C&K mag #30 sp - Canoe & Kayak

the landing to the bridge is signed to take 40
minutes. But I tell you, it’s not a big deal to make it
in 30 minutes with a bunch of energetic kids!
Back on the river after lunch we paddled on to
Tieke Kainga. The sun was still hot and so the kids
decided to have a cool down with water fights.
Mike and Pickles made an impressive seat change
on the railing of one of the canoes. Pete and
Lauren, who tried to copy them, ended up having
a swim. But no matter, they got rescued...! And the
sun quickly dried them again.
Our destination camp for the last night, Tieke
Kainga, has been revived as a marae about ten
years ago. Now everyone is welcome on the
marae, but you are asked to observe protocol. So
it happened that when we arrived on the
riverbank, we were asked, and explained how, to
participate in the Powhiri (welcome). A Maori
school group, already staying at Tieke, called us
onto the marae and gave us a traditional welcome
with singing, speaking and showing the Haka (war
dance). We laid a gift on the ground and finally
greeted everyone in the traditional form, by
pressing noses (Hongi). It was a very special,
amazing and impressing experience. Afterwards
Maree at Tieke Kainga
40 ISSUE THIRTY • 2005
some of us even got the chance to listen to the
historical story of the marae and the explanations
of the pole carvings. Wonderful!
Again, we had a very nice evening with cooking
next to our tents and the kids playing rugby
against some Maori boys. Later on we were
invited to join the Maoris in the hut, watching
school performances and talking. But our journey
was not supposed to end as comfortable as
this day...
In the evening clouds had already covered the sky
and at night it started raining again and became
colder. Once we woke up the rain was still steadily
banging onto our tents. This morning nobody
really wanted to get up, but we had to carry on
because we were to be picked up at Pipiriki at
2.30pm. We put on all the warm clothing we could
find but by the time we had taken down our tents,
loaded our boats and were on the water we were
soaking wet and cold. Pete explained the risks of
this weather when you are on the water, so we
paddled on, hoping that we would survive the last
day without any complications. The wind was
strong and made us feel the cold even more. We
had 21.5 km remaining for our last day and spent
most of it freezing, not noticing the landscape
around us. Tam and Mike tried to keep the kids
happy with singing. That’s how it happened that
the song “100 bottles of beer on the wall” was
counted down to zero.
As we reached Ngaporo campsite nobody really
wanted to get out of their boats, but it was more
than time to have a break because most of us had
already started shivering. Even in the rain Pete
managed to start a fire, put up a tarpaulin against
the wind and insisted on warming up and eating -
no matter how long it took. Good on him, we all
felt much better when we carried on. The rain had
stopped but the wind was still strong. As the
landscape changed and the riverbanks got flatter,
we really had to fight against the wind and the
waves pushing us up stream. It might have been
quicker to walk the rest of our way than to paddle
against the wind! But finally we made it to the
landing at Pipiriki, where we got picked up. We
were one hour late, wet, cold and exhausted - but
as Pete would say, “It was just another day in
paradise!” And don’t forget, “If you’re happy and you
know it, clap your hands!” Thanks Pete for taking
me along and making it a unique work experience!