New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia
North Island
South Island

Kaitiaki Adventures - Rafting and sledging

admin
October 16, 2014

After a short night, I got up and prepared myself with my bikini and a towel. Rafting was on my schedule. The shuttle picked me up and brought us to the headquarter of Kaitiaki, which means guardian in English. We were stuffed with wetsuits, shoes, jackets, helmets and of course life jackets.

Fully dressed we got on the shuttle which took us to the Kaituna River with the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world. We were all looking forward to these seven meter high Tutea Falls. Before that we got a safety briefing and learned that if you fall out of the raft in the waterfall you have to make yourself a ball, if you fall out of the raft in the river, swim.

 

The men of our group carried the boats down to the river and we were split into two different groups. Each group had his own guide and together we pushed our raft into the river. The two girls of us were sitting at the front showing the rhythm which the two guys behind had to follow. Our guide sat at the end of the raft to give us orders and steer the raft to where it was supposed to be. The orders we were given were: Hold on, get down, paddle forwards and paddle backwards. Pretty easy to understand. It was so much fun to raft down the little falls, bump into the other boat, splashing each other and we could also swim in the river for a little while before we were pulled back into the boat. The most exciting part however was the seven meter falls. Before we rafted them our guide told us about the three possible endings of rafting down the falls. 1. We make it down there and have great fun. 2. The raft will turn upside down and we have to get back in afterwards. 3. Someone falls out of the raft and we have to pull him back in while he or she has to form a ball.

DSC_0081

Luckily, I didn’t fall out of the raft completely. I was just hanging over the side of the raft so I was quickly pulled back in. It was so thrilling and fun that I would have loved to do it again. Unfortunately, we soon arrived at the end of the rafting track and had to carry our equipment back to the cars waiting for us to get us back to the headquarter. Compared to the beginning of the tour, you could see a smile on every face. The fear that determined the atmosphere on our way to the river, was replaced by pride and joy.

 

Back at the headquarter our sopping wetsuits were ripped of our bodies and we took off our shoes which reminded me of the waterfalls when I turned them upside down. After we were all back in our normal clothes we had a look at the pictures that were taken by a professional photographer at certain spots along the river. The photos could be bought as a package on CD.

Get a great deal from Backpacker Deals.com!

 

AUTHOR PROFILE
admin

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Is the Tongariro Crossing really the world's best 1-day hike?

If you are looking for a one-day hike set in the most exotic location, look no farther than the Tongariro Crossing trail on New Zealand’s North Island. Here you will traverse contracts in landscape from dense woodlands to that resembling a Scottish moor and even trek across a volcanic landscape that leaves you feeling as […]

Underground Star Lights Exist Down Under

One of the most fascinating things about the underground world is the diversity of creatures that live there, often in total darkness. And I mean TOTAL darkness. If you have ever been on cavern tour where they shut off the lights for about 5 minutes to let you get a feel of the totality of […]

More Kiwis Now Discovering What’s In Their Own Backyard

The growing number of world-class eco-tourism experiences on offer in New Zealand is helping Kiwis become more passionate about their environment, with people now flocking to traditional tourism centres like Rotorua to enjoy the great outdoors on a whole new level.  The successful launch of Rotorua Canopy Tours and Foris Eco Tours are just two […]

HANMER SPRINGS #1

Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa has been confirmed as New Zealand’s favourite ‘Must-Do’ according to AA Tourism’s iconic survey. The six week voting campaign clocked up a staggering 283,000 votes split over 1600 attractions from the Far North to the deep South and everywhere in between. The top 10 winners were evenly split between […]

Take a hike buddy

The Milford Track is often described as the finest walk in the world as it  traverses the Fiordland National Park, and the Routeburn and Greenstone Tracks stretch across Fiordland and Mt Aspiring National Parks. But now you can tackle it in a bit more style. New Zealand’s premier guided walking company has kicked off its […]

Face your fears!

Black Odyssey, a world first in technical caving adventures, launches on December 1 with The Legendary Black Water Rafting Company, part of Tourism Holdings Ltd (thl) at New Zealand's famous Waitomo Caves. For the first time ever, adrenaline junkies and those looking for an extreme challenge can push themselves to new heights with this dry […]

Social Media

Accepted Payments

Members of

chevron-down