Whanganui river.

The trail certainly has its challanges when you start in the middle of winter. What started as a thru hike has turned into a sectioned hike with my stops and starts, but from here on forward i will be walking into Wellington and finishing the North Island of Te Araroa.

During the journey north to start Te Araora at Cape Reinga, Brooke and I stopped in one of New Zealand's top surf spots in Ragland. In the small town we celebrated Canada day with 4 other Canadians. Two of those Canadians were Sarah and Sean, who gave me food, shelter, and a non stop flow of alcohol when I passed through Auckland. The other two Canadians were Sam and Mikey. 2 days before my decision to skip the Whanganui river - due to not finding a partner to paddle with - I was messaged by Mikey. It started with a simple hello, and finished with an arranged canoe hire with Yeti tours. Mikey and I decided we would start at Whakahoro and paddle 5-6 days on the Wanganui river until we reached the ocean at Whanganui city. From there I will push on south to Wellington city.

Within a day we had everything planned, and were both at National Park Village getting pumped up to take on the Whanganui river. A couple Canadians in a Canoe, what could go wrong.