Day 45: Nero
After the canoe hire office opened just before 10, our group went to speak with them. The general plan is to to be in the Whanganui river from the 21st to the 26th with others that started the same day as Liam and Catherine. However, Catherine and I were wondering about starting two days earlier further up river and meeting up with everyone on the 21st. The only issue being that the water level is currently too high further up so it depends on the weather. We at least got our reservation for the 21st and then took the shuttle to town. I should say that Tauramanui Canoe Hire and Jet Boat Tours are fantastic. They took the time to answer our questions and help us reserve DOC campsites along the river, while obviously being extremely busy. They also let us camp here for free for as long as we need and offered us real coffee, I had a flat white, and bread, as well as the shuttle to town. Once in town, we did laundry, looked in various stores, went to a liquor store (we don’t need to worry about weight on the river and it will be the Holidays) and then get groceries. The New World’s bulk section was the most limited yet and I only bought some things to make a trail mix, as well as some candy. At this point, there was a bit of a time crunch, I had thought that New World was at one end of town, but that was the new one that isn’t open yet, so we had to walk all the way back to the old one and of course it was pouring rain by now. We now had 40 minutes to get our groceries before the  shuttle back to the Canoe Hire and the grocery store was busy. I didn’t have much time to thoroughly browse or think about how to create the least amount of packaging. For 9 days, I ended up getting a box of spaghetti, a jar of pasta sauce, a bag of grated cheese, a bag of couscous, a bag of lentils, a bag of curry powder, 3 boxes of crackers, 3 packages of cookies, a package of wraps, a jar of peanut butter, a package of cheddar (called tasty cheese here), a bag of oats, a bag of raisins, 2 bars of chocolate and 3 bags of dehydrated peas. I also bought some apples, asparagus, carrots, avocado and a banana without any packaging. And since we’re planning some communal breakfasts, I got a packet of bacon for those. I was done just as the shuttle pulled up and put my bag on the shuttle so I could walk back to the Canoe Hire and not skip those 5km.  Back at the canoe hire, we sorted our food into barrels for the non-perishables and into a bag for the fridge for the perishables. I also had to sort out what to keep with me for the days until the river. The river level has only gone up today so it won’t be possible to start upriver on the 19th as Catherine and I were hoping, although we will make our final decision tomorrow morning. The rain continued all evening and into the night, with our campsite developing some worrisomely large puddles. My tent failed last time it poured, so as much as my stuff as possible is in dry bags even inside the tent.

Day 46: Tauramanui to National Park

The day started with a safety briefing for the river at 6:45. Thankfully they made us coffees so that I actually absorbed some of what they said. It also turned out that it rained so much overnight that the river level rose to flood levels and all canoe trips for the next few days are cancelled. So, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it won’t rain too much between now and our start date on the 21st and that the river will go down.

My tent had a bit of water under my sleeping pad again but otherwise was ok. Given the safety briefing and chatting with all the hikers about plans, it was after 10 by the time I hit the trail. The first part was paved road and then a gravel road through farmland. I met an ostrich in a paddock who followed me along the fence line as far as it could so I had some company for a few minutes.

The road climbed a lot and there were some nice views of the surrounding countryside.

I arrived in Owhango but since I’m skipping over the next two sections (will go back to them after the river), I stuck out my thumb and got a ride to National Park. There are a lot of hikers here at the hostel and we had a big table at the local resto-bar. I had a chicken curry to make a change from my lentil curry and a brownie with ice cream for dessert.

Day 47: National Park to Kaitieke

I woke up just after 5am to cheering and then again a little bit later. It finally dawned on me that it was the World Cup final. Despite the being woken up early, I slept surprisingly well, especially compared to my first hostel experience. I set off on the later side, thinking that I would pass by the cafe that opens at 9am. It was still closed at 9:20 so I gave up and hit the trail. It was a brisk morning but quite sunny and it soon warmed up. We followed a gravel road and then descended on a real track into a valley while enjoying some views of distant mountains behind the valley.

The weather became very changeable alternating between showers and sunshine and the trail ended at a gravel road for the last 10-12 km. The views were less interesting from the road, mostly farmland.

I did pass a couple of interesting mail boxes though.

I got into the trail angel’s place at Kaitieke just after 3. Sharon and Roger house hikers in their massive garage on real beds and offer us hot showers with real towels, fresh bread, as well as hot drinks and breakfast, including some fresh fruit. They seem to know exactly what we need, like the towels and moisturizer. There are about 14 of us here tonight, including Ryan, who’s birthday it is.