By Ruth

Distance: 39 km (still canoeing!)

This morning we woke up, blissfully alone in our campsite on the river. We had a relaxed morning before hitting the river to face today’s rapids, which we had heard would be challenging. It was a bit misty but soon cleared up into a beautiful day.

Once on the water, we deftly navigated the first few rapids (Elliot was steering). Then, about an hour in, we reached the big one. We approached it like all the others, but it was just too fast. Wave after wave of water came crashing over the bow of the canoe, and soon enough it became too much, and we were unceremoniously dumped into the river. One of the straps that was holding down our barrels came undone, and we watched helplessly as it bobbed away down the river. (I did manage to heroically rescue Elliot’s croc before it too disappeared downstream.)

Meanwhile, we manoeuvred ourselves over to the side of the river to take stock and recover. We unpacked the canoe onto the river bank, and saw that we were missing one barrel, one Nalgene, and one dirty water bag for our filter. Nothing vital was gone and we were both okay, so we began to bail out the canoe.

While we were doing that, one of the Bridge to Nowhere jet boats came by (luckily empty of tourists), and the driver yelled to ask us if we were okay. We told him yes, but we’d lost a barrel. Then he disappeared off down the river, returning a couple minutes later with our barrel! What a hero.

After that escapade, we were both a little shaken (not to mention soaking wet), but we still had a big day of paddling ahead, so we pressed on.

After we passed Pipiriki (about 9 km into our day), we left the Whanganui park, and the scenery began to change a bit. We started seeing more houses and more farmland. Also a couple hawks, some deer, and lots and lots of feral goats. Even though they are a bit of a pest, they are so cute!

We were going to stop at a place called Jerusalem for lunch – it’s a kind of convent or monastery. Unfortunately, there was no sign of it from the river, and we only saw it once we were past. Oh well, maybe next year we’ll get to Jerusalem.

It was a very long day of paddling, not helped by us being so nervous about by every other rapid we passed for the rest of the day. Also, we picked up a stiff headwind for the last couple hours on the water. All told, we were quite relieved to finally see the Flying Fox coming around the bend. It’s a great little eco-lodge with camping (and showers!), a much-needed treat after a trying day.