Whanganui river - Day 2

We awoke on day 2 to a slight chill and fog. I knew it wasn't uncommon for New Zealand valleys to fog over in the early hours so I didn't jump to any weather conclusions. Breakfast consisted of oats with fruit and Nutella. I feel the need to capitalize NUTELLA since to my taste buds it's in equivalent value to gold.

By the time we were on the river the sun was out with a few clouds passing over here and there. Another beautiful calm day to be on the Whanganui. I've heard the river is extremely busy during the summer, and to be out here with nothing but nature and a crazy Canadian made for a spectacular experience. We spent the day riding rapids, and looking for good opportunities for an afternoon cliff jump. We spotted a few really good ones, but unfortunately we couldn't find a safe climb out of the canoe to get up.

We soon reached John Coul hut and decided to check it out. When we reached the top we were greeted by a group of DOC workers repairing the damages of a recent landslide that wiped out a large section of boardwalk. When we made it to the hut patio we were greeted by two older lady's named Jean and **** (I forget the others name). When they discovered I was walking Te Araroa they started asking me about sections of trail so far. When I told them of my terrified excitement for the upcoming Tararuas they told me that a year or so back one of DOC's heads was killed in the range after getting caught in a freak blizzard. That gave me enough to think about, but I soon buried the thought as worry and fear would get me nowhere today.

Mikey and I pushed on to the next campsite, but ended up paddling right past it and went all the way to Mangapurua landing instead. We docked the canoe and packed some lunch for the 45 minute hike up to bridge to nowhere. We spent the afternoon in the sun, eating, and drying some wet gear. When we came back down to our canoe it was 4:00 pm so instead of going to the next hut we  decided to spend the night at a campsite across the way. The campsite was set up similar to last night's, except a little bit smaller. We made set up camp and made some dinner. Before long we were sitting on our barrels in front of a fire on the beach drinking whiskey.

A few drinks later I paused after hearing a nearby noise. I thought I heard something in our gear so I decided to check it out. Sure enough I found a sneaky little possum near our food. He didn't get the NUTELLA so I felt no reason to fight him. After another beautiful day of canoeing and a beautiful night of drinking we were fast asleep in our tents.

We decided we would head down to Pikariki tomorrow, and look for camp there.