Well today (Tuesday) started out nothing short of amazing and I am happy to report that it ended on another high note. I have been saying for at least 10 years that I wanted to go white water rafting. There are many places to do it in BC/Alberta but I never seem to get around to it. New Zealand offers a few places to do it including here in Rotorua. I almost didn't do it but the rest of the group was so I figured why not. Odds are I wouldn't do it when I returned to Canada so I may was well jump in a raft here in New Zealand.
I was a little worried that the water would be super cold and that would ruin my enjoyment but I assure you....it did not. White water rafting is seriously one of the most amazing things I've done.
Turns out the raft doesn't get to the water on it's own. They let us short people carry the paddles.
We arrived at the rafting centre, got all decked out in our rafting gear (pretty sure there is no way to look attractive in that stuff) and then hopped in the bus to the river entry point. I didn't (well couldn't) take any pictures but not to worry, they take pictures for us.
The river we rafted down was the Kaituna River which I'm told translates to "eel food". Of course we were all hoping that was not what we were about to become. The river itself is an old Maori Burial ground. A great chief is said to be buried behind the waterfall.
After a safety briefing and some instructions we all hopped into the raft. I bravely hopped in the front. I figured that was a good spot for me. Sam (our guide) said a Maori blessing (asking the river to be kind and protect us I think) and down the river we went. The first time we got soaked it was clear the adrenalin had taken over because I hardly noticed how cold it was. I should note that along with Sam, Kristi (he's a guy so we're pretty sure Kristi is a nickname) also traveled down the river with us. He was in a kayak and there just in case any of us needed to be fished out of the river.
That's Evan and I in the front row getting ready to take our first rapids. Yes we got super wet and it was super fun.
I'm closest to you in this picture by the way. We are in the "get down" position right now. It is suppose to keep us in the boat as we hit those rapids.
Anyway, the big moment came about half way down when we hit the water fall. It was 3 metres (9.8 feet) high and I'm told it is the highest waterfall in the world that you can legally pay someone to take you over. We were given all the instructions we needed to ride the waterfall safely and some emergency instructions just in case the boat flipped over.
There's the waterfall.
And here we come.
On our way.
There we go.
Almost there.
Wait. Is that right?
Ummmm.....where did we go?
Ohhhh.......there we are......but I'm pretty sure that isn't right.
Ummmmm????
UMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!
Ahhh....don't worry......there I am.
I can't lie when the boat flipped over and I was underneath it I couldn't remember anything Sam said so I just let go of the boat, popped up along the side and swam to the edge river (not what we were suppose to do but I'm still here so whatever). It was seriously awesome. We were eventually told by Kristi (while still floating around in the water waiting to be saved) that no matter what we did, the boat was going over. We should have known that by how many times Sam told us what to do if the boat flipped over. So much fun.
See, we all survived so it's all good. On this next stretch some of us switched positions in the boat (Evan and I just switched sides) and continued down the river.
A little bit farther down the river Sam asks "does anyone want to get out of the boat" and just float over the next set of rapids on our own. We all kind of looked at each other and I saw lots of people shaking their heads "no". Naturally I hopped in the water, pointed my feet down stream and let the water take me. It was a little un-nerving (at one point I did kind of figure it was a bad idea but it was too late because the boat was already over the rapids and I was on my own) but so amazing. I enjoyed every second of it. (Sorry no pictures but I if you ask anyone else in the boat I really did it!!!!)
From there we just enjoyed the rest of the ride down the river.
That's Jenn right in the middle of the front row. She is super excited with what's coming next.
Maybe not so much now but I'm still smiling.
Don't worry we didn't tip over again and we didn't lose anyone but it sure felt like we were going to.
Eventually we had to get out of the water and head towards our next location.
The group from left to right: Evan, Burto, Me, Nikki, Katie, Jenn and Louise. In the back is Sam our awesome river guide. See we all survived. It was seriously an amazing day......and it's not even lunch time yet.
Funny how adrenalin works, because if someone had asked me right after this rafting trip if I wanted to go bungy jumping or sky diving I would have said "yes....let's go!!!!!" because I was so amped up. Lucky for me the rest of the day was a bit more relaxed so I didn't sign myself up for anything like that.
Before heading south we made out way back to Rotorua to grab some food and meet up with Eilidh (she skipped the rafting and went to Hobbiton instead). I'm sure you all know that the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (as well as many other movies) was filmed here. Peter Jackson is from New Zealand and the country is perfect for filming. Hobbiton was where they filmed many scenes from the movies and now it is all set up to film "The Hobbit". Eilidh actually had to sign a confidentiality agreement saying she wouldn't post any pictures on Facebook or blogs or anything. It would have been a fun place to visit but I am really glad I went rafting instead.
You can't visit the North Island of New Zealand without checking out some of the thermal properties of Taupo Volcanic Zone. With all the volcanic action there are tons of places where you can find natural hot springs......and other such things. The area is associated with volcanic activity dating back 160,000 years.
A look at some of the bubbling mud puddles. Would make a great mud bath except for the fact that they are over 100 C (212 F).
A little video I made of those bubbling mud pools.
Our next stop was at Wai-O-Tapu (Sacred Waters) Thermal Wonderland. Walking through the area you can see lots of random steam coming out of rocks and crevasses.
Some of the random steam.
Don't walk over the fence....odds are your feet are gonna burn!!!! At many places in this area the magma only sits about 5 or 6 kilometres (3 or 4 miles) below the surface.
Some more of the random steam you will find at Wai-O-Tapu .
There is something mysterious about steam rising from a pond......even in the daylight.
Our last stop of the day was at Huka Falls.....a Level 5 rapid that you can't raft over.......legally. Not that I have any desire to do that anytime soon. I think I mentioned that the adrenalin involved with the morning's rafting had already worn off. But they were pretty amazing.
Huka Falls.
A closer look at Huka Falls. Pretty amazing the strength of the water. Burto told us a story about a guy he knows who did in fact kayak over the falls.....but not entirely on purpose. He was actually holding on to a rope held by his father a little farther up as they attempted to get him out of the river. Unfortunately his father was forced to let go and he went down the stream and over the falls. He was under the water for sometime but eventually it spit him out again.......a good 100 metres (328 feet) downstream. He luckily survived the experience. Now I can only take Burto's word for it that this story is in fact true, but it also may in fact only be a New Zealand Urban Legend.
We then made our way to our accommodation in a small little town called Taupo. Not much to the town but we did make our way to some natural hot springs that evening. Temperature of the water in those hot springs......38 C (100.4 F). Not a bad way to end the day.
Walking into the hot springs. I like Burto's purse.
It was then off to find some food and get to sleep. Wednesday was promising to be another epic day in New Zealand.
Julie
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