Whanganui river canoe adventure

My mate Jason took me to some great Cuba street bars in Wellington about 3 weeks ago, a few craft beers later I was persuaded to join him on the Whanganui river for a canoe adventure. Well, what an adventure it turned out to be. A combination of agony and harmony, calm and excitement. If you read no further and just take a look at my images please understand this; the Whanganui river is an adventure, a stunning pristine stretch of water, lined with lush native bush. If you have a reasonable fitness, I highly recommend you give it a go.

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Canoes by the riverside at Mangawaiiti campsite.

Prep: Taking a Vegan Holiday

I have been a vegan for the last 4 months, but I knew taking this trip with 5 other meat eaters would mean I might want to relax my diet and just eat the same as everyone else. My mate Jas loves food, so we had a big supermarket shop including; steak, mince, salami, 2 dozen eggs, biscuits, vegetables, fruit, snack bars and a few beers. Good food is awesome, but remember we had to take it all with us, and our canoe ended up with 4 heavy barrels and two large bags on it for the duration.

HELPFUL TIP 1 - Buy dehydrated food packets from outdoor shops to save on weight and hassle. It is important to note that the New Zealand Department of Conservation asks everyone to take their rubbish with them. There are no rubbish bins provided at any campsite, so any sort of food scraps and waste have to leave with you. The upside of this is you see no rubbish anywhere, it is brilliant.

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Phil and Colin paddle through the calm water of the Whanganui river

Day One: Completely knackered

The trip we were on was spread over 3 days and in total we planned to travel 88km by canoe. On the first day we were travelling 47km. I didn’t really think too much about it, I just thought let’s get stuck in and have some fun. After about 3 hours of paddling I could feel my body start to waiver. This wasn’t at all relaxing, it was hard work. To top it off a large group of older kayakers who looked at least 65+ overtook Jas and I. I watched on in awe as an elderly grandmother and grandad just churned through the water in a blur past us.

By hour 5 my forearm was cramping, my back was killing me and my bum was super sore from the plain wooden seat. But despite the discomfort the scenery was sublime, I was completely in love with the long stretches of still water, it was good for the mind. Wild goats grazed by the waterside. This was truely special.

Finally we reached the Mangawaiiti campsite sometime around 5.30pm. Just when you think you can relax you then realise the campsite is elevated about 7 stories above water level. When the Whanganui river floods it fills the narrow ravines of the river and it rises dramatically. So Jas and I had to lug all 4 heavy barrels and 2 large bags up the steep ‘Baldwin street’ like path to the campsite.

HELPFUL TIP 2 - All of the campsites on the Whanganui river are elevated from the river so the lighter you travel, the easier it is for set up.

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The steep ravine walls of the Whanganui river rise up and tower over you. They were as imposing as they were beautiful with the calm tranquil water of the river below.

Day 2: The Bridge to Nowhere

Day 2 certainly felt like it should go a lot quicker since we were only travelling about 20 km. After 2 hours of paddling we stopped to take a bush walk to the ‘Bridge to Nowhere.’ The Department of Conservation have done a marvellous job with the track and there are 3 long drop toilets available for use.

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The Bridge to nowhere, Whanganui, New Zeland.

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View from the Bridge to Nowhere. Sharp eyes saw eels in the water below.

Back on the water I hit a wall, and it was only the taste of a fresh golden delicious apple that gave me the energy to keep going. That would be the last time I struggled, for the rest of the journey things just fell into place.

HELPFUL TIP 3: if you are sharing a tent or are in close proximity to other middle-aged men, please take ear plugs. They snore loud and proud. One of our group sounded like a bear growling. Most of the other campers seemed to be fit young people, I can only imagine how much they enjoyed the snore fest.

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This scene of the Whanganui river reminds me of an impressionist painting.

DAY 3: MAN OVERBOARD

The whole trip people kept banging on and on about the big rapids on day 3. Well, I have to say if anything the excitement and anticipation those rapids brought really added some spice to the trip. By this stage my body was becoming adjusted to the demands of paddling on a canoe, plus we had lightened our load of food and beverage considerably. When Jas and I tackled the first big rapid, it was a relief and really a lot of fun. the canoe bounced up and down, but kept its line we took so I stayed afloat. The next big rapid up ahead did have some cause for concern as a canoe was stuck sideways against a boulder with the rushing water holding it there. We had to go past that boulder and both Jas and I just put the hammer down and went for it. We made it through and were riding high on confidence. But the next rapid had the nickname ‘50/50’

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A canoe capsizes on the 50/50 rapid, Whanganui River.

We nearly made it through, but came unstuck when we hit the side of a rapid and I went in. The water was lovely and fresh and to be honest it was a fitting and memorable way to finish the adventure.

HELPFUL TIP 4: Don’t be too concerned about falling out of a canoe, the worst part of it is having to bail out all the water and the strong likelihood your belongings just got a little wet.

HELPFUL TIP 5: invest in a few cheap dry sacks to help provide an extra layer of protection for your gear to stay dry.

All in all this was an amazing adventure. As long as you have a reasonable fitness level a Whanganui River canoe adventure should go on your bucket list.

Fallen Landmarks: The Otago Peninsula

I have a love/hate relationship with Portobello road on the Otago Peninsula. With all the roadworks currently going on it does make for a partly bumpy and drawn out trip. However, I feel like I am escaping the city driving on that road, it’s bloody marvellous. Improving Portobello road and its safety is a must, but those changes have come at a cost. First off, we have said goodbye to a good number of cabbage trees to help make way for the widening of the road. They are one of those plants that polarise people, I’ve always liked them, especially the one pictured below. Sadly, it has now been chopped down.

Cabbage Tree - Otago Peninsula

Not far from this tree was a lovely duo of boat houses. My favourite of the two still stands today (phew), but it’s companion is no longer there. Not as pretty as the survivor, but this boat house could often be seen flying a flag, It had gusto and character, and I’ll miss seeing it on my travels.

Boat House (no flag flying) - Otago Peninsula

Roadworks are not the only destructive force on the Otago Peninsula, so is mother nature. The green boat house on Hoopers inlet was used by many photographers as a foreground subject in an aurora image. Alas, a good storm knocked it off its piles. There are hopes it will be rebuilt, fingers crossed.

Green Boathouse - Hoopers Inlet

The last building I discovered missing happened over the past weekend. I was enjoying a bit of landscape photography on the Smith-Larnach track when I found this dear old building pictured below completely removed.

I was slightly gutted, I’m a big fan of derelict farm buildings, but I understand this old building was a OSH risk on a public walking track, so it probably had to go.

On a brighter note, at least I have a keepsake of a few snaps to remember these fallen landmarks. Someone once said to me the only constant we can rely on is change. Hopefully that change is for the good.

Let the light guide you

One of the most valuable lessons I have learned with landscape photography is to let the light guide you. Often I get too focussed on a location and try and make the light conditions work around it. These days I am becoming more aware of how good light can transform any landscape. As an example, I recently went out for an evening shoot at a local place I enjoy called Tunnel Beach. It’s only about a 10 minute drive from home and I can take a few different routes to get there. On this occasion I decided to drive through the local suburb shops of Green Island and cut up a back road to get over to the coast and Tunnel Beach. I was driving up a steep street and as I wound my way up I caught a glimpse of a lovely view between houses of Green Island and Saddle Hill beyond. Not long ago I would have kept driving with tunnel vision to Tunnel Beach. However, I have now learned to let the light guide me. So I pulled over and with the narrow space I had to shoot, waited for the right moment. When the light really hit, the whole scene exploded with autumnal colour, and this image has become a personal fav for 2019. So, all I’m suggesting is, embrace photographic opportunity when it arises, don’t get caught up in where you think you need to be, and if you are lucky, you may well be rewarded with images beyond your imagination.

The Singing Cow

If I was asked to identify the most important quality of a photograph it would be one I could not see.  The image itself means nothing if it lacks this one simple truth.  A quality only each of us can bring from within our hearts and souls.  Simply put, the photograph and I are able to form a connection.  Without a connection, ultimately I am left standing wooden and cold before it.  I can admire it's composition, use of light and subject matter.  However, unless a spark of wonder,  joy or recognition forms within me, the image will just pass on to the next. 

As the photographer it's easy to make a fairly good connection with an image, hell I took it, I should at least have some sort of paternal love for my creation... But that is not always the case. 

Some of the landscape images I take will never affect me in a way others do.  They are nice but, well, they just don't have that special sauce.  But all is not lost, these images can often provide connection for someone else.  A sale of an image is always an indicator of some level of connection. If I am lucky the customer might share with me their own connection; the special place they are taken too, a childhood memory, a loved family member's special spot and so on.  When this type of connection happens, it is likely to be even more satisfying, it's like the joy of giving, and you get to hitch a ride on their rollercoaster.

So I suppose I should include an image I connect with.  Connection can come from left field.  This image of cattle in fog was taken on the Taieri Plains in Mosgiel.  To me, when I look at that cow with his mouth open, I see Frank Sinatra in full swing.  In my late teens I fell in love with Sinatra music and would listen to it on my CD walkman player.  He became a music hero.  I remember clearly where I was the day Frank Sinatra died, and yes, boom, this picture takes me to a rainy night in Austria.  All that connection from a singing cow. 

Trev Hill is a Dunedin Based Photographer