Whanganui River Trip - Waitangi Day Weekend

This post is an extremely abbreviated version of the actual events, written in haste, but I wanted to get something up for everyone to see. Be sure to click the links for more detailed information about some of the subjects. Before we begin, some photos for you to enjoy:

The Whanganui river valley

Aboard the Flying Fox!

Tree ferns tower over our tent!

Jet Boat Ride!

Stacey, William, Anita and Marco on the Bridge to Nowhere

The Bridge to Nowhere

Billy the Dog, and his favorite pet rock!

A Maori Marae (meeting house)

Sunrise at the campsite

Waitangi Day Celebrations (note the flying of the Maori flag)

This past weekend, we took a trip to see the Whanganui River, located about 4 hours to the Northwest of Wellington. As mentioned, we were joined on the trip by Marco and Anita who are also recent immigrants to New Zealand. This excursion was really our first foray into camping here in our new homeland. We camped on the grounds of the Flying Fox Lodge, which is only accessible by crossing the river on a (you guessed it) a 'flying fox' cable car. It's an exhilarating crossing! A bit of trivia for movie-goers: Whanganui River was a primary filming location of the 2005 film "River Queen'. Apparently the stars were somewhat pampered during the filming, requiring the import of hamburgers from distant locations and the construction of steam baths. The river is dotted with small townships, and Maori heritage is still very strong in this region, but the area has not seen the same intense growth that some other parts of NZ has. Consequently, it still feels very remote and pristine.

The camping started a little rough with some rain the first night, but by the next morning we had terrific weather. Blue skies with an occasional passing cloud. We took advantage of the nice weather to do a jet boat ride on the Whanganui. The trip takes you about an hour upstream, via jetboat, and drops you off at a tramping track (hiking trail). From the drop-off, you take an easy 40-minute walk to the Bridge to Nowhere. This old concrete bridge was constructed back in the 1930's when growth in the region (and connecting roads) were anticipated. However, this never actually happened and now the bridge sits in the rainforest alone. It's a bizarre and fun thing to see. After the bridge, we hiked back to the boats for the ride back. We were greeted at the campsite by Billy the Dog, who was obsessed with his toy rock and also quite enjoyed chasing sticks. Cute little guy, isn't he? (see photo)

The night was spent eating dinner by campfire and stargazing. This was the first time I can recall ever being able to actually see the Milky Way. The stars were so thick it was as if there were clouds of them in the sky. In the middle of the night, we were awoken by some very creepy and strange gutteral noises which turned out to be an Australian possum! We never actually saw him, but when we described the noise to our hosts Annette and John, they confirmed what it was.

The following day, among other things, we stopped in Wanganui (the town) and enjoyed the Waitangi Day festivities. We also visited a local wildlife reserve, and in the distance I could see my intended next destination: Mount Taranaki.

All in all, a great trip and a wonderful time.