When River Queen hit movie screens back in 2006, chronicling New Zealand’s colonisation and ensuing conflict between European settlers and local Māori iwi (tribes), critics agreed on one thing. Despite a stellar cast including Kiefer Sutherland and Samantha Morton, the standout performance was the wild and untamed beauty of the Whanganui River with its dramatic gorges, unforgiving terrain and mighty body of water. While the movie was relegated to cinematic purgatory, remnants of its film set still sit perched atop the river’s clifftops – a reminder of its time in the spotlight.
Its turn as a Hollywood star is just one of the many lives lived by the Whanganui, New Zealand’s third largest river and its most navigable, flowing 290km through the North Island. It’s seen heated battles and weathered the impact of mining, agriculture and forestry, and various settlements attempting to tame its surrounding land.
Throughout the transient phases of its history, the river has always maintained its spiritual significance for Māori, and in 2017 – after a 170-year battle – it became the first river in the world to be recognised as a living entity. Its legal identity, known as Te Awa Tupua, recognises the river as an indivisible entity from its source on Mount Tongariro until it ends its journey and meets the Tasman Sea, echoing a long-held Māori saying: “E rere kau mai te Āwanui, Mai i te Kāhui maunga ki Tangaroa. Ko au te Awa, ko te awa ko au,” which translates as: “The river flows from the mountains to the sea. I am the river, and the river is me.”
All the river runs
The best way to explore the river is by canoe on a seven-day expedition covering a 125km section between Ohinepane and Pipiriki. Despite being on water rather than land, and despite requiring a canoe and paddle over hiking boots and a backpack, the trip, known as the Whanganui Journey, is one of the official Great Walks of New Zealand. It meets the criteria of combining scenic beauty and cultural significance in a multi-day adventure – just on the water instead of a trail.
Our paddling adventure begins on dry land in Ohakune – a small town at the base of Mt Ruapehu with a population of around 1500 that swells to 10,000 during ski season – where our Great Walks of New Zealand chief guide, Phil Collins, gives us an all-important lesson in packing. Life gets simple when you have a 60-litre barrel to carry your clothes and personal items for the week, plus a sleeping bag and blow-up sleeping mat. The gear list provided is perfected down to the last sock, so if you follow it, you’ll have no trouble. And the lighter the barrel, the less weight you’ll have to carry up steep hills to riverside campsites.
It’s an hour’s drive from the lodge in Ohakune to our launch point on the shores of Ohinepane, a journey Phil utilises for a Canoeing 101 tutorial. We learn how to navigate eddies, an upstream current like a small whirlpool; to be aware of strainers, a tree in the river; to be prepared for pillows of water, elevated water on the upstream side of an obstruction; and the signal for ‘OK’ – hand on top of your head. Phil then offers one final word of advice: “Resist the urge for premature celebration when you’re going through a rapid. Celebrate too early and it will come back to bite you!” he warns. There are two whiteboards of diagrams, and Phil stresses to remember ‘Whiteboard B’ – which I promptly forget by the time I get off the bus.
We pack our canoes full with barrels, eskies of food and drink supplies, and camping equipment, before our group of 19 novice canoeists head off for day one’s 31km paddle with three experienced guides in tow. Sam, a hardcore outdoorsman from the Scottish Highlands; Tia, our own River Queen of sorts as the only female guide in the crew this season; and of course, Phil, who has been paddling the Whanganui for over a decade. There’s no eddy, strainer or pillow of water Phil hasn’t met.
Full immersion on the Whanganui
We’re not far into the journey when the tranquillity of the river lapping against the canoes sets in. It’s a gentle start, perfect to take in the surroundings and make friends with our vessels. We’re in regular canoes, rather than the traditional Maori waka, because of their stability and room for supplies on long expeditions like ours.
The rapids on the Whanganui River rarely get above Grade II, but it’s enough to tip the first of our group into the drink just before lunchtime. It’s the middle of summer, so the water is relatively warm. No harm done, we all say – someone had to be first. There’s more swimming at Ohura Falls, the first of many spectacular waterfalls we’ll chase over the week, before arriving at our campsite at Maharanui.
Like all the campsites we’ll call home, it’s situated at the top of a steep incline, and the daily ritual of carting our barrels and supplies up the riverbank is both physically challenging and a lesson in teamwork. By the week’s end, we perfect the art of the human chain. Our time on the river requires endurance but this is a test in cardio and brute strength resulting in an odd satisfaction from a hard day’s work and a sound night’s sleep.
Having corralled a flotilla of rookie canoeists along the river each day, our guides magically morph into chefs serving up some seriously good food, created in the makeshift campsite kitchens we’ve just carried up the hill. It even gets the approval of a private chef in the group who curates menus for an English aristocrat. We’re all fascinated by this and pepper him with questions about how the other half live. Like the perfect dish, he gives us just enough to be entertained without being too spicy.
We average between 22–29km of paddling each day on the river, winding our way south through Ohauora, exploring Mangawaiiti Canyon and passing through Otumangu Landing, one of the first post-World War 1 farming settlements in the valley. The river’s history as a major supply route when paddle-steamers ruled the waterway is still present with random remains of dock infrastructure jutting out of the rocks.
Into another world
The grandeur of the gorges and sheer rocky cliffs either side of us create a powerful, cathedral-like presence, their mirrored reflections in the river throwing a striking mirage across the water. Māori legend has it that the river was carved out of the land by Ranginui (Sky Father) as a gift to Matua te Mana (Mt Ruapehu). Later, when the great mountains of the central plateau, Tongariro and Taranaki, battled over the maiden Pihanga, a defeated Taranaki fled west to the coast, shedding tears at his loss that filled the ravine to create the Whanganui River.
Inclement weather along the way only adds to the mood, misty rainfall and grey clouds creating a Jurassic Park-like prehistoric atmosphere. The drop in temperature makes me less enthusiastic about falling in and I silently pray that I stay dry. Ironically, I’ve enjoyed the canyoning in chest-high freezing cold water, but I’m spooked at the thought of capsizing. A further frustration is my dismal attempt at steering effectively from the back of the canoe – I’m much more comfortable up front where the main task is paddling without too much strategy involved.
We have one shorter day of paddling, instead taking a hike into the remote Mangapurua Valley and the iconic Bridge to Nowhere. The area was opened up in 1919 to provide farms for returning soldiers after World War 1. The bridge was constructed in 1936 to improve access, only for the soldiers to walk off their land in 1942 after decades of battling hardship caused by the valley’s harsh soils. The forest grew back, obliterating all signs of habitation – except for the bridge, now a striking moss-covered relic of times past.
The Whanganui Journey comes to an end
Our final stretch through to Pipiriki signals an end to our river adventure, but not before navigating the legendary Autapu Rapid. The sun is out, and the water is warm, but staying afloat is still top of mind. My canoe makes it through thanks to Phil who is steering through the rapid first to show the others how it’s done, only for half the group to spectacularly capsize in our wake. The multiple-rescue mission is hilarious, a cacophony of paddles outstretched to assist while simultaneously grabbing hold of stranded canoes as we eventually make it to shore.
We dry off on the hillside, which offers the perfect vantage point to watch a cascade of canoes negotiate the rapid. Some even turn around to have another go while a few celebrate (but not prematurely) a successful passage.
I watch as our group excitedly chatter, recounting and critiquing what went wrong. For those who’d managed to stay upright to this point, it’s an overwhelming consensus, declaring with satisfaction that they’ve now had the full experience. A tinge of FOMO sets in – why didn’t I just go with the flow (so to speak)? Next time, I think to myself, I won’t obsess over staying upright, and I realise – life’s too short to stay dry.
FACT FILE
The adventure: Great Walks of New Zealand Whanganui River Journey
Getting there: Fly into Auckland or Wellington. Buses to Ohakune are operated by Intercity