Rafting in New Zealand

Waterfall!!! Grab a line!

Be adventurous. Go rafting. Spike your adrenaline!

Someone lost their paddle!

Are we going to live through this?

We made it!

Raft guide asking "Are you alright?"

Are you trying to drown me purposely?

I had never gone rafting before. In Lake Taupo earlier, it was my first time ever rafting the Grade 3-4 Rangitaiki River. It was lots of fun and I wanted to do it again.

So when I arrived in Rotorua, my first thought was to book a rafting trip. Had I known that this would be a Grade 5 river and involved a 7 metre waterfall, I would be having second thoughts. Scratch that. I would not have gone rafting. Full stop. Too chicken. Ignorance was bliss.

There are several rafting operators in New Zealand. I went with Raftabout. Along with two guides, there were only me and a couple from England – so five of us in a raft. After the standard safety briefing, we were off!

The Kaituna River seemed very calm at first but the water got choppier as we rafted further. “Paddle hard, left, left. Now, right! Everybody together!”, our guide shouted. Oh oh. At one point, the raft tilted so far to the left that we nearly overturned. Sometime later, we reached a calmer section of the river where the guide informed us that the “big” waterfall was coming up soon. Oh no…what was I thinking?

The roar of the waterfall got closer and closer and finally the guide positioned the raft before the big jump. “Everybody, grab a line and hold on for your life!” Whoossh!!!

As you can see from the pictures, everybody survived.

If you are looking for a thrill, have fun rafting!