Right after the previous update, Darryl and I went on to try our hands at white water rafting at the Kaituna River. The brochure claims that it has the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world, about 7m tall. Of course, after reading that and having experienced the numbing cold of NZ's waters in black water rafting, I was all for a day long soak at the spa. Somehow, Darryl managed to bug me so much until I finally agreed to go.
A shuttle bus picked us up at our hostel at 12.30pm. Just a sidenote, time here in NZ is weird. 12am to them is actually noon, and 12pm is midnight. Cool. Anyway, we headed down to the place where the company was based, where our guides briefed us about the usual safety procedures and stuff. Changed into our wetsuits, hopped onto the van and left for the river. Once there, our guides got out the rafts, heavy pieces of equipment they are, and we practiced our basic commands. And then, it was on. After the raft was shoved into the river, we hopped in, and I patiently awaited my death at the Falls of Doom. The river and our guides, Chonk and Nigel, did most of the work, while Darryl and I plied our oars as best as we could to the timing. We plunged through rapids and sailed over small falls smoothly, and my wetsuit was working really well at keeping out the cold. Then we reached the 7m waterfall, during which our guide told us to get down as we hurtled over the foaming waters. I tucked my head in a little too early, and missed having my mugshot taken by the photographer on the opposite bank. Damn. Well, we hit the water below with as much grace as a pig falling. Amazingly, we DID NOT capsize. Our raft was half filled with river water, all of us had drunk perhaps a gallon of it, but we were still upright at the bottom of the falls. Whee. So much for my rafting adventure. Soon after the spectacular plunge, we ended the ride, packed up our gear, and carried the bloody heavy raft all the way back to the waiting wagon. Back at headquarters, we paid 45 bucks for a cd full of our photos, headed back to town where we immediately went ahead to immerse ourselves in the hostel's spa pool. I think I'm getting addicted to spas and hot water.
We lazed in the lounge and watched 'Catch Me If You Can' all the way until our bus came to pick us up to Wellington at 11.30pm. The ride was an uncomfortable, bumpy and definately not sleep conducive experience. It got so cold in the night that I had to resort to rubbing my feet to keep them warm. Luckily, there were a couple of babes on board that kept most of my attention. We arrived in Wellington this morning at 7am, took a cab to our hostel since it was still so cold we were trembling. Checked in early, but our room wasn't ready, so we camped in the TV lounge once again. I think next time we should just sleep in the lounge instead, saves us a bunch of money. After the housekeeping was done, we stowed our stuff in the really well furnished and easily the best looking room we have seen so far on our trip. Took a short nap to compensate for the loss of sleep on the bus, and headed out to the city centre for a walk. There aren't much adventure activities going on here, just alot of retail therapy. I think I just felt my wallet go through its now-all-too frequent bout of spasms....sigh. Will be back with another update soon, if I have enough money to convince the internet cafe owner to let me in.
A shuttle bus picked us up at our hostel at 12.30pm. Just a sidenote, time here in NZ is weird. 12am to them is actually noon, and 12pm is midnight. Cool. Anyway, we headed down to the place where the company was based, where our guides briefed us about the usual safety procedures and stuff. Changed into our wetsuits, hopped onto the van and left for the river. Once there, our guides got out the rafts, heavy pieces of equipment they are, and we practiced our basic commands. And then, it was on. After the raft was shoved into the river, we hopped in, and I patiently awaited my death at the Falls of Doom. The river and our guides, Chonk and Nigel, did most of the work, while Darryl and I plied our oars as best as we could to the timing. We plunged through rapids and sailed over small falls smoothly, and my wetsuit was working really well at keeping out the cold. Then we reached the 7m waterfall, during which our guide told us to get down as we hurtled over the foaming waters. I tucked my head in a little too early, and missed having my mugshot taken by the photographer on the opposite bank. Damn. Well, we hit the water below with as much grace as a pig falling. Amazingly, we DID NOT capsize. Our raft was half filled with river water, all of us had drunk perhaps a gallon of it, but we were still upright at the bottom of the falls. Whee. So much for my rafting adventure. Soon after the spectacular plunge, we ended the ride, packed up our gear, and carried the bloody heavy raft all the way back to the waiting wagon. Back at headquarters, we paid 45 bucks for a cd full of our photos, headed back to town where we immediately went ahead to immerse ourselves in the hostel's spa pool. I think I'm getting addicted to spas and hot water.
We lazed in the lounge and watched 'Catch Me If You Can' all the way until our bus came to pick us up to Wellington at 11.30pm. The ride was an uncomfortable, bumpy and definately not sleep conducive experience. It got so cold in the night that I had to resort to rubbing my feet to keep them warm. Luckily, there were a couple of babes on board that kept most of my attention. We arrived in Wellington this morning at 7am, took a cab to our hostel since it was still so cold we were trembling. Checked in early, but our room wasn't ready, so we camped in the TV lounge once again. I think next time we should just sleep in the lounge instead, saves us a bunch of money. After the housekeeping was done, we stowed our stuff in the really well furnished and easily the best looking room we have seen so far on our trip. Took a short nap to compensate for the loss of sleep on the bus, and headed out to the city centre for a walk. There aren't much adventure activities going on here, just alot of retail therapy. I think I just felt my wallet go through its now-all-too frequent bout of spasms....sigh. Will be back with another update soon, if I have enough money to convince the internet cafe owner to let me in.