We are staying at Lake Taupo, in the North Island of New Zealand.
David doesn't like water and is not a strong swimmer. Persuading him to join me on a whitewater rafting trip wasn't easy. The fact that he not only did it but loved it is a testament
to the guys at
Tongariro River Rafting.
Their
Family Float Tour has lots of gentle floating past the beautiful Tongariro River scenery interspersed with a few adrenalin pumping rapids. D hung on bravely through the rapids - I loved them. I chose the Grade 2 rafting trip.
Tongariro River Rafting also do a
Grade 3 but I didn't want to push my luck. I'm not sure there is such a thing as Grade 1 but I'm pretty certain David would have opted for that had it been offered.
We started the tour by suiting up in wetsuits, life-jackets, and crash helmets. The helmets were a bit of a worry - I was hoping they were just for abundant caution. Then a quick drive to the river where Jason, our guide, gave us a couple of pointers on how to paddle. I grew up next to a lake and spent my childhood mucking about in row boats so I consider myself pretty much an expert in all things nautical. It took David, the landlubber, to point out that I had my paddle the wrong way around - Ooooppps!
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| Photo courtesy of Tongariro River Rafting |
Within minutes of casting off we became wedged on some rocks. It turned out that our raft was quite new and had a 'sticky' bottom causing it to stick fast to any obstacle. Jason jumped into the water to give us a push - a moment of heart failure - what would happen if he let go? Get a grip Lyn, the river is only a couple of feet deep. He didn't let go - of course. He was back in the boat so fast we barely knew he'd left.
The next heart failure moment was our very first rapids.
"Paddle, stop, hang-on, back paddle. Be ready for a bump, we're about to hit the bank hard and turn." - Jason issued commands as we tossed and tumbled across the rocks and through the whitewater.
D looked like he was having fun. I know I was. Jason was all calm and professional. I'm pretty sure his commands were superfluous. He could have steered us through without any help but it was fun to feel we were doing our bit.
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| Photo courtesy of Tongariro River Rafting |
After surviving our first set of rapids we floated lazily for a while - time to recover, take in the surroundings, see a trout leap high out of the water and learn a little about the local birdlife.
Then more rapids - more excitement - more floating - more rapids - more excitement - ........
After an hour and a half we pulled in to the bank. This was our pick-up point. We had rafted the whitewater and survived! Next year we're returning for the Grade 3.
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| Photo courtesy of Tongariro River Rafting |
Notes:
I wish D and I were as photogenic as the people in the photos but we're not - so, sorry, that's not us - but the guy at the back is Jason, our very friendly and capable guide.
D and I received a complimentary tour with
Tongariro River Rafting but we had a ball and I would recommend this to absolutely anyone.
Practical Information: