Well this has nothing to do with the XT400, but was kind of adventurous so I thought I may as well give it a place in the blog.
I was so impressed with the last trip to the lake that I thought I would borrow Dave's kayak and head down in the van to do some paddling.
Headed down on Friday 12th December 2008. Arrived at Mokau Landing about 8:30pm.
Covered 63 kms of gravel in 1 hour 15 mins. About a 50km/h average in 2.8D Hiace in 4WD.
Saturday morning was raining so instead of kayaking I hiked the first part of the great walk from Hopuruahine swing bridge to Whanganui hut and back.
Then headed around to Aniwaniwa and hiked up to lake Waikareiti and back.
Then paddled around a few points near Mokau Landing for about an hour and a half.
Sunday morning was better weather, so I loaded up the kayak and headed out into the lake, through "The Narrows" to the second bay on the left after The Narrows. About a 2 hour paddle.
Set up camp and then paddled down about 3 more bays and back just for a look.
Had a swim, looked around the bush a bit. Ate some food. Went to bed. Very remote spot.
Monday morning, I was woken up at about 5:15am by a full-on morning chorus of native birds.
Packed up camp, loaded up the kayak and paddled back to Mokau Landing. Really motored back into a headwind quite full on. The trip back took 1.5 hours.
Chatted to Craig the camp warden at Mokau Landing. He was a pretty interesting dude to talk to. He spends 9 months of the year as a possum trapper living in a bivvy in the bush near Hopuruawahine. Then for the 3 months of summer he donates his time to DOC as camp warden at Mokau Landing. He has been doing this for about 6 years. Over the winter months he sees about 4 people, so the "massive population" at Mokau Landing is quite a change for him.
Then about midday Monday I drove back to Tauranga. Got a few messages on my mobile phone as I approached Murapara. That kind of made me feel as though my little holiday was over. It is so nice to go somewhere out of mobile phone range for a few days.
I was so impressed with the last trip to the lake that I thought I would borrow Dave's kayak and head down in the van to do some paddling.
Headed down on Friday 12th December 2008. Arrived at Mokau Landing about 8:30pm.
Covered 63 kms of gravel in 1 hour 15 mins. About a 50km/h average in 2.8D Hiace in 4WD.
Saturday morning was raining so instead of kayaking I hiked the first part of the great walk from Hopuruahine swing bridge to Whanganui hut and back.
Then headed around to Aniwaniwa and hiked up to lake Waikareiti and back.
Then paddled around a few points near Mokau Landing for about an hour and a half.
Sunday morning was better weather, so I loaded up the kayak and headed out into the lake, through "The Narrows" to the second bay on the left after The Narrows. About a 2 hour paddle.
Set up camp and then paddled down about 3 more bays and back just for a look.
Had a swim, looked around the bush a bit. Ate some food. Went to bed. Very remote spot.
Monday morning, I was woken up at about 5:15am by a full-on morning chorus of native birds.
Packed up camp, loaded up the kayak and paddled back to Mokau Landing. Really motored back into a headwind quite full on. The trip back took 1.5 hours.
Chatted to Craig the camp warden at Mokau Landing. He was a pretty interesting dude to talk to. He spends 9 months of the year as a possum trapper living in a bivvy in the bush near Hopuruawahine. Then for the 3 months of summer he donates his time to DOC as camp warden at Mokau Landing. He has been doing this for about 6 years. Over the winter months he sees about 4 people, so the "massive population" at Mokau Landing is quite a change for him.
Then about midday Monday I drove back to Tauranga. Got a few messages on my mobile phone as I approached Murapara. That kind of made me feel as though my little holiday was over. It is so nice to go somewhere out of mobile phone range for a few days.
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