Bee stings, broken legs, capsized canoes and a feeling of being unable to cope - there have been a lot of rescues from the Whanganui River this summer, Conservation Department senior ranger Jim Campbell says.
People are starting canoe trips on the Whanganui River without adequate preparation - and in one family's case it could have been fatal.
It's the peak of the summer season and the river's campsites and huts are filled to capacity. DOC staff and Whakahoro's Steele family have had to pull a lot of people off.
One family with children aged about seven to 16 was particularly bad. They set off for a multi-day trip in an old fibreglass six-man canoe.
"They were pretty unfit, and pretty unprepared. They had life jackets that weren't really suitable and didn't fit. The whole thing was shaping up to be quite a disaster," Mr Campbell said.