5/4/22, Day 112, 42km, Total 3116
We though we had 50km left to get to Wanganui so got away at 7am. A few easy rapids till we got to Hiponga Park. Got out to stretch our legs and walked up to the park. It’s an excellent camping area. A huge barge was parked well above the water level and a couple of guys were welding and grinding the front end of it.
Back into the Canoe and Dennis had a go in the back doing the steering. With the current going upstream due to the tide it didn’t go well. It can be hard to get the hang of the strokes needed at the best of times but even harder into the current. So we swapped back and for the next 3 hours we hugged the bank where there was less current like whitebait. We made good progress mostly because Dennis is a paddling machine that just keeps going.
We stopped at Upokongora at 2 for coffee and food. It was a much needed break and revived us enough to knock off the remaining 5km in good time. To visit the café we moored the boat at the big jetty used by the paddle steamer. It was a bit of a mission climbing in and out.
Dorothy was waiting at the Top 10 Holiday Park exit point and it didn’t take long to empty all the barrels and tidy our gear away. Then Dennis dropped me at Rob and George’s place where I’m staying a couple of nights. I’ll catch the next available bus to Taumarunui on Thursday.
Rob and George are the most amazing Kaitiaki (Trail Angels) in the country.
