1 Day Journey

Taumarunui to Ohinepane (4.5 hours) - Book online -

$170 per adult | $135 per youth | Jet boat return: $225 pp extra

(min 4ppl) if you have less ppl please contact us we may have others wanting the same trip as well.

Starting from our Taumarunui home base, this journey covers 22 kilometres of the Whanganui River and you experience around 50 rapids, some small and some large, exhilarating ones. There are waterfalls on either side of the river and gorgeous scenic bush areas as you travel through farmland at the start of the trip. After two hours of paddling downstream, you reach the sign letting you know you have entered the Whanganui National Park.

We do a special on backrests for our walkers of $25pp/$50 per boat if they are available and if you have back issues, its awesome.

2 Day Journeys

Taumarunui to Whakahoro - Book online -

$220 per adult | $185 per youth under 18 years  (Minimum 4 people)

Starting from our Taumarunui home base, this journey covers 22 kilometers of the Whanganui River and you experience around 50 rapids, some small and some large, exhilarating ones. There are waterfalls on either side of the river and gorgeous scenic bush areas as you travel through farmland at the start of the trip. After two hours of paddling downstream, you reach the sign letting you know you have entered the Whanganui National Park.

If you have a group of 4 or more adults you can take a two-day leisurely paddle, making the most of the exciting rapids, wildlife, and beautiful scenery of the upper reaches of the Whanganui River. On the second day, you paddle by some great waterfalls, amazing scenery, and outstanding rock formations. (If you have fewer than 4 people you can stay the night at Whakahoro and if we are down there the following morning we can pick you up) or you could paddle to Maharanui for your first night and then paddle out by 10am for the pickup.  (This must be booked by calling our office).

The DoC campsites on the Taumarunui to Whakahoro section are all on the right-hand side of the river and the best ones to book are Poukaria campsite or Maharanui campsite.

Ohinepane to Whakahoro - Book online -

$220 per adult | $185 per youth under 18 years

If you have a group of 4 or more people you can depart from Ohinepane and paddle to Maharanui campsite or Whakahoro campsite/hut (a 35 km trip) and camp there the night with a pickup at 10 am the next morning. This is a favourite journey as you paddle through numerous waterfalls, spectacular scenery, and amongst outstanding rock formations.

3 Day Journey

Whakahoro to Pipiriki - Book online -

$220 per adult | $185 per youth under 18 years

After Whakahoro there is no road access to the river until Pipiriki. The 3 day trip travels through the river gorges with beautiful scenery and native wildlife in the Whanganui National Park.

The first day of this journey is not for the faint-hearted, it takes just over an hour to drive from our Taumarunui base to the starting point at Whakahoro, pack your boats, then a 5 hour paddle to Ohauora campsite or a 7 hour paddle to the John Coull campsite/hut. This can be too much for families or older people.

In this case you could do the 3 day journey over 4 days so you can relax more or you could choose to do the 4 day journey mentioned below, you will then only have a 20 minute drive to Ohinepane to start your journey, and either a 5 hour paddle to Maharanui campsite or a 6 hour paddle to Whakahoro campsite/hut. Doing the 4 day journey instead of the 3 day journey will cut up to 2.5 hours off your first day while you are getting used to the canoe and the river.

4 Day Journey (recommended)

Ohinepane to Pipiriki - Book online -

SPECIAL PRICE:   $220 per adult | $185 per youth under 18 years

This trip starts at Ohinepane which is a short 20 minute drive down river from our Taumarunui base. This means you skip several of the early big rapids, but not all the amazing scenery, and is absolutely Karen's favourite day.

Along the 4 days, you will travel through farmland, fantastic rock formations, abounding waterfalls, and you are in the Whanganui National Park which you stay in until you come off the river at Pipiriki. Enjoy the waterfalls, the many bird species, and the iconic Bridge to Nowhere walk.

5 Day Journey (recommended)

Taumarunui to Pipiriki - Book online -

Price: $240 per adult  | $205 per youth under 18 years

This journey has it all. With our private boat ramp on-site at our Taumarunui home base, it means that after the morning safety briefing you can jump straight on the river with no driving time.  If you want to take an extra day this is no problem at all, but this must be booked and may be an extra cost depending on how busy we are.

If you are not confident at canoeing/kayaking, or have never canoed before please do not book the canoe rental for this section, it is difficult to navigate for a Novice, and a rescue is costly. There are 43 rapids in the first day and we recommend caution, as there are a lot of rocks to paddle around and keep away from.

This is New Zealand's only Great Walk trip, that you can canoe. This Whanganui River journey begins at Taumarunui and finishes at Pipiriki. It covers 145 km through exhilarating rapids, breathtaking scenery, gorgeous waterfalls, rock formations to paddle through the middle of, farmland, native bush, and some of the best DoC campsites which you miss if you book a shorter journey.

Te Araroa Walkers Journey

Taumarunui to Whanganui

Whakahoro to Whanganui

Whakahoro to Pipiriki (Bike hire available to Whanganui)

Contact our free number and Karen can talk you through your options.

The Te Araroa Trail walks straight past our entrance gate on Hikumutu Road.

Send your packages to us and we will store them safely for your arrival. Put your name C/- Taumarunui Canoe Hire 292 Hikumutu Road Taumarunui 3992

We can pick you up from Taumarunui where there are restaurants and supermarkets and bring you out to our base (3-minute drive) to Freedom Camp or simply enjoy a rest day. We can pick up your groceries in town and you can walk out here if you prefer. We have a BBQ area for our walkers, and an area to charge your phones etc.
If we are going to town from our base at any other time we are very happy to pick you up or drop you off. If you need supplies taken to Pipiriki we can organise that for when you paddle past on day 4 or 5.

We have a daily pickup in Taumarunui town either 3:30-4pm to freedom camp at our home base. We have a beautiful campsite here at our base overlooking the Whanganui River and you are very welcome to take a rest day here before you keep walking into Owhango. Just give us a call if you would like to be picked up, so we can give you the time, and also we will know how many buses or vans to bring.

If you are walking into Whakahoro when you come through Taumarunui then you can leave your food and resupplies here (including your fruit and veges), have your safety briefing on the morning you plan to start walking and we will take your food and supplies into Whakahoro and meet you there on the designated day with your canoes and barrels. We have a new double-door fridge to keep your fruit and vegetables fresh until it’s time to bring them to you.

We will help with all the information for any of your bookings at the campsites/huts, Pipiriki Holiday Park, Flying Fox, Whanganui Holiday Park, etc. We will go through with you how long it takes to get to Whakahoro and the stops along the way. We will recommend what campsites to stay at after Pipiriki depending on what your tide is on the day you would come out of the river. We will give you all the knowledge and information that you need for your journey.

Bicycle hire from Pipiriki to Whanganui is available if you don’t want to paddle the whole way.

Please note: We do not hire to solo travellers paddling alone. The river is simply not safe for you to be paddling the river alone.  If there is an odd number in your group this is absolutely ok.

However, we keep a database of solo travellers, so please get in touch with us with what you would like to do and we will do our best to find you a trip on the dates you would like to go.

If we don’t have any other solo travellers booked, we will ask other groups that are going on if you can join them. We find this the safest and politest thing to do as some groups prefer to paddle alone and it can cause an uncomfortable situation if you turn up to the river unannounced.

The Department of Conservation (DoC) provides campsites and huts situated along the river. Youth under 18 years old can camp at the campsites free of charge. We can assist you or can do your DoC campsite bookings to make it easier for you, for no additional charge.

If you are unsure please give us a call before doing any bookings so we can help you with choosing your campsites.