Day 63: Hipango Campsite to Whanganui Holiday Park (1349-1370)

Tuesday, January 31

Around 7:30 am I started waking up. Even when I'm up late it's difficult to sleep in while camping. I got out of my tent for a bit and saw Kristen and Julia were up. They were going down to the dock since the light looked so beautiful. I grabbed my breakfast and joined them.

When this canoe trip ends I'm really going to miss them, so it was a wonderful way to start the morning. I shared what was left of Gail's muesli bars (they loved them too) and we ate and talked.

Around 9:30 we decided to head back up to start packing and make sure everyone was awake. We had a group hug and headed up the hill back to the campsite.

We needed to be on the river by 11 to hit the tide right and meet the Blazing Paddles people at 3 pm.

Everyone looked like they were just waking up and eating breakfast. I saw Marjolein and told her we needed to leave by 10, then told her 10:30 would be ok, but we really needed to leave by then. I just wanted to leave by 11 and it always takes everyone longer to pack the canoes than they think it does. Especially when the canoes are in the water and not on a river bank where you can push and pull them from the water.

We paddled out right at 11 and I told Marjolein that was exactly what I wanted. We both laughed. But there were little, if any, currents and we had to paddle really hard all morning. Marjolein and I tried a paddling flotillita with Sara and Creya but we eventually got tired doing that. At one point the tide was coming in and there was a fierce headwind. We were paddling so hard and barely moving. So far we were behind schedule if we wanted to make it to the Whanganui Holiday Park by 3 pm, but we couldn't have left earlier because of the tide times.

Thankfully 1 pm hit and the tide started going out. That made paddling much easier but we still were behind. Marjolein and I were really getting tired.

Chespa, Collin and Nate slowed down when we were less than 10 kilometers from Whanganui and we caught them. Chespa had called Blazing Paddles and they had decided to leave our packs at the holiday park earlier in the day and come back tomorrow around 11 am to pick up their stuff. We could relax!

There was no catching up to Erinn, Trevor, Remi or Vicky so we just decided to flotilla the rest of the way. We had until about 6 pm to get to the holiday park because then the tide would start coming in again. As everyone else caught up to us Chespa relayed the message and they joined the flotilla.

We tied up at Upokongaro around 3 pm to see if we could quickly get a snack at the pub or cafe we heard were there. The cafe closed at 3:30 and the owner was not excited we had walked in about 20 minutes before she planned to close. But the pub wasn't open so we bought food she had on display and ate outside (she wouldn't let us eat inside). We piled back into our canoes and continued the flotilla.

After a few minutes it began to drizzle very lightly and there were some foreboding clouds in the sky. Some of us decided to paddle before the rain got worse since we were nearly to the holiday park.

Around 4:30 we arrived! The holiday park was amazing. They had a big sign welcoming TA hikers and telling them they had made it to the 1370-kilometer mark. We unpacked our canoes, carried them off the boat ramp, got our backpacks, and checked in at the office. They let TA hikers camp for $20 or stay in dorm rooms for $25. I think everyone but Trevor and Erinn picked a bed, but they have nice cots in their tent.

The holiday park had a movie room, a heated pool with a little water slide, a huge balloon thing you jump on like a trampoline, a big bird house and more. Customers also got a free shuttle ride to town and back during work hours because they're about 6 kilometers out of town. A bunch of us quickly hopped (and water slide-ed) into the pool before we left 15 minutes later to go to dinner in town.

Chespa, Collin and Nate had already gone into town and were staying somewhere else, but our original group of 14 all got a delicious Thai dinner together. When we were walking to the restaurant, I ran up to the movie theater and took a picture of the times for tomorrow. Lion and Hidden Figures both looked great and there was a way to see them both. Julia and Puff Puff like movies too, so I was really trying to convince them to change their bus ticket for 8:15 tomorrow morning to the next day so we could all have a zero day together.

Before we started the river trip, they hiked to Palmerston North, so once they leave Whanganui I won't see them again unless they finish the trail and come back to a town I happen to be in. With all my touristing zero days I'll probably finish a month behind them.

My pestering was starting to work and Puff Puff called the bus company to see how much it would cost to move their ticket to the next day. They decided it was worth the change fee. I was so excited! Everyone in our group was taking a zero day in Whanganui tomorrow!

Dinner was absolutely amazing. Julia and I split a mixed appetizer and every item was delicious. They had things called money bags, curry puffs and prawn fingers. The curry puffs were probably my favorite, but it was close. For dinner I had green curry and it was perfect.

After we had all eaten and paid we walked across the street to a bar called Stellar. The holiday park office had closed before we finished dinner so we'd all have to pile into taxis to get back no matter what. Stellar normally closes at 9:30 on Tuesday, but Mike, Heather and Julia asked the owners if they'd stay open if the 14 of us kept buying stuff. They agreed! We played some pool, danced and the owners let Julia DJ. We were the only ones there.

Around 9:30 I went to the Countdown before they closed at 10 to get food for breakfast tomorrow. We had eaten all of Gail's muesli bars so I was out of breakfast food. When I got back I sat and talked with Vicky, Erinn, Trevor, Marjolein, Creya, Remi and Sara.

At one point A Whole New World from Aladdin came on and the fourteen of us put our arms over each others shoulders and sang. It was a lot of fun.

The owners made us a bunch of chips too, and their daughter showed up with a few of her friends. It was her birthday so we all sang her happy birthday when she walked in. As it got later and later I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open. It was after 12:30 and I had woken up early and paddled a lot today. About half of us took taxis back to the holiday park and the others would come back later.

I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.