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Day 8 and 9 - Bridge to Nowhere, Whanganui River
NEW ZEALAND | Saturday, 6 November 2010 | Views [683] | Comments [2]
Canoeing on the Whanganui River, New Zealand
Woke up to a rainy day in Tongariro and drove about 84 K to Pipiriki. We caught the jet boat and drove up the Whanganui river for about 2 hours to the Bridge to Nowhere. It was a very scenic boat ride with rising cliffs on either side of the river. We went deep into the Whanganui national park to a drop off point where we could get out and walk through the “valley of abandoned dreams” to a bridge that was built in the early 1930’s but was never used. The waterfalls throughout the park were stunning. We then got back onto the boat and went back downstream to our lodge. The lodge is one of only three private land holdings in the national park so there is no other human presence around it. We saw lots of birds but once again not much else for wildlife. Later that afternoon, we canoed back downstream for an hour, then were picked up and brought back to the lodge. There were not many others staying with us at the lodge, just one annoying couple (from the Jensen part of the world) that discussed their life in “glorious” detail. I entertained myself watching Vinnie’s face (and drinking wine) as they told us all about their wonderful children, the amazing things they had done and every other detail of their lives. In retrospect they were pleasant folks, just a bit full of themselves. The next morning we had a quick, cold, breakfast then canoed just over 2 hours downstream, got picked up again by the jet boat (just before the faster rapids began…thank goodness!) and jet boated back to the wharf. We are now sitting in our hotel in Wellington (right on the waterfront…very nice), had a wonderful Indian meal, and are packing for our 4 day walk that begins tomorrow.
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