Discover Top Posts Tagged with #rangitikei river

Why write about rivers?

Since New Zealand’s Rivers has been released, I have had a number of opportunities to talk to journalists and others about the book and how I came to write it. So, I thought I would document these questions and my answers in a series of posts.

One of the first questions that I have been asked is ‘What led you to write a book about rivers?’

To answer this properly, I have to go back to the…

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#Catherine Knight #Environmental History #New Zealand #New Zealand&039;s Rivers #Rangitikei River #rivers

Peter McIntyre (1910-1985) - The Rangitikei River

Oil on board. 24.9 x 33 inches, 63.2 x 83.8 cm.

Estimate: US$8,000-12,000. Sold Doyle, New York, 3 May 2016 for US$11,250 incl B.P.

Estimate NZ$25,000-35,000. Sold International Art Centre auction, Auckland, NZ, 24 Aug 2016 for NZ$26,000 (about US$19,000).

An example of putting a painting in front of the right audience. Even with seller’s premium and airfreighting from the US to NZ it’s a nice little earner for an enterprising dealer. Alas, not me.

#Peter McIntyre #Rangitikei #Rangitikei River

Rangitikei River—Confluence

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#new zealand #rangitikei river #photograph #my photos #mine

River Valley to Wellington | Team Legend and a Reunion Weekend in Windy Welly!

We were promptly kitted out at River Valley Lodge for our EPIC rafting trip that morning. This was one of the best activities I did in New Zealand and I'd highly recommend rafting the Rangitikei River - it's a must for any adrenalin junkies!

Our guide Spencer, was awesome and he named our group - Will, Adam, Hannah and me, 'Team Legend'. William from Oxfordshire ;-) questioned the main guide if the whistle he had was a 'rape whistle' and he was promptly told to 'get down on his knees' to demonstrate how to help someone back in the raft if someone falls out! We slid down the banks of the river in the raft which was loads of fun in itself and we weren't even in the water yet! We practised our front paddle, back paddle, holding on and jumping in during the easier rapids. As we continued the rapids got bigger and the sides of the river became a lot higher and we were suddenly in a deep gorge which was so spectacular. Highlights of the morning were singing 'In the Jungle' through a narrow part of the gorge, the Grade V rapids which were absolute mayhem (Spencer was brilliant and taught us what to do on each rapid and we successfully managed not to fall in!) jumping off a 6m high rock into the freezing cold water, and putting one of the rafts horizontally across the other for the last 5 minutes. Another sort of highlight was when we almost capsized on a huge rapid. We had to JUMP RIGHT very fast and backpaddle really hard so that we could make it down the quite sizeable drop!

I had a fantastic morning and it was so worth the money. Some parts were quite scary but Spencer kept us right - he was brilliant and coached our 'well oiled machine' the whole way along! He had great banter too and we had such a laugh as a group.

After a hot shower and lunch we made our way to Wellington. On the way, everyone decided to stay for the weekend in Wellington which was amazing because if they had left the next day I'd have lost my group (who I'd become really close to) for the rest of the trip. It was a great moment when everyone phoned up to change their bus!

Once in Welly, I headed to Anabel's flat on Thompson Street. Anabel's friend Kataraina was staying on the Friday night as well and the three of us went to a reggae gig. It was so much fun and we danced loads all night! We headed into town after the gig and caught some of the Kiwi bus group. It was a really fun night, so good to spend time with Anabel and nice to do something different. It's cool to be able to go to a gig, festival or comedy show when travelling as it's like a bit of normality and where local people go too.

The next day we headed for brunch on Cuba Street. Cuba Street is lined with cool shops and cafes and we ate really well! After brunch, we headed to Parliament where Harry gave us a private tour - exclusive access as he is doing an internship there for one of the Labour MPs! It was really interesting to see and to learn a bit about how NZ politics works.

We then headed to the Te Papa museum (NZ's national museum) via the beautiful waterfront. We checked out the craft market at the waterfront which had loads of really nice handmade items. The Te Papa museum was cool - loads of interactive things to do such as going into a house and seeing what an earthquake would feel like and mixing NZ music. We bumped into quite a few of the Kiwi Ex group too which was fun! I'm really glad I got to see the museum - you could easily spend a few days there, wandering around each section. The Maori section was great too and there was a marae there that we sat and chilled in.

On the way back to Anabel's, we had some fries and kumara chips (which were awesome) washed down with a cider at a really nice pub on the waterfront. This was actually the second bar we went to as we got chucked out of the first place because I didn't have my passport on me for ID. Most places in NZ only accept a passport or a NZ driving licence which is really annoying as most people hate to carry their passport around with them!

We had some dinner and we all headed out for the evening - first to one of Harry's friends places and then onto a few bars and clubs in town. It was a brilliant night and we met up with Kiwi Ex group later on. So much fun!

The next day was my last day in Wellington with my cousins :( Anabel and I drove to pick up Harry and he drove us around some of the bays of Wellington such as Lyall Bay and Scorching Bay. We stopped for a bit to watch planes land as Windy Welly was living up to her name! One of the flights aborted it's landing and a Jetstar landing looked horrific. It was such a windy day! We picked up some food from a cafe and headed back to the city. I had to say goodbye to Harry which sucked! It's been so nice to spend quite a bit of time with him over the past year or so.

Anabel and I headed back to the apartment and had a suicidal Sunday to end all Sundays. We had banana pancakes, crisp and dip and chilled in front of the TV - it was like a Sunday back at home! I cooked dinner for Anabel and one of her flatmates that night - chicken cacciatore - to say thanks for having me. It was so great to spend time together and to have some time out of a hostel for a few nights!

I had a brilliant weekend and I really loved spending time with my cousins and getting to see a lot of Wellington which is a great city. We had a couple of really fun nights out, the reggae gig, the cultural walk around town on the Saturday and a lazy Sunday - perfect weekend!

Good night Windy Welly!