Although it rained a lot in the night it was easing this morning. I didn't sleep well so I lay in a bit, listening to everyone else getting up around me. Eventually I got up. There was no sign of Taylor so I sat looking out over the river and munched my milo cereal (tasty, but not as sustaining as porridge). By the time I'd packed up my tent Taylor was also ready and we set out along the river, leaving Marie and Eddie to their leisurely breakfast (Nadine and Philippe had gone on to a further campsite the day before).
Today we began negotiating more serious rapids. As mentioned in Part 1, taking my time deciding how to guide us down them was not something Taylor particularly approved of and so after carefully standing up and scouting ahead as Gavin had recommended and being told to hurry up I sat down and went for it. Another unfortunate difference in mine and Taylor's approach to canoing is that I try to paddle harder going into rapids whereas Taylor sees them as a chance to rest. Unfortunately this means you travel down the rapid at the same speed as the current so the boat is all but unresponsive--particularly to my weak arms hauling on the paddle (you may recall I have been forbidden to use the paddle as a rudder). I wasn't able to line the canoe up with the middle of a rapid containing two large standing waves and we went down one side, got swept sideways into one of the waves...and over we went. Perhaps we might have saved it if we'd both leaned into the wave, but being complete amateurs we didn't and within a few moments had popped up beside the canoe and went bobbing down the river at the mercy of the swift current. We were understandably shocked, particularly Taylor when, as the current slowed, he realised he couldn't touch the bottom--I would find out a few days later that he'd thought this was an anomaly and that the entire river was only waist deep! Um, no, no it isn't. For those who may not know the river is as deep in places as the cliffs are high towering up on either side of it...that is, tens of meters.
Once in slower water we managed to haul the canoe out onto the narrow shore at the base of a cliff and re-tip it to let the water drain out. Thankfully the water wasn't that cold and the two of us both found the unexpected dunking rather exciting. Laughing it off as all part of the experience, we climbed in again and set off. I did however make a couple of mental notes:
Mental Note #1: Always aim for the middle of the main current going down a rapid.
Mental Note #2: Lean into waves. Eddie would later relate this to me in thickly French-accented English as "keep your ass to the stream". Turns out he's an experienced river kayaker...something we would become exceedingly grateful for in the days to come.
It was not until we reached Pipiriki, had hauled out, walked up to the campground/sparsely stocked shop to buy a hot snack and returned to the canoe again (still soaking wet and rapidly getting cold again) that Taylor noticed condensation on the wrong side of the transparent panel in his dry bag full of gear. Though we had been about to climb back into the canoe and set off for Jerusalem (our planned stop for the night) our plans were scuppered by a rapid and long overdue gear inspection revealing that most of Taylor's electrics, essential papers and the bottom of his sleeping bag were wet (we couldn't find a hole in the malfunctioning bag and during a later conversation it transpired that no one had informed Taylor that dry bags need to be rolled a minimum of three times in order to establish a reliable seal...and that he had only rolled the top down twice). He upended the now empty dry bag in disgust and a good 2/3 of a cup of water poured out. One of my own barrels had leaked slightly and some of my things were damp, including my first aid kit, although thankfully nothing as critical as Taylor's.
Mental Note #3: After a capsize, upon getting safely to shore IMMEDIATELY check all gear for leaks!
As we had been laying out our gear to one side of the boat ramp two other canoers had pulled in and were being picked up by a guy in a van. The van had the logo of the Pipriki Campground on the side and I remembered seeing a whiteboard at the campground showing they had plenty of availability for the night, both tenting and cabins. Inspiration struck and I suggested that we abandon the planned canoe to Jerusalem and stay at Pipiriki instead. It was still only early afternoon and though overcast it was not raining, so we might be able to dry out our gear and set out on the river again tomorrow. The guy loading the other canoe overheard our situation and offered to come back and get us in the van after he'd dropped the others off. Deal. We hauled the canoe out and when the guy, Ken, returned we bundled our barrels into the back and were driven the short distance up to the campground.
Long story short, after some confusion about the state of bookings, Ken's wife Josephine was able to offer us a cabin. (She was extremely helpful and also furnished us with a bag of fresh lettuce and zucchini from her garden). The cabin proved to be a simple but spacious stand-alone affair with a queen bed and a set of bunks, solar lights and curtained windows, but no power sockets. It was built from timber and the whole place smelt wonderfully of pine. Taylor kindly let me have the queen bed while he claimed the bottom bunk. It took over an hour for us to unpack and lay everything out to dry. Besides the gear that was wet from leaky bags and barrels (much of Taylor's essentials plus my first aid kit and toilet paper), much of our gear was wet from rain (our tents), or from direct dunking in the river (lifejackets, my waist pack), or both (the clothes we were wearing). Consequently the entire cabin, inside and out on the covered deck (it was still threatening rain) became covered in gear laid out to dry. The campground has no showers but there's a small enclosed outbuilding with a sinkbench and cold freshwater tap that I used to have a wash, using an empty ice cream container I found in the kitchen to ferry some hot water down from the kitchen. Cleanish, dry and warm for the first time in several hours I felt like a million dollars.
A lady staying in the neighbouring cabin was intrigued by our paraphernalia and came to chat to us. Upon hearing we were walking TA she offered us some of the Christmas cake she had packed on the solo roadtrip she was undertaking. 'Some' turned into and enormous quarter of an entire cake that Taylor and I all but devoured over dinner; Taylor liked it so much I had to portion some off for myself to make sure I got some! I had zucchini-fortified tortellini for dinner so I saved most of mine for later. With all the donated food we've been given recently it looks like I might not run out after all!
Two Israeli guys were in the kitchen when we went to have dinner. Their English and interest in socialising was limited so apart from the standard niceties we didn't have much to discuss. Taylor and I were just discussing whether Marie and Eddie would push the 'everyone's okay' button on the beacon at the end of the day like they're supposed to if we did not turn up to Jerusalem as planned...when lo and behold Eddie went walking passed the window. We waived him in. It turns out he and Marie spotted our canoe and also decided to stop for the night at Pipiriki, although they're taking advantage of the free-camping available at the park down the road. We chatted for a bit and told him all about our capsizing experience before he headed back down to the park and Taylor and I retired to our cabin.
While pillows and bottom sheets were provided, additional bedding could be purchased for a small fee, which sounded like a good idea considering Tailor's wet sleeping bag was currently suspended spread-eagle from the ceiling of the cabin by a combination of mine and Taylor's rope supplies. Unfortunately he dithered with the decision and by the time he went up to take her up on the offer the office was shut. Josephine had said we could knock on the house door if they needed anything but Taylor was reluctant to disturb them. In the end stripping the top bunk of its under sheet and one of the curtains of its rail saw Taylor happily tucked up in bed. He scoured a stack of magazines on the small table in the cabin, finding sudoku for himself to do and a cryptic crossword for me. I spent a relaxing evening filling it in as we both decided that all in all, everything had turned out well.
The convent that offers accommodation in Jerusalem is reportedly cold, and here we booth were, warm and dry, gear and persons intact after an adventurous day getting dunked in the river. I drifted off to sleep, waking up intermittently as my semi-conscious brain worked out another of the few remaining crossword clues. Rather infuriatingly I never figured out the very last one!
One piece of news: we bumped into Nadine and Philippe at Pipiriki and they've decided to cut their canoe trip short and hitch to Whanganui. Apart from not enjoying the paddle Philippe has come down sick. Luckily he'd already handed off the beacon to Eddie when we were all at John Coull Hut. Unfortunately aong with the four Germans they'd already been picked up by the time Marie and Eddie had arrived in their canoe; they in turn had been hoping to trade out their canoe as it has a leak, forcing Eddie to intermittently bail all day (from his customary perch on the very tip of the stern...incidentally I've tried sitting back there; it's easier to steer but someone of my weight sits perilously close to the waterline and tends to bounce off more rocks going down rapids than is strictly necessary!).
One piece of news: we bumped into Nadine and Philippe at Pipiriki and they've decided to cut their canoe trip short and hitch to Whanganui. Apart from not enjoying the paddle Philippe has come down sick. Luckily he'd already handed off the beacon to Eddie when we were all at John Coull Hut. Unfortunately aong with the four Germans they'd already been picked up by the time Marie and Eddie had arrived in their canoe; they in turn had been hoping to trade out their canoe as it has a leak, forcing Eddie to intermittently bail all day (from his customary perch on the very tip of the stern...incidentally I've tried sitting back there; it's easier to steer but someone of my weight sits perilously close to the waterline and tends to bounce off more rocks going down rapids than is strictly necessary!).
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