I had ridden the Bridge to nowhere during the Tour Aoteroa last year but like most had taken the jet boat down to Pipiriki but with the purchase of a couple of packrafts I had toyed with the idea of rafting down the Wanganui river.
Day 1 Raetihi to Ngaporo ride 68.35km 876m raft 23km
After coffee and breakfast at Raetihi we headed off along the road with a magic tail wind. Wasn’t long before we were on gravel and before we knew it we were on the Mangapurua track.
The history of the area and the bridge is interesting ‘ The remote Mangapurua Valley was opened up in 1919 to provide farms for soldiers returning from World War I. A wooden swing bridge for horses provided access to the valley. After years of agitation from the local community, a more robust concrete road bridge was constructed in 1936. However it was used for only six years. The Mangapurua Valley Soldiers Settlement walked off their land in 1942 after decades of battling hardship caused by the valley’s poor soils. The forest grew back, obliterating all signs of habitation except for the bridge’.
The track was busy with a few mtb groups, some quad bikers, a runner, some walkers and a group of horse riders but it was in great condition and the ride was nice flowing. The many swing bridges are a challenge, being built when it was a walking track you have to walk across them with the bike on the rear wheel… and maneuver the drop bar between the posts but all part of the ride, along with the narrow track on the edge of the cliff, just don’t look down at the drop.
Before long we were at the landing unpacking the rafts in front of a small gathering who were waiting for their jet boats, or jet boat operators waiting for their passengers.
By the time we had eaten, pumped up the rafts and strapped the bikes on, the first group of mountain bikers were being loaded onto their jet boat… waiting…waiting..waiting.. then one of the operators mentioned he could get a rope and lower the rafts down the cliff and we can get in via his boat… looked down and decided that would work, and it did. Before long I was rafting away but quickly worked out that I hadn’t positioned the bike on well so had to head to the other side where I was able to reposition the bike, again not well so after negotiating first rapids I headed to shore and repositioned bike again, this time successfully balanced.
Peter who joined me for the trip had similar issues getting the bike balanced on the raft and by the time we were both comfortable we were a bit behind schedule, not helped by the slow pace of the river and the headwind which at times if we stopped paddling would be blowing us backwards. We finally got to Tieke Kainga campground which was our target but with 2.5 hrs to sunset and 10km to go to Ngaporo which I calculated would take us 2.5hrs we hit the water again. 8pm, the sun is heading down and we were wondering where the camp ground was. A quick recheck and we still had 1.8km to go, I had the distances around the wrong way but at least the wind had dropped so paddle on it was since there was no chance of camping with cliffs either side of the river.
As the sun finally slipped behind the hills the river was magic, but hard to read and then there were the biggest rapids of the day. No time to work out a line I went crashing through getting soaked and filling the raft with water. Lucky the cliffs had debated, and I headed to shore to empty the raft when we spotted a tent… at last the camp ground. A change to dry clothes, warm meal and set up bivvy then sleep. Was a great day and glad we had the wrong km for last leg as we may not have continued, but the extra 3 hrs paddling was better now than the next day.
Day 2 Ngaporo to Raetihi ride 27.14km 733m raft 10.8km
Woohoo … the rafts were still there. We had a coffee and breakfast, re packed the rafts and headed back down the river to Papriki. We had checked out a map of the river and knew we had 4 sets of noted rapids. Views were magic and at one point I could hear a waterfall to the side and as we approached it I saw a trickle coming from a cave and the cave was amplifying the sound… would be amazing with some flow. We commented on the sights and sounds missed when screaming down in the jet boat. Rapids were all fun although I took the wrong option for one and the bike bounced off the cliff wall hard … lucky it impacted on the rear wheel and no damage done although had to stop and empty the raft of water again.
The rest were all manageable and now have me yearning for some rafting without the bike. Once at Pipiriki we deflated the rafts and repacked bikes before heading off to have a pie and ice block. It was only 27km ride back to Raetihi but I hadn’t checked the profile and it was climbing for pretty well the first 20km, but a nice climb and some great views of the snow-capped Mt Ruapehu.
Back in Raetihi we loaded the car, grabbed another pie and then headed to Turangi where my car was before heading back to Auckland. Was a late arrival home and so glad we pushed on yesterday.
Another great ride and enjoyed the rafting side as well. Have decided to dust off the 29er and start using that for these trips, a bit stressful at times wondering how the Di2 would survive a dunking but at the end of the day everything came out fine.
An appreciation for Toasted Marshmallows 