Our second day on river and it is a glorious day, sunny and warm – just perfect for canoeing. And the scenery is just as stunning, if not more so, than yesterday as we paddle through deep gorges. We had an early night last night – once it got dark at around 9pm that was little else to do but snuggle down in our sleeping bags! Nonetheless we still don’t get up until about 8.30. Breakfast overlooking river – great. We pack up and away by 10.45 leaving us just enough time to cover the four-hour paddle to our pick up point at Whakaroro. Occasionally we pass and are passed in return by our fellow river companions – the Americans and the father and son. It’s still proving very difficult to tell where we are on river despite the descriptions on the map and we have no idea whether we will make our destination on time. Fortunately and to our surprise we arrive to meet our pick up dead on 3pm having failed to recognise one of the most challenging rapids on today’s stretch of river as described in our notes – it can’t have been that challenging!
We are picked up one of the family’s sons and his friend. The son is 16 and rattles along the unsurfaced Whanganui River road covering in one hour a journey that should have taken an hour an half. When we arrive back at the hire place, there is no sign of any adults and we unpack our gear and leave – noone bothering to check that everything is in order and we have returned all the kit we have hired. A bizarre way to run a company!