Mayor travels the Whanganui

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 468, 12 January 1993, Page 12

Mayor travels the Whanganui

BY

DAVID OFTHE RIC

Ruapehu s Mayor Garrick Workman, a party of councillors, Department of Conservation staff and information centre workers travelled the Whanganui River to inspect new facilities at camp-sites along the river from Whakahoro to Pipiriki in December. "Having the most popular stretch of the Whanganui River for canoeists in the council area is not something we have promoted lately, but that is what we intend to push now," said Ruapehu Marketing manager Bruce Rollinson. "The focus of future tourism in the region will no longer be solely on the ski-fields," he said. The mayor, his deputy Graeme Cosford and Mr Rollinson were met at Whakahoro by Dennis

McDonnell, Department of Conservation officer for Pipiriki and his wife and co-worker Pet McDonnell who, together with a party of information centre staff had travelled via jet-boat from Pipiriki that morning. The party travelled back down-stream to the new John Coull Hut, recently relocated at the request of local Maori tribes because of its previous proximity to a sacred burial site. The new hut is equipped with heating, water and toilet facilities. Local design Along the river-bank from the hut is a large tent-site, where new water shelters and toilet blocks have been installed. "Because of the risk of giardia infections from river sources and some of

the streams," explained Mr McDonnell, "some way of catching rain- water and storing it for campers had to be built." Mr McDonnell proposed the idea of a shelter, with a table and seats, a steel-covered bench for cooking and a sloping roof to divert rain into a tank at the rear of the building. It provides a supply of relatively uncontaminated water as well as a place for travellers to stay and use camp stoves without fire risks to the bush. Although the water still needs to be boiled for drinking Mr McDonnell said it is a much cleaner source than most of the streams and even a few of the springs. Hot toilet Mr McDonnell also assisted in the design of the new toilet cubicles at

the camp-sites. Based on recent research overseas, the toilet is still a longdrop (or pit latrine) in principle, but has a unique forced-draught ventilator system to keep it odour-free and reduce the risk of disease. "The whole cabin is lined with fibre-glass insulation to trap the heat of bodies using it and the decomposing material," he explained, "and the chimney is the only place the rising air can get out - taking the pong with it." As long as the door is kept shut, the cubicle remains warm and very clear of odour. The units can be moved to newlydug pits when necessary though, because of the warmth, the decay is more rapid which extends the life of the latrine. The toilets are being installed at all

conservation camp-sites on the Whanganui River. The only problems encountered with the new toilets was when a number were swept away by flood-waters during the past two.years. During lunch at the John Coull Hut, the mayor spoke to a group of German canoeists travelling down to Wanganui. After an initial problem trying to learn the German word for "Hello" (it's "Hallo") Mr Workman was pleased to find that the group was very impressed with the present tourist facilities in the Ruapehu District and that New Zealand in general is considered a top vacation spot for German travellers, mainly for the variety of activities that can be found in a relatively small area.

Mr Rollinson was interested to learn that the group had heard of the river from a party of Swiss tourists they had met at the Whakapapa ski-field. Attractions After lunch the party continued down the river to Pipiriki, stopping on occasions to talk to canoeists or to inspect various attractions on the river and its surrounds. These included the Mangaiti Pa site, the branches of various rivers feeding into the Whanganui, such as the Manganui-a-Te-Ao and the Mangapurua where the Mangapurua Trig walk and the Bridge to Nowhere walk-way starts. The mayoral party stopped here and climbed the easy grade to the bridge. They heard there was a possibility of allowing a commercial

concern to operate bungy jumping from the famous attraction. The general feeling was that, since the activity was at odds with the scenic features of the area and the bridge's structural work needed renewal, the decision on the plan should be delayed until further study was made. The last facility visited on the river was Howarth's Lodge which is the accommodation arm of the Bridge to Nowhere Jet-boat Tour company. Mrs Howarth put on an excellent afternoon tea, and the mayor and his team were very impressed with the standard of the lodge's accommodation. The views of the river itself were described as "well worth the trip." At this point, Mr Turn to page 8

River trip

From page 12 Rollinson spoke about promotion of the Whanganui River as part of an up-coming project with Transit New Zealand to encourage north and south bound traffic to travel through the Taumarunui - Raetihi - Wanganui route, which, according to figures compiled over the last two years, have seen an increase in holiday traf-

fic, particularly the River Road from Pipiriki. From the Howarth's, the group travelled across the river to the Tieke Hut, another major facility on the river. After this the trip ended at the Pipiriki Ranger Station. The Mayor and his party thanked the McDonnells for their assistance on the trip most particularly for the hat rescue service!