Rapid Destroyers VS Fire n’ Fairies: the ultimate race down Whanganui

The challenge:

124km in 3.5 days, down rapids and narrow gorges. Who will arrive first (and dry)?

Rapid Destroyers: the team

Fire ‘n’ Fairies: the team

Day 1 (35km): Analysis by the Reporter

On Day 1 the Rapid Destroyers got a canoe push in the water a little bit before the Fire ‘n’ Fairies, a slight disadvantage for the girls, but no way were they standing for that! “We soon caught up with them”, said Mama, AKA Ultimate Speed Paddler,”and they soon realised who they were racing against!”.

The first rapid goes easily for both teams, and the race continues! But then, what is this?! The Rapid Destroyers are in difficulty in this next rapid! Oh no! They are tipping over! The Fire ‘n’ Fairies pass them elegantly, and stop further down the river to wait for them. “We had difficulty taking out the water of the canoe with only one bailer,”says Nilay, AKA Great Spotter,” but at last we managed and got back on the canoe and saw the Fire ‘n’ Fairies waiting for us. We were shivering.” The race continues on the flat river surface both teams equal, and at last the Fire ‘n’ Fairies manage to go in front for this next rapid. Which way are they going to take? Right or left? “We decided to take the right,”says Anjali, AKA The Great Vigil,”because it seemed to have less rocks than the left side.” The Fire ‘n’ Fairies do just that, and manage to get through the rapid smoothly. Seems like it was a correct choice! But what is this now?! The Rapid Destroyers take the left side!!! With all the rocks!!! Ohoh… Soon enough, the river turns into a sort of mini waterfall/rapid, with a big rock in the middle! What do they do now?? Mama pulls out her phone to document this scene, but, oh noooooo! “The tip of the canoe suddenly banged into the rock, and we went soaring into the air. The canoe just flipped,” says Papa, AKA Super Director. Seeing this, Mama forgets her super snap (a shame, we could have certainly won a prize that) and seeing her sons flapping about in the – now very very deep and icy cold water – jumps in, phone and all. What for, we don’t quite understand yet as the boys are surprisingly navigating this challenge sovereignly, Nilay clinging to the boat that approaches with high speed. Vyas, on the other hand, has landed on a lonely rock – he has to jump back in, which he does very professionally, holding the paddle in front, unfazed by the speed with which he is racing along. Still not finding any footing, everyone squeezes up to some rocks, clambers/jumps/crawls back into their respective canoes (Mama almost making Anjali take a dip, too) and paddles on, in search of some dry land. Dripping but intact, the race soon is back on. After a neat lunch break, both teams are in the water at the same time this time. The next few rapids go just fine, and soon both teams see the arrival line… Who will win this first day? Both canoes are very close to each other and suddenly the Rapid Destroyers go in front, but the Fire ‘n’ Fairies soon catch up… We will call this day a draw.

Appendix by Anjali: Upon arriving at Whakahoro riverbank, we need to first lug up our equipment and supplies (geez, 5 people pack a LOT) a very steep and long hill to the campsite. It starts to rain. Papa and Mama unpack the rented tents only to discover that they are incomplete! It starts to rain harder. We set up to prepare dinner while Mama walks up the dirt path to a house – Whakahoro is the last part of the trek which you can still access by car, but there is no mobile network coverage here so she hopes to find a friendly soul who will let her make a phone call. Well. Talk about being lucky. Not only is Jack, the manager of the cute Blue Duck café a friendly soul, but he goes above and beyond by offering us shelter in what turns out to be wonderfully cozy little cabins! When the electricity goes out, he even swings by to supply us with a giant collection of candles so that this evening which started under rather dreary conditions ends in a big happily ever after. The next morning, the rental company will supply us with 2 new tents (one of which ends up to be wrongly equipped, too, but we make do).

Day 2 (26km): Analysis by the Reporter

Today will be a short day with “only” 26km. Thus, the teams take their time in the morning and have a leisurely (and generous) delicious breakfast at the Blue Duck Café. And now: off they go! Both teams are equal at first, but….oh no! The rapid takes control of the FnF and almost tips them over! “We got sort of stuck,” says Anjali aka The Great Vigil, “I suddenly stopped paddling and the rapid took control….” Fortunately, they are dry and intact and are back in the race to catch up with the laughing RD. Today the RD win with by a small margin. The day was sunny and lovely and the campsite Ohuaora charming. Everyone turns in for an early night knowing the next day would be very long.

Day 3 (40.5km): Analysis by the Reporter

An extra challenging stretch today, due to the amount of paddling required. The scenery is particularly stunning, but the lack of rapids adds a level. The day is not particularly eventful, simply challenging everyone’s fatigue levels. They finally arrive at Tieke Kāinga campsite. The girls win this day. Tieke Kāinga is a site of special significance to the Maori. Michael, the lovely campsite manager prepared some soup for everyone. He then taught everyone some Maori phrases and proceeded to lead us through a welcome ceremony involving a totem pole, singing and rubbing noses. This was rather unexpected! The tents are all set up and fortunately so, because the forecast announces some rain. That turns into a massive understatement. Our poor contestants witness the possibly biggest storm ever, lighting and thunder immediately above them, the wind howling ripping out tents left and right as they could hear. Everyone is drenched inside their tents, especially Anjali and Papa – remember, the mis-equipped replacement tent? Well…. that wrong tent pole just added a few extra litres to the tent interior.

Day 4 (21.5km) by the Reporter

As no-one slept well, everyone hops out of the tent in the still pouring rain at 5:30am. They try to pack up swiftly, while Anjali and Vyas scoop out the rain from the canoës. All packed up and ready to go they head out for the last stretch. The experience is somewhat different navigating through the sheets of rain which don’t seem to let up. On the upside, the early hour and the weather means that they are absolutely alone and the rain created so many thundering waterfalls, spellbinding in their furious beauty. The teams are due to meet the pick up at Pipiriki at 11:30. The stretch has two big obstacles, called the “50/50s” – 50% of people fall off here. The weather is not that inviting for a plunge, but then, everyone is drenched anyway. At 10:30am – what is that? The teams already arrived at their final destination. The water levels must have risen so much that the rapids became practically unnoticeable. Or maybe it’s because they have turned into real paddling champions. So desperate to arrive, the teams dock too early. An overly eager Nilay drags the canoe to tie it up, but unfortunately Papa was already standing – in slow motion everyone watches the Super Director giving a desperate lunge for the dock. At this point, Nilay for some uncanny reason just releases his tight hold on the rope and everyone watches Papa going down in a giant split. Words spoken cannot be repeated here. Shivering and teeth clattering, everyone gets dry – at this point, the rain kindly let up.

This was quite an adventure – the race ended up taking back stage and what remains are memories of beautiful landscapes, some physical and mental challenges, LOTS of crackers and hummus in all variations and the conclusion that ready-made Chinese soups really are not as yummy as we remembered them from our tweens.