The scenic gravel Whanganiu River Road hugs mountain edges and offers amazing views from Raetiki all the way to Parikino. With spring green mounds and grazing sheep surrounded by rainforest vegetation, the landscape is a bizarre mixture of the Alps layered with Scotland and sprinkled with Hawaii. At lower altitudes palm trees grow next to poplars so huge they completely dwarf the surroundings. Whanganui River alone is a sight to behold, beautiful, immense, flanked with mountain ranges on both sides. Waving to us from afar local people seem very friendly, making us consider asking one of the sheppards whether he would let us pitch a tent on his land. We have a feeling he wouldn’t mind at all.
nature is straight out of the Jungle Book
lunch...MSR is playing hard to get
Whanganui River
Passing many vegetable and fruit farms selling produce along the road it‘s easy to fill up on groceries. They’re at very competitive prices compared to supermarket’s, which, by the way, sell many of NZ staples at ridiculous prices [$10 for 100g of cheese that would go for quarter of the price anywhere else in the world]. Free range cattle, goats, and millions of sheep dot the plains as we approach Whanganui town. From there to Levin relatively flat landscape levitates as Mumford & Sons play on the radio.
At a count of 90 million sheep outnumber people in New Zealand 22:1.
After covering 400km today, chasing warm weather in the South while it lasts, we arrive in Tararua Forest Park near the town of Manakau, wolf down sardines, peppers and Cajun sandwiches for late dinner and pitch a tent for free. Rain tucks us to sleep.
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