Whakahoro - Day 1 on Whanganui

Since the decision to meet at national park was so sudden we decided we would get a ride to Whakahoro with Yeti tours. I have planned to come back and finish the 42nd traverse and tongariro with Brooke later on in the year as well as the trail sections leading up to Whanganui.

We arrived at Whakahoro at 9am. We loaded up our gear into waterproof barrels, and after been given the river safty and hightide low down by Gavin we were off. The launch site was in the middle of a rapid which made for an exciting start to the day. The rapids were nothing serious, but they kept us on our toes. Within the first hour we were taking new and exciting routes through the rapids just for the fun of it.

Two hours later we reached the first campsite. We didn't plan on spending the night, but we decided to stop for some lunch. The sun was out, and beautiful as ever. We both took turns taking a jump off a small cliff, which reminded me of swimming at my lake back in Canada at the end of winter. It was some frigid water.

Several hours and rapids later we hit camp 2. There's a campsite every 2 hours or so on the Whanganui, and since the next stop after camp 2 was John Coul Hutt, which took some heavy damage from the recent flood, we decided we would stop here. We unpacked the barrels, made some dinner, and before long the sun was asleep and the stars were alive. We had a cozy fire and a bottle of whiskey to keep us warm. It's a funny thing putting two like minded males together on a journey in the wildness. The stories, the laughs. The fact that I didnt know Mikey too well made the experience all the more fresh. The next 5 days would undoubtedly be lived in the moment, as all days should.