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Published: April 30th 2009
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White water rafting has been on my mind for years now. I neglected to take advantage of my time in the Canadian Rockies and the only regret that I had was that I didn't white water raft. So I drove nearly 7 hours south from the Bay Of Islands to a town called Rotorua just for a rafting trip. Well I heard about this rafting trip with a 7m waterfall and though it sounded fun. I guess I heard about it from a pretty little girl, so I thought if she can do it I can do it.
I awoke really early on the day of the rafting. Maybe I was a bit or a whole lot nervous. Breakfast didn't settle well. But by 9 O'clock when the drive came to get me I was ready. It was just me and a nice couple from England to go rafting. On the way we signed our waiver forms (always feels great) and made small talk. Upon arrival we put on our wetsuits and did a practice run at the shop. James and I were to be at the front. We practiced our get down and hold on tight trick for the
waterfall. Scott, our guide, told us what to do in case of falling out or if the raft upsets. We all agreed that we were as ready as we were going to be, so a short drive down to the river. We jumped in and did some practice strokes then started downstream. The first of the river is not so fast so you just get bumped around a bit. This is a class 5 rapids, which runs on a scale from 1 to 6. So it is serious stuff. So we made our way down the river getting splashed and bumped about making our way to the waiting waterfall. We misdirected the raft into a few rocks and trees, just rookie mistakes but we were improving and getting more comfortable. After we went through our first challenging rapids we got much more confident and relaxed. Then came the time for the waterfall.
So our guide pulled us to the shore and held on to a rope and gave us the talk. The waterfall was less then 10 feet away. You could here the power of the water falling to the pool below. We stood up but could not see
the bottom. Scott gave us a very honest talk. It went along the lines of "we are likely going to end up upside down, hold on to the raft and get your head in between the sears for air". "If you fall out curl up into a ball and we will get you and oh yeah have fun". "Paddle forward" and off we were. It is hard to explain but at this point I was so pumped to go down this waterfall. It happens fast, I remember getting down in the front of the boat and holding on as tightly as possible. We hit the bottom with a lot of force, almost like a car crash. Then you are submerged a wall of water had hit us and now was above us. Then we just popped back up and there was the river and the shore in front of us. We all started screaming hysterically, I have never felt so good in my life. We put our paddles in the air and cheered. Scott our guide seemed shocked that we had not submerged. With our adrenaline levels running at all time highs we played around in the pool and splashed
around while another guy took some photos. I must say that this was the most fun that I had in a long time. It was really neat to turn a bit of nervousness into concentration and then the high that follows. We all laughed and joked the rest of the way to the end, knowing that we had accomplished the waterfall.
So after I returned to town and grabbed some lunch, the sun decided to come out. So with the new addition of sunlight I decided that the luge carts would be the next best choice for a newfound adrenaline junkie. So out to take the gondola to the top of a mountain then over to the luge carts. So this carts resemble the little sled you had as a child but with wheels and handlebars. You pull the handlebars towards you to stop and let them go back to speed up. Easy, right?. So it is mandatory to do the scenic drive first. The scenic route is a long winding road that has beautiful lookouts before passing through a red wood forest. So that went well, but the chair lift back up was much scarier. Chairlifts are kinda
freaky in winter but are much scarier when there is no snow and just trees and rocks to catch you. So I survived the chair lift, and decided the intermediate would be my next run. It was much faster, with a few more turns and twists. I think I laughed the whole way down, it was alot of fun. Now it was time for me to try the advance course. Another guy went in front of me and as was just pushing off I shouted to him "Don't fall off man". Boy would those words come back to haunt me. So the advanced track begins with high walls before you find yourself speeding down the mountainside. All the turns are banked and you can get air. The wind hits you in the face, your handlebars shake from the speed of the sled. I came around a turn and got airborn on a little hill. I screamed out profanities and laughed hysterically. Then came a turn of events. I went into the last turn just a sailing, I applied some brakes and went into the turn. The turn was much sharper then I thought. I leaned and cut the wheel but
went smashing into the the side of the track. My luge cart stopped but I unfortunately didn't. I went flying from the cart and into the lawn at the side of the course. Even better, it was right beneath the chair lift so many people laughed or shouted as I got to my feet covered in mud. I jumped back on and finished the course, took the chair lift back up (covered in mud still) and walked across the whole grounds while people pointed at me before I got to the toilets to clean up. I wont lie I have a couple cuts and a number of scratches, but it was all in the name of fun. The luge carts are great and maybe next time I will be a little bit better.
So that was my day of adrenaline, I was planning on doing something called the Zorb, which is an 11 foot plastic ball you get inside and roll down a hill. But after my misadventure on the luge track I decided that was enough sports for me for the day. Maybe next time I get the courage.
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