Whanganui Canoe Safari

After working our legs out so much on the Tongariro crossing, Danna and I felt that our arms needed some attention as well, so we booked ourselves into a Canoe Safaris adventure on the Whanganui River. I had purchased a GrabOne (similar to a Groupon deal) for this which got us a hotel room in Ohakune for a night and a full day out on the river, which is just west of Tongariro National Park. I didn't entirely know what the trip would be, but I was expecting more of a leisurely float down a river. Instead, we ended up on a 22km trek over rapids and constantly had to avoid shallow rocks. It was hard work.

I took the back seat to act as the steering captain. The last time I was in a canoe was in August when I went to Jasper with my family. We went out onto Pyramid Lake, and my brother was in the back doing all the work while I lazily paddled every once in a while, thinking I was helping to move us around the lake. Not so much this time. I am so sorry I was such a tool, Robert. Now I understand.

It took me about a kilometre to get used to steering, and then whenever I felt tired or got distracted by our beautiful surroundings, our canoe steered itself into the side of the river where low tree branches grow and spiders like to hang out. We fell to the back of the group of five other canoes, and so we were never able to stop paddling because we were constantly playing catch up. Then again, at one of corners with more intense rapids, I steered us through while two other canoes tipped over. So we weren't that bad!

Just when I thought I couldn't paddle much farther, we came to our lunch stop: the Lavender Fields Cafe. True to its name, a small wooden cabin surrounded by lavender in full bloom welcomed us in to sit in the shade and rest our weary arms. After that, a short 30 minute ride took us to the pick up point, where I jumped into the river to cool off, and then had a relaxing nap on the hour long drive back to Ohakune.

My arms are dead. But tickets for the gun show go on sale tomorrow at 10AM.