canoes, it was time to set off into thet flowofthings that wouldprevail seemingly impenetrable bush. In the excepttherewasacertainreluctance for the next three days. We cruised more gorgy sections the banks rose on the part of the crews to launch along at a leisurely pace, paddling in sheer out of the river in vertical cliffs themselves into the river! Matthew and the calm stretches, letting the current hundreds of feet high. In other places I decided to lead the way, and proudly carry US when it was stronger, and slips and slumps had formed narrow ventured forth into the current, only to negotiating the occasional easy rapid. beaches where it was possible to step find ourselves going down the river To begin with there was the inevitable ashore. The cliffs were bedecked with backwards, to the great amusement of water fight Woody and I somehow moss and ferns which somehow everyone on the bank. Having missed seemed to be at the centre of most of managed to maintain a footing. Side Geoff's brief talk on paddling technique, these but they became less frequent streams cascaded from thet tops of the it was some time before realised that, as time went on. Another popular and cliffs or issued out of them halfway being at thel back, Iwas: supposed to be enjoyable activity was to sneak up down, from narrow slit gorges carved doing the steering! behind another canoe and hang on for downwards through the soft paparock, a free ride. and plunged into the river below or Eventually all the canoes werel launched vaporised into soft clouds of mist. The and wel headed off down river. We soon The scenery was spectacular. On either weather, to begin with, was drizzly, TRAMPING & MOUNTAINEERING adding even more to the impression of men were employed to keep the andwewerelookingforwardtothee end that we had passed back in time, into channels open, blasting out the rapids ofthe day, we arrived at John Coull Hut, some primitive, primordial wilderness. andclearinglogiams afterr majorf floods. only to finditf full of other groups of river And of course we werei in a wilderness, Later, at thee end oft thet trip at Pipiriki, we travellers. Some of these parties were one off thel largest such areas left in the sawoneofthefewsurviving steamboats guided, withmemberspayinghundreds North Island. on display beside the road. ofdollars each for thee experience. Each to their own, butt to me at anyratelthink We stopped for lunch at a point where And of course, before the arrival of the this would lessen the experience apathwayhadbeenconstructedupthe Pakeha and the steamboat, the river somehow. We chose to camp out by hillside to a lookout point far above. was the centre of a great deal ofMaori ourselves, down by the river bank, and Woodens steps andhandrails overcame activity. Throughout its length it was ended the day around the fire with a the steepest parts off thep papa rock cliff. dottedwith villages, built onflatterraces superbmeal lofnachos thanks Austin, Clambering up, we were surprised to high on the tops of cliffs and accessible evenifsomeofinepockets ofcorn chips find another reach off the river below US from the river only by the use of vine didn't survive their trip in the bottom of on the other side. It turned out that we ladders dangledfrom above. Ifenemies the gear barrels very well! were on the narrow neck of a large approached, these could be quickly peninsula aroundwhichtheriver flowed hauled up out of reach. Even today, if Day2 in a huge horseshoe bend three youknowwheretolook the remains of kilometres around ast the water flowed, old Maori pas and flagpoles can Thenext morningwer enjoyedaleisurely and yet from thel lookout on the necki it apparently still be found among the pack up, and then the day settled into seemed almost possible to throw a encroaching bush. the same leisurely pace as the one stoneintoi ther rivert two orthreet hundred before. As we meandered our way feet below on either side. One day the Late in the afternoon, just as the down river we took time out to explore riverwille eventuallycutthroughthisneck enjoyment was beginning to wear thin one or two of the side creeks. Some of and thel long horseshoe curve will then be left stranded high and dry, as has previously happened to another horseshoe bend at Atene, way down valleybelowPipirki. Ofcourse, thismight take centuries or even millennia - but such a length of time is nothing in the lifetime of the river. After lunch we continued on our way. Thejourneywasveryquiet. Inthecourse ofthree daysldon'tthink we: saw more than three or four jet boats. Except around the huts or other landings we never saw any other canoeists; they would have been travelling along at much the same speed as ourselves in their own stretch of river. Sometimes even the other members of our own partywereoutofs sighto aheadorbehind, and we were completely alone. It was strange to think that for a number of decades at the end of last century and thel beginningofthis one, this river had been the main arterial transport route through the middle of thel North Island, linking Wanganui with the rail-head at Taumaranui, aswell asprovidingaccess to local farms and villages along its banks. Each year thousands off tourists from all over the world came to visit the "Rhine of the South", staying in luxury guesthouses or floating houseboats, and travelling its length in speciallydesigned flat-bottomed steamboats which werel laboriously winched lupt the numerous rapids with the aid of steel cables attached to the bank upstream andl lefti lying down ther riverbed. Gangs Cruising on the Wanganui Harry Smith TRAMPING. & MOUNTAINEERING these were really fascinating places; out on our own they would appear as mysterious trek along the canyons, emerging from the cliffs. We overgrown road were able to paddle up one or two for to Nowhere considerable distances before the way where we took was blocked by a waterfall or other photos to prove obstacle. Some were SO narrow that it thatwehadbeen was not possible to turn around, and there, and some youl had tol back your way out. of the boys practise d There were occasional logs and throwing things branches in the river, which it was offtheside! Then, necessary to avoid. Usually this was following a easy, but on one occasion Matthew leisurely lunch, it andinearlycametogrief. Lazingalong, was back to the we failed to spot a large semi- main river to submerged log lying at right angles resume our across our path until we were nearly downward upon it. We paddled frantically to tryto journey. pass around the end ofi it buti it was too late. There wasnothingforitbuttohang By this time our on and hopet for thel best. We ended up thoughts were slipping over the top of it sideways and on where we dropping off down the other side. were going to Fortunately we kept our balance, but spend the night Geoff claimed from the neighbouring Tieke Hut, the boat that we both went as white as next one on the sheets. river, was where most people Austin at the helm Harry Smith Int thee early afternoon we, pulled ashore stay, but we att theMangepurualanding. the start of planned to camp instead. Apart from our wayt back up river thatlreally! began the track to the famous Bridge to the likely crowds of other canoeists at to appreciate the efforts of the old time Nowhere. Built in the 1930s, this was Tieke, wel had heardt that it had recently Maori, who used this river as their designed to provide access to the been occupied by Maori activists who highway into the interior. They would Wanganui River for the settlers in the apparentlye expected visitorsto treatit it as paddle upstream all day, poling their Mangapurua Valley. But conditions in a marae. Call US a culturally insensitive way up the rapids. We, on the other the valley wereh harsh, and within afew lot, but this didn't seem very appealing. hand, only had to go back up a couple years all the farms had been of hundred yards, in a relatively slow, abandoned. Today the Mangapurua Directly opposite the Mangapurua calm section, but by the time we drew ValleyispartofthewhanganuiNational Landing there was a campsite, and alongside the landing I was panting Park, providing an interesting and according to Austin, the guidebook hard. (The fact that the other canoes unusual tramp where old hedgerows showed another one a short distance were against thet bank, forcingMatthew andthedecayingremainsof abandoned further down. This seemed suitable for and me out into the stronger current in farms can still be found amongst the our purposes, so we set off for there. themiddle, mayhavehadsomethingto regenerating bush. Thel large concrete But after paddling some distance no do with it. Or at least so I claim.) bridge still stands solidly, defying the compsitehadappeared. Another check forces of decay; alonely sentinelf from a ofAustin'srouteguider revealedthat this Theeffortprovedwell-worthit,however, forgotten past, silently spanning the "second" campsite was in fact just the as the track led up to a flat grassy Mangapurua, and leading to lower end of the first one we had seen meadow on a triangular point of land nowhere. and this was now a considerable between the main river and Tangahoe distance upstream! We continued on Stream, a far more pleasant place to Now it is rather to stand and say: down river. spend the night than either the scungy How many roads we take that lead to official campsite opposite the Nowhere, A few miles further on we spotted a Mangapurua Landing or the crowded The alley overgrown, no meaning now carved track leading up the right-hand Tiekel Hut further downstream, andone but loss: bank. There was no: signpost indicating I would unreservedly recommend to Not that veritable garden where that this was an official landing; did it anyone doing the river. We spent an everything comes easy. leadto acampsite? Indecisionp prevailed enjoyable evening there, around a for a few minutes as we drifted slowly blazing bonfire. (This is actually private James K. Baxter by. Almost too late, we decided we land, but we were sure the owners ("The Bay") should check it out. wouldn't mind US camping there overnight. Besides, they weren't going After securely tying our canoes, we set Itwas as we turned around and fought to know!) TRAMPING & MOUNTAINEERING

Of course, it's possible that Sarah may paddling the whole trip, and his single- Technically, it'st true, they didn't actually have different views on this campsite handed endeavours seemed equal to capsize, but they came just about as from the rest of US. While stepping thej joint efforts of most other crews. For close to it as they possibly could! As ashore, her canoe began to drift slowly much off the way their canoe seemedto Matthew and I paddled past we saw away from the bank and she found be way out in front. them limping ignobly toward thel bank herself stretched out full length above to bail out their canoe, swampedto the the water, feet in canoe and hands on As well as quiet stretches, the third and gunwales. bank. Fortunately Richard was at hand final day also produced the biggest and dashed gallantlyt to the rescue, just rapids off the trip. Worst of all (at least in And that was it. At the bottom of the in time to prevent a soaking. Shortly my memory Woody and Jo may have rapid we pulled up at the Pipiriki boat after, to add injury to insult, she was different views!) was Ngaporo rapid, ramp and climbed ashore. Woody and stung by wasps while walking up the wheretherivertookanastyS-bend. First Jo quietly sneaked in a little while later. track. as shingle bar on the left bank diverted After 87 kilometres and numerous the water across to the right; then, in a rapids, the trip was over. Day3 quick-fire double-whammy, another shingle bar on that side: sent it straight Oratl least almost over. There was still a The brown river, te taniwha, flows on back over to the left. Huge standing short epilogue: the trip back down the Between his banks - he could even be waves surged over the lower bar, and scenic and historic River Road. on my: side, the river seemed to drop ag goodcouple Isuspect, ifthereis saside- andthereare of metres over a very short distance. want to go up the river road still notches worn How we got down this rapid I don't Even by starlight or moonlight In the cliffs downstream where they really know in the old days even the Or no light at all, past the Parakino used to shove steamboats were known to have bridge The big canoes up; and just last week difficulty here, and one was once Past Atene where the tar-seal ends some men overturned and three crew members Past Koroniti where cattle run in a Floated a ridge-pole down from an old drowned. It was the one spot on the paddock pa whole trip where, veryl briefly, 11 felt truly Past Operiki, the pa that was never For the museum he can also be frightened. But somehow more by taken Abrutallover; they: sayhe. suckedunder goodfortune than good managementl A young girl once, and the place at the believe wemanagedto: steerthe canoe Past Matahiwi, Ranana, till the last step river bend is named round the S-bend and into the: safety of is taken After the tears... the calm water below. All the other Andlcani lie down at the endoftheroad crews also came through unscathed. Like an old horse in his own paddock James K. Baxter Among the tribe of Te Hau. Then my ("Jerusalem Sonnets") Anotherrapidfurther downlremember heart will be light more for annoyance and To be in the place where the hardi road The third andi final day had some off the embarrassment than for danger or ends longest, slowest sections of river on the excitement. The current flowed into a And my soul can walk the rainbow wholetrip. Attimeswer driftedlazilywith channel against the left bank, down bridge the current, watching the spectacular which we came without difficulty. But at That binds earth to sky.. cliffs and gorges loom into sight up in thel bottom we somehow spun out and front and gradually approach, only to got caught up in at backwater out to the James K. Baxter passslowly andmajesticallybyone either rightwherewefoundourselvespointing ("Sestina for the River Road") side and disappear behind US. The up river. We had to perform a sort of scenery seemed to take on a slightly three-point turn in the shallows before After packing up, we piled into the unreal feel, as if it were a giant silent we could continue on our way! Duchessandsete off down thei riverroad movie being projected onto huge past Jerusalem, past Matahiwi and screens all around US. We amused The final rapid on the trip, just before Koroniti, past Atene where the tar-seal ourselves by forming up and floating Pipiriki, had the reputation of being a begins, past the Parakino bridge, until together in convoys, or aligning the real killer. Lyndsay had done the river eventually, just out of Wanganui, we canoes into star patterns, chains, and previously and told US that half the rejoined the main highway and circles. At other times, since we had a canoeshadt been swampedthere. Soit civilisation. Then it was the long run deadline to meet, we paddledhard. All waswilhsometrepidation thatwef finally back to Wellington, for another week in except Roger that is he seemed to approached the "Big One". As it turned the office made bearable by the spend most of the trip stretched out out, though, found it something of an satisfaction of an ambition fulfilled and lazily in the back of his canoe like a anticlimax. True, it waslongand choppy, memories of yet another great trip with gentleman passengerinanEnglishpunt but Matthew andisimply ploughed lour the Tongue and Meats. or Venetian gondola, while Robert up way down, coming through without frontdidmostoftheworklAllheneeded trouble. Maybe we had become more The crews: Austin and Geoff, Woody wasacolouredparasolandstrawboater blasé by then, but I certainly never felt and Jo, Daniel and Peggy, Lyndsay and hat and image would have been worried like - had at Ngaporo rapid an Rachel, Robert and Roger, Eleanor and complete. Youcanhardly blamel Roger, hour or two before. It obviously caught Rob, Alan and Sue, Richard and Sarah, though; Robert hardly seemed to stop Woody and Jo off-guard, however. and Matthew and Harry. TRAMPING & MOUNTAINEERING