Day 39 - Mangapapa

Packed and ready to go by 6:50 was the orders from the Canoe Company for the safety briefing for the river. At least they gave us free coffee. 

60 people leaving today, nearly all not TA walkers. The Whanganui river paddle is one of NZ’s Great Walks, which is a label the DOC gives to its highlight trips. This of course means it’s very popular and we’ll be sharing the river with lots of other people. 

But in a fantastic change of weather the next week that we will be on the river looks perfect. Hot sun with no rain, a NZ first. 

Along the river there was hundreds of waterfalls flowing into the river, around every turn more and more would pop up. It was a very good change of pace from walking, floating on the river. I stopped and took the opportunity to swim a couple times. 

Elco is my Canoe partner for the trip

We reached camp after a very lazy day of paddling, but more like sitting, drinking, and watching the scenery move past us. Some 30km. Our camp was perched above the river on a nice patch of grass.