Whanganui River Trip

I spent 3 days kayaking the Whanganui River http://doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/manawatu-whanganui/whanganui/whanganui-journey/
I wish I could simply post photos for this blog.
I rented a kayak from Blazing Paddles http://blazingpaddles.co.nz/ possibly the coolest business name ever.

Beginning of the trip

Launch site at Whakahoro

The dropped me and a few other clients off at the river in Whakahoro.

Day 1

Snack break

That day I paddled 37.5k to the John Coull hut, where  I stayed the night .

So green and gorgeous

The first day it rained most of the day but there was no wind , so it wasn't cold.

And I thought it was raining in this pic.....

Now that's a rain!

The river is completely breathtaking. For the most part it's in a gorge and the walls are covers with green ferns, palms and moss. There were waterfalls everywhere.

I paddled through some small rapids and had a chance to stop at Te Arewa cave. Where I met some incredibly friendly guides and their clients who were all on a canoe trip.

Paddling up to the cave in the middle of  a downpour. Inside are the friendliest canoeist ever 

View from inside Te Arewa cave

It rained pretty hard throughout the night. I was so happy to walk into the John Coull hut and eat some warm food by a fire. I crashed hard and was up early, ready to paddle away.

John Coull hut

Giant spider on the sleeping pad next to my stuff, ugh

The second day, it rained a little less. 

The start of day 2

Nice weather , and a little company on day 2

Narrow canyon at the entrance to a campground

I paddled 18.5k and took a break to hike up to the Bridge to Nowhere.

On the trail

Along the trail

A settlers plow, along the hike

A bridge on the trail to the bridge to nowhere

The old suspension bridge

The Bridge to Nowhere

Then it was just another 10k to the hut and marae at Tieke Kainga. There I was able to participate in my first ceremonial maori welcome. A very cool experience.
That night we all hung out in the kitchen and the canoe group shared their dinner with me.
There was a lot of interesting and fun conversations.

Me at Tieke Kainga

The marae

 I met Will from Ohio who had followed the Whanganui river from its source on the top of Mt Tongariro and was taking it all the way to the ocean. Very cool.

Brett, the camp host, and Will from Ohio before Will sets out to finish his source to sea journey. This was a big deal to the maori hosts at the  marae. As no one had done this  in their lifetime.

The next morning, it was back on the river.

Launching from the beach, day 3

Starting out on day 3

Beautiful clear weather

The third day was clear and a short 18.5k with 3 big rapids and a stop at a cave with an underground waterfall.

Cave waterfall

Cave waterfall

 The last 5k was a grueling paddle through headwinds and choppy water. So I was actually happy to arrive at my final destination of Pipiriki. Even though it meant I had to leave the river.

The landing at Pipiriki

One of the best trips of my life. It was so scenic and peaceful. It was hard to remember that there was a crazy, busy world waiting outside of the river canyon.
I really enjoyed every single moment.

Bungy!

It's my last day in Taupo.
And it's St Patricks Day.
Last weekend, as part of my staff party, I got to do the Bungy Swing at Taupo Bungy. http://www.taupobungy.co.nz/activities/water-touch-bungy
The staff were very nice and friendly.
And this weekend there was a special promotion for locals to do the full on Bungy jump for a third of the normal price.
It's a 154 foot fall into the Waikato river for a quick dunk.
There was no way I was gonna pass that up!
I didn't get any photos of me, so I swiped some from their website.
I got there early this morning, thinking it would be really crowded, but there was almost nobody there. Probably due to the fact that a storm is moving in. That, and lots of people were probably too busy drinking green beer.

Aerial view of the jumping platform and the river

I got harnessed up, got my ankles strapped in and strapped together.
Then I baby stepped my way to the edge of the platform.
I hesitated a little.
I'm not gonna lie.
The height was a little intimidating.

View of the cliffs and the river from the platform

But it was so much fun.

Just picture me instead,. But not as graceful, or cool, and I'm screaming

I gracefully, toppled over the edge and screamed the whole way down. I have a new theory. If you scream, you don't feel the butterflies as much when you're falling.
I will need to collect more data on this....

Stick figure theater presents: the Bungy jump

:O+<===============================================================

Aren't you glad I have some anonymous pictures to show, instead of just my artistic rendition?

I got dunked in the river, then bounced on the end of the line a bit.
I was screaming and laughing.

So much fun.
Afterwards, I went to my cafe to say goodbye and have a cup of coffee.
But when I got there, my boss bought me breakfast! Eggs Benny with hash browns. Nomnomnom.
So I spent my last morning in Taupo having brekky on the same exact patio I had brekky on my very first visit .
Full circle, man.
Who knew breakfast could be so deep?
Now I'm packing up my car and saying goodbye to all the awesome modern conveniences that come with living indoors.
I love you toiletkitchentelevisionwarmthcouchesfridgewashingmachineelectricityprivacy!
To get ready for a 6am wake up call so I can be on the whanganui river by 9.
It'll be 3 days on the river, just me and my kayak. And some rain. I'm really excited for this trip and for having the next month off to travel.

Glow Worms!

Just let your soul glow!
Just let it shine!
Another day (off), another dollar (gone).
I went black water tubing through a glow worm cave in Waitoma.

Glow worms! Caving! = joy

I went to Cave World and most of the photos here are from them http://www.caveworld.co.nz/tubeit
So awesome! And truly a unique Kiwi experience.

Cute map of the caves

Once again, the trip started with a quick gear up in wetsuits.
Well, quick for everyone else. I couldn't get mine on. I went out to ask for a larger size (oh, shame. Stupid delicious everything!)

My sweet as welly's

Turns out, I was trying to put my suit on inside out. Nelson says, Ha haaa!
Anyhoo.
After a short hike, we were at the entrance to the cave.

Getting ready to head underground

Right away, we could see glow worms.

Me and the glow worm strings

 It doesnt matter how many glow worms I see...it's always stunning.

Some worms and their nets

One of the guides 

Once again, the guides were very nice. As we walked through the caves we saw amazing formations, glow worms, and old bones. The guides talked to us about the cave and why glow worms glow, spoiler alert - it's their poop.
At one point we sat down and turned off all our lights and the guide told us the story of how the cave was discovered.

Stalactites 

 Your bone collection isn't creepy.....

 Then the guide let off a loud noise maker, that made the kids in our group scream! Which was cute. And we all saw the glow worms get brighter. The punchline of the story being, that even the glow worms got the shit scared outta them.
Then it was into the water to float on our tubes in freezing water.
We tubed/walked for a bit before jumping backwards off a tiny cliff while sitting in our tubes.

(Nerdius Cavernous)

This part of the trip was a tight squeeze

Then we all linked up and turned off our lights for a long float through the canyon under thousands of glow worms. There was even a karaoke segment. Where some of the group sang a maori song and the haka. Pretty cool :)
But back to the float.

I have no idea what the sparkle business is about...Bad camera setting?

It was so beautiful.
Let me paint the picture. Lol. Humor me...

Glow worms and their silky web

It's so dark, your eyes never get adjusted. So you're in complete visual sensory deprivation. Except for the worms.
While you relax back on your tube, you can hear and feel the slowly moving water you're floating on. Your gaze is fixated up, on what looks like a galaxy filled with blue stars. The view constantly changes as you move downstream. Because the rocks and canyon walls (that you can't see - only feel) reveal or conceal the lights as you go by.
And if you're lucky enough to be at the end of the linked up tube/train (like I was), when the group goes around a corner in the stream, the momentum whips you around and you zip across the water with glow worms zooming by, close enough to touch.
And......I'm done....
The trip ended with a fun ride down a water slide and a short walk outta the cave.

Goofball on the top of the canyon water slide

I have to say of all the things I've done in NZ, this was one of the best.

Me and the spider web, on the stairs outta the cave

I LOVE the glow worms. I could spend hours watching them. I guess I'm easily entertained, but they're just so purty!

The jungle at the end of the cave

And the fact, that I really couldn't do this back at home made it one of my top experiences!