Tātou Araroa — Episode 11: Ko au te awa. Ko te awa ko au' (I am the river. The river is me)
Progress: 1358.9km — 45.18%
Taumaranui to Wanganui ; Maunga — Awa — Moana.
Our first glimpses of the Whanganui River 5km out of Taumaranui
From its source on the northern side of Mount Tongariro, the Whanganui River, Aotearoa’s third longest, winds it’s way down through the King Country into the Tasman Sea, some 290km later.
Our journey over the last week has seen us follow this sacred and historic waterway through idyllic forest, staggering mountain scenery and, during one section, on the river itself.
Leaving from Taumaranui on a brisk Sunday morning we crossed the river and headed along a quiet and picturesque forest road towards the town of Hikumutu and onwards from there to Owhango. Highlighting the start of the day was bumping into members of the Taumaranui Road Cycling Club who were fascinated about our journey and offered keen support and advice about our next few days.
We followed the road for the whole 26km that day, but felt great for the quick progress and experienced a truly momentus moment — we caught a glimpse of Mounts Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. The realization that we’d walked from the sub-tropical Cape Reinga to be in a place where we could now see snow covered peaks provided enormous satisfaction.
The mighty river from the 42 Traverse
We made light work of the road and entered the service town of Owhango at 3.01pm. Unfortunate timing as the cafe, and it’s renowned toasted sandwiches, closed at 3.00. We suffered the blow well by lying to ourselves that we love cous-cous, dehydrated peas and more tuna sachets.
Our hosts that night were the lovely Kay and Mike. After pitching our tent on their lawn, we warmed ourselves by the fire, delaying the inevitable as long as we could. The inevitable was heading outside to sleep outside with temperatures forecasted to fall below freezing. Just as we put our thermals on before a short sprint to the tent and it’s relative warmth, Kay provided us with two lifesaving hot water bottles which nourished and warmed us to a gentle slumber.
6.30am the following morning we were off. The 35km “42 Traverse” awaited us. A crisp and beautiful morning combined with the well maintained track was hiking heaven. Increasing seams of sunlight peaking through the trees provided warmth to our frigid bodies as the morning progressed.
Surrounded by wild and rugged valleys, exposed rock and the Whanganui river below, we lunched at 22km before we joined the Waione-Cokers Track towards Tongariro and SH47. Our tremendous pace in the morning was unfortunately curtailed somewhat by the impossibly rutted, muddy and overgrown track. Highlighting this was one section which was best summed up by a note in the Trail App that read “the trail is now a stream”, this proved to be very true.
River crossings are a staple of Te Araroa walking and we encountered our largest so far. The Mangatepopo Stream, with its tragic history (6 students and a teacher tragically passed away on the river during a school camp in 2008) proved a challenging but ultimately enjoyable and refreshing challenge. At mid-shin deep we still struggled against the strong flow and uneven and slippery bottom. Respecting rivers and managing them safely and cautiously will be critical moving forward, and this was a useful reminder.
We struggled through the remainder of the day and, as we reached the Access Road, we hit 35km, making it our longest day on trail so far.
Not a bad view to hitch from — the imposing Mt Ruapehu from SH47
Having seen the forecasted weather for the next few days, we decided we needed to get to National Park and weigh up our options so we stuck out a thumb, and quickly found ourselves picked up by a passing car. Sitting down inside the car, Bill immediately recognized the driver as Jono Maxwell, Centre Manager the Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre. In a nation famed for its outdoors, Hillary OPC is the jewel in the crown. Jono had appeared on national TV during the Covid-19 lockdown earlier this year and made an empassioned plea for funds to keep the centre alive whilst the virus wreaked havoc on their bookings. Fortunately his appeal was met with overwhelming public response allowing them to continue the fantastic work they do in the outdoors with Aotearoa’s young people.
Once we arrived in National Park and feasted on gigantic burgers at a local pub, we settled in for what turned out to be 3 days of torrid weather. Unfortunately the forecast meant we were unable to complete the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. This 19.6km walk is one of the best day walks in the world and, despite the fact we had completed it previously, it was a real shame but unavoidable that we had to move forward.
We set off on Thursday towards Kaitieke. We dropped significantly as we walked into one of the valleys that eventually leads to the Whanganui River. We arrived shortly after 1pm and engaged in fascinating conversations with our hosts for the evening, Roger and Sharon. Roger’s family were early settlers to their land and he’s very proud of this, highlighted by the books chronicling the history of the area written in part by his father.
Sarah winding her way down Oio Road as the valley closes in
True of many settlements in this part of the country it is a story of tough farming, rugged and oppressive geography and a story of New Zealand’s agricultural heritage.
We set off the next morning with one thing in mind — toasted sandwiches. After being cruely denied in Owhango we were set on the Blue Duck Cafe in Whakahoro on the banks of the Whanganui. The forest road winded it’s way down further into the valley along the Reteruke River, a tributary of the Whanganui.
A few KM from Blue Duck we were passed by 2 minibusses of 20-something gentleman, towing canoes behind. “They’ll be hitting the river today…” we thought, little did we know…
Brilliant signage
We arrived at the Blue Duck after a period of pleasant weather, stumbled into the cafe and ordered our long awaited toastie (ham and cheese). We were not disappointed, two huge slices of freshly baked sourdough, ample ham and, importantly for a toastie, cheese on both slices. Accompanied by coleslaw and a handful of chips (crisps, UK folk) it was the food of the Gods.
After ordering seconds (and brownies) we walked across the road to the Whakahoro Hut. As we approached, the noise of loud music and assorted lad-ness increased. The passing van of young gentleman were indeed a stag party and, unable to get on the river due to river level being too high, they were to be our company for the night.
Move forward to 1am and their music finally stopped. Cue 2 drunken lads stumbling into our hut headtorches ablaze. Inevitably they fell into an immediate slumber followed by noises conjured from the very depths of Hades itself. Snoring as if possessed by malevolent spectres it took five gentle (read: not gentle) shakes to rouse them and remind them gently to please quieten down a squidge.
Morning came too soon and off we set, unusually for us the destination for the day was not known. We committed to walking as far as we could to make our next day shorter and less stressful. With the fine weather that day and rain forecasted the following, we knew it was prudent to press on.
As a mountain bike trail it was well maintained and well used. The Kaiwhakauka and Mangapurua Tracks crossed many tributaries of the Whanganui and offered sweeping vistas of the valley below. A high point was a high point (sorry), from the trig point of Mount Mangapurua gave us views of not only the three Central Plateau behemoths but also of Mt Taranaki on its lonely site towards New Plymouth.
As mentioned, we didn’t know our exact finishing point so carried on passed Mosley, then Johnson and Bettjemanns Campgrounds and decided we would make for Hellawell’s Campground. At just 9km from where we needed to be the following day we felt ideally situated. Unfortunately, arriving at camp it seemed perhaps Hellawell’s definition of a camp differs somewhat from that of normal humans. A mowed trail leading to a picnic table and toilet was nice, however it lacked two essentials all other campgrounds had that day; flat ground and water.
We were unable to find a good water supply nearby so unfortunately we had to forego the cup of tea we richly deserved and headed for an early night.
Awaking at 6.30am to the sound of moderate rain, we reluctantly got out of bed and (remarkably!) took down the tent for the first time in the rain since we started.
Huge bluffs towered over us for entirety of our journey down towards the river at Mangaparua Landing. Slippery mud and rock fall a constant hazard.
A fierce looking scene looking South from Whakahoro
We arrived at Mangaparua Landing at 10.30am, wetter than an Otter’s pocket. Delighted to see a shelter we disrobed fully and turned the shelter into a laundry with guy ropes hanging everywhere. Changing into our thermals we set about our next task: a hot beverage. With no water and all the streams running brown due to the rain we realized this would involve collecting rain water. Cometh the hour, Cometh the Frisbee! Our fateful wrap protector and chopping board proved incredible as a catcher of rain and, combined with a (clean-ish) sock to filter the small leaves, we were drinking a heartwarming Miso and feeling pretty smug.
2pm came around quickly and our chauffeur arrived in his jetboat to take us down the river from the trail end to Pipiriki. A rapid and choppy 45 minutes later we hopped out the boat and walked up the hill to finish the day.
One of many tremendous views from the River Road
A new day bought a new mode of transportation. We decided it best to tackle the 79km between Pipiriki and the mouth of the Whanganui in (surprisingly) Whanganui by bicycle. Breaking Sarah’s cycling PB by perhaps 70km, it was a daunting task.
Luckily for us it was mainly downhill and mainly stunning. The River Road had us cycling parallel to the river through the quaint etymologically European settlements of Jerusalem, Ranana (London) and Atena (Athens). A stop at 25km led to the a few realizations; 79km is a long way and that bikes hurt your backsides if you’re not used to them. We carried on through rain and shine down the river while dwarfed by the imposing bluffs and peaks that make up Whanganui’s western flank.
60km in and getting close to the end we came across the ironically named “Gentle Annie”, a 2.5km climb out of the valley. Partly walked and partly ridden we reached the summit most puffed. Our breath was further taken away by the view as the entire valley opened up before us and, behind it a white halo of Ruapehu’s snow covered peak.
The final 16km were Category A fun — a hoon down towards SH4 and a rapid cycle through the delightful riverside parks of Whanganui before we arrived at a much needed pub. The pub served not only our preferred pretentious pale ales, but they served them in legit 568ml pints — a huge rarity in NZ!
Our day was capped off as we arrived to an overwhelmingly friendly greeting at the home of Rob and George. As a kaitiaki (guardian/protector) of Te Araroa for 8 years these veterans of the trail are the kindest, most genuine people you could ever meet. Whilst food makes only a small part of their hugely generous offerings, you can’t be served mutton chops, mashed potato and silverbeat, salad and rhubarb crumble and not mention it!
Before……
After!
Rob and George have regaled us with incredible tales of the lucky TA folk who pass through their way and offered us advise and future support in our journey. Rob even cut Bill’s hair!
What’s next?
We’re off to Kotiatia and the beach tomorrow before reaching the town of Bulls (genuinely there is a town here called Bulls), Feilding, Palmerston North and then into the Tararua Ranges.