What Sort of Story Does a Review Tell?

By Brian Megaw | February 10, 2025

What Sort of Story Does a Review Tell? For some guests, staying at River Valley is an emotional experience. I could tell you numerous stories, but will mention just two, one of which is the subject of this post. The first one is a story I was recently told, which I got secondhand. A Dutch [...]

Why Cycle the Tussocks to Dune Trail?

By Brian Megaw | January 26, 2025

Why Cycle the Tussocks to Dune Trail? The Gorges to See is a new cycle trail being developed by a group of enthusiasts in the central North Island's Rangitikei District. The River Valley version, called Tussock to Dune, follows the general route of what will be the Gorges to See Cycle Trail. The 200 km [...]

Reviewing 2024 as it Disappears in the Rear Vision Mirror

By Brian Megaw | January 9, 2025

Reviewing 2024 as it Disappears inthe Rear Vision Mirror As 2024 slips away, I thought it might be timely to reflect on the year just gone at River Valley. Great Things All the 5-star reviews we keep getting. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to write and share their experiences with [...]

Are You Coming Back? If Not, Settle Only for the Best

By Brian Megaw | December 20, 2024

Are You Coming Back? If Not, Settle Only for the Best I am presently reading a series of books written by Graham Frith, or Grum, as he is widely known. These books detail the story of his 900 day, 47,000 km epic ride around the world on his bicycle, Fiona. I am generally not keen [...]

There Is Always a Reason Not To

By Brian Megaw | November 17, 2024

There Is Always a Reason Not To There is no doubt procrastination is alive and well. Like most people, I am sure, at various times, I have not looked too hard to find reasons not to do something. This is especially true if something involves effort or takes me out of my comfort zone. To [...]

Whanganui Journey by Dory

By Brian Megaw | October 26, 2024

Whanganui Journey by Dory Why Dories, and what are they? In 2011, Nicola and I were lucky enough to be on a 21 day Grand Canyon trip with friends. This was, as you can imagine, a great experience. However, one thing that stuck in my mind was the day we were passed by a group [...]

Why Raft the Rangitikei River Rather Than ………….?

By Brian Megaw | September 16, 2024

Why Raft the Rangitikei River Rather Than ………….? Over the years, I have lost count of the number of times I have been asked, “What is the best river to raft?” Whatever the best means. Is it scenery, or excitement, or remoteness? Or is it the most popular? Sometimes, these questions seek an answer on [...]

Winter is Waning, Spring is Coming

By Brian Megaw | August 28, 2024

Winter is Waning, Spring is Coming It is fair to say that I am not a winter person, and with most of our adventure activities being orientated towards being in the outdoors, River Valley is not a Winter company either. Though, and this is a big, very positive though, the Lodge can be a wonderful [...]

Embracing Seasonality

By Brian Megaw | May 26, 2024

Embracing Seasonality For much of River Valley's existence, we have fought the problem of seasonality. Why is seasonality a problem? Tourism, and adventure tourism, in particular, is generally a seasonal business. That holds true whether it is winter pursuits such as skiing or the myriad of summer outdoor activities that can be on  offer. For [...]

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