Royal good time on the Waihou

The Riverhead Ferry at Thames Wharf, ready for a trip up the Waihou River toward Paeroa. Photo / Supplied

Cate Foster is ready to wear the crown of river queen as she takes a leisurely ferry cruise.

While I might not have felt like an African queen as I chugged along the green and winding path of the Waihou River between Thames and Paeroa on a sunny spring day, I certainly had aspirations to being the Hauraki Plains' very own river queen.

Somehow the quaintness of the Riverhead Ferry Company's venerable launch, and the historic nature of the waterway we were making our way up, awakened in me echoes of a past where travel was a bit more romantic than what we are used to in the 21st century.

As a fifth generation New Zealander I grew up hearing stories about travel up rivers and down coasts but this trip was a first for me, and all the more interesting since I had never heard of the Waihou River despite the fact that it was the scene of Cook's deepest incursion into the interior in 1779. But to anyone local, the Waihou has long been a green and winding pathway into the green reach of the Hauraki Plains.

The day I joined the cruise was mid week and so our party of about 35 was a mix of senior citizens from the local areas and an informal social group from Whitianga. As the schedule is time and tide dependent and the boat can be booked for private parties as well as joining on the regular trips, this demographic changes depending on the particular trip you book.

Our party, lined up on Thames Wharf alongside the trim blue and white launch that Cath and Paul Meyer's Riverhead Ferry Company operates from, was positively humming with anticipation.

Once out on the wide green expanse of the river mouth it was a different world. The sky felt huge and the water a solid green mass being peeled away beneath our unyielding bows. I soon grew accustomed to the fact that river water is green, not blue, and also to the nooks and crannies that make the launch such a fun way to explore the country.

Half an hour into our journey we were approaching the Kopu Bridge and excitedly waited for it to swing open to let us pass under. Despite the bridge being 90 years old this occurred without a hitch and we waved and clicked madly as we chugged through.

Past the bridge the river continued wide and peaceful. Low-lying mangroves gave way to what seemed like impossibly green water meadows and willow-shrouded mai mais. In one place a bunch of young cattle gambolled with spring-fed enthusiasm along a section of the high grassy stopbanks, their black and white coats glossy in the sunshine.

Paul Meyer, the skipper and proprietor, kept us informed with an interesting historic commentary, and Cath Meehan, his wife and business partner, served morning tea, coffee and cakes, and eventually lunch with optional beer or wine. From the deck we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the large white Spoonbill birds which are settling in the area.

After four hours of peaceful chatting and chugging we pulled up against a weathered back country wharf to disembark and pile aboard the bus waiting to carry us back 30km to our cars in Thames. All of us agreed it was something we'd never want to have missed.

I, for one, will be on the next Riverhead Ferry trip, this time out on the Waitemata.

CHECKLIST

The Riverhead Ferry does a variety of trips along rivers and on the Waitemata Harbour. Phone Cath or Paul on (09) 376 0819, 021 171 1346, or 021 138 1702, or email: meyermaritime@slingshot.co.nz.