Thursday dawned fine, thankfully..so Pirate had a trial run on Saturday's race course on the borrowed racebike and I went with my friends..they treated me to a trip on the paddle steamer Waimarie,,which goes from Whanganui to Upokongaro and back, without stopping.
It was a chance to see everything from a different angle to that from car or bike!
We all took photos, and I made, hopefully, a new friend...a glass bead maker from Wellington, there on a trip with her husband and two young sons.
And along under the bridges
Then further upstream..
Messages at one time were sent by carrier pigeon..so they still carry a pair each trip which are released near Upokongaro and return to their home at the boat shed
Under the new bridge at Upokongaro, part of the Mountains to Sea trail.
Past the landing stage where some trips tie up for a while.
Do a U turn in the river...and back, past where the Upokongaro stream joins Awa Tupūa, the Whanganui River
You could hear the difference in engine tone, as soon as we turned to follow the river!
Then back down to Whanganui...still seeing debris in the river, but not the whole tree we saw coming down a few days before!!
A drink to refresh after our trip and training, then my friends carried on to see relations in Wellington and we returned to our stayplace for a rest before an evening spin session with our coach in his gym.
This time all the usual riders turned up and they had a surprise for us...not just one of the usual videos to follow as we rode....but on a radio, The Flower of Scotland, then the Aotearoa NZ national anthem in Te Reo Māori.....and afterwards Greek Salad (homegrown except for the olives) and homemade cheese scones!
Then the usual chat for an hour or two after the session!!
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5 comments:
Sounds/reads like an absolutely perfect day!
That looks like a great trip! Everything always looks so different from the water. I wonder how the homing pigeons feel about being released so far from home? They're probably thinking, "Oh, brother. Not again!"
This inspires me--the Mississippi River runs through town but I have never, not once, been ON it! There are paddle boat cruises--I will take one this summer (if they're affordable).
It is wonderful reading about your vacation in New Zealand. It brings back fond memories of the times I was with my relatives in Auckland and Tauranga. Thanks for sharing!
Josephine
Deventer
The Netherlands
That glass bead maker's products sound like they are worth checking out.
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