Paddlers gear up for Whanganui River waka journey

Canoes were tied up at Pākaitore in Whanganui during the 2017 Tira Hoe Waka. Photo / File

Anticipation is building for the annual Whanganui iwi spiritual journey down the Whanganui River.

Organising committee chairman Hayden Potaka is looking forward to it.

The wānanga (time of higher learning) is known as the Tira Hoe Waka and will be in its 31st year. Descendants of the Whanganui River/Te Awa Tupua, aged 12 and over, paddle down it together.

They are hosted at places of previous and current settlement on the way down river.

Their journey starts with a 10am pōwhiri and waka practice in Taumarunui on January 5. They leave the next day for Ohinepane and spend the following night of January 7 at Poumaanu Marae at Tawatā.

There are two rest days en route, one at Whitianga and the other at Parinui.

"We don't get to Parinui too often. It will be a good chance to reconnect with whānau," Potaka said.

The group is expected to leave the river after reaching Te Ao Hou Marae in Whanganui on January 19.

So far 80 people have registered and Potaka expects 50 to 60 others will do so on the day - which will make the numbers about average.

Among the paddlers will be people who have never done the trip before, and others who are returning to the river after a long time away.

Two of the notables this year could be Dr Rangi Matamua, known for his navigation by the stars, and Māori language advocate Paraone Gloyne. He instigated Mahuru Māori, a challenge where participants speak only te reo Māori for the month of September, no matter what the occasion.

This spring has had a lot of windy, unsettled weather but that isn't rattling Potaka.

"I think it should settle down into the new year, but the tira always brings different seasons in the two weeks."

He's planning to be part of the trip as a "roadie", returning to Whanganui each night.