Day 7 - Rafting in the Winter - Queenstown

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Yeah, a day that has actually started out as planned. Of course after another early night, we were up at 6:30 this morning for winter white-water rafting. Yes, we went rafting in the winter, in the snow. It was cold, but awesome at the same time. They had us get into some pretty thick wet suits (about 20mil), a couple of jackets, booties, gloves and helmet. Again, the safety portion of the trip was quick and brief and they had us standing outside the heli-pad in our gear ready to go. Fortunately for us, the day was clear and not raining/snowing. The best day of weather since leaving Christchurch. We had to take a chopper to the river as it was not accessable by road. The helicopter had no problem getting everyone to the drop site, but took a while as we froze our feet off waiting in the snow in our wetsuits and booties. A few days ago, the helicopter was only able to bring in half of the rafters before the visibility was shot. So 10 rafters went down in 3 boats, 4-4-2, and 6 got left behind in their wet suits and never got on the chopper. We would have been totally pissed if that would have been us waiting for the chopper and then being told no more flights.
We befriended a couple of young Brits who were on holiday and rode the helicopter out together to the drop in spot! The brits and we had a great guide who had rafted all over the world. He has done several trips to the states and rafted in California, Colorado and Wyoming. By this point our toes were probably suffering from frost bite, but it was go time so in the water we went. The rapids were mostly 3's and 4's so nothing too hard or technical. The river winded between amanzing rock canyons and it was just so scenic with the snow covering everything. When we were paddling, we forgot about how cold our feet were. The rest of our bodies stayed quite warm. We made sure Roger, our guide, had no intentions of tipping us into the drink. Now the two strapping young brits in front of us, one would think, we be very good at this; they were athletic and strong and said they had been rafting before and they played Rugby. Hmmmmm, you could have fooled us. Ben, who sat in front of Kirsten, barely put his paddle in the water to row and at the sight of any rocky waters, stopped paddling and grabbed ahold of the saftey rope. When he did paddle it was so fast that he never really got any pull from his stroke. Trying to stay in sync with him was useless. Tom, who sat in front of Chester, was a little better, but not much. He never listened to the guide so when he was suppose to be paddling, he was just checking out the scenery, and then when he realized he should be rowing, he went so fast that his paddle barely hit the water or just splashed Chester in the face. Good job blokes!?!
It was still fun and we were surprised at how we weren't cold during and after the ride.
For lunch/dinner, we hit a famous spot in Queenstown, Fergburger. It was awesome. Probably the biggest burger we have ever tried to eat. Neither one of us could finish the whole thing, but we definitely gave it the old college try. The place was tiny and packed the entire time. Most patrons take the food away and have to eat somewhere else.
Tonight we are getting a couple of massages and then getting ready for our entire day trip to Doubtful Sound. We need to be ready for pick up at 7, and we won't get back until late in the evening.
We fly out on Friday afternoon, so if Kirsten still really wants to bungy jump (Chester does not), we can squeeze it in Friday morning before flying off to our next country!

Ps we have no pictures because Kirsten is an idiot and left the camera in the bag of clothes. Maybe next time.

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Comments

[Jenette]

A winter rafting trip sounds so crazy! But it sounds like you guys had a great time--a little more exciting than little league baseball! Can't wait to hear more about your adventures!