Saturday, August 02, 2003

White Water Kayaking!!!

Up about 8:30, showered, breakfast, then went to book white-water rafting at the hostel office ($65), and Chris asked me if I wanted to do the rafting or the kayaking. The kayaking was $95. I've always wanted to do white-water kayaking, so decided to splurge and do it!! The river we do it on is the Kaituna river, it has the worlds highest commercial rafted waterfall, at 7 metres (21 feet!). The waterfall is called Tutea Falls. It's a class 5 river run! It also includes a free pass to the Polynesian Spa too. The name of the company is Kaituna Cascades, and their slogan is: "We Raft BIG Waterfalls!" They have some good pics of the falls on their website: http://www.kaitunacascades.co.nz

Went to use the internet for a while, then back to the hostel and the bus picked me up at 11:45. We picked up another couple that was doing the rafting, then off to the river. Got all suited up with wet suit, fleece top (for warmth), life jacket, booties, helmet, and apron, and Scott, my guide, went through some of the basics with me, what to do if we flip over, and what to do if he can't get us flipped right way up again!!

We got the waters edge, and went through some drills, including a practice "going under". Man, was the water cold!!! Then kayaked some simple rapids, did another practice roll. We pretty much followed the rafters through each rapids.

We got to the first set of waterfalls, which are two waterfalls close together. We did the first one without a problem, then on the second, we flipped, I remember, everything seemed to go in slow motion. I did everything I was instructed. I threw my paddle away, hunched down, and put my arms around the kayak, hugging it, trying to minimize resistance, so Scott could bring the kayak up easier. I remember holding my breath, and I remember thinking to myself that I hope Scott can bring it upright, dreading hearing the "thump-thump-thump" of Scott banging on the kayak, meaning "GET OUT!!!", and doing the emergency evacution. I remember not getting a good breath before going under, and not having that much air. Then, in an instant, I felt the water rush off my face, we were upright again, I gasped for a breath of air, wiped away the water from my eyes, and yelled a "YOOHOO!!! That was AWESOME!!" Becuase it was!!! The rafters had my paddle (cus I had thrown it away), I got it back from them, and we continued on.

Did a couple of more rapids, then stopped above Tutea Falls, the BIG one. AFter a few minutes, the photographer (owner too, I think) whistled he was ready, so the rafters went. It was hilarious, they went over the falls, and just disappeared from sight! I remember seeing the two guides, as they went over, dive towards the floor of the raft!

We waited for our signal. The whistle came, and we went. We went through, I remember, pretty much, we surfed down the falls, dove right into the whitewater at the bottom, and as we came up, we tipped over. Once again, threw my paddle, hunched down and hugged the canoe. I had a good breath this time, I could hold it longer, if need be. Once again, time slowed to a crawl. Before I knew it, I felt the water flow off my face, we were upright, and I gasped for a breath. Awesome!!!

We finished a couple more rapids, and it ended about 50 minutes after we started on the water. It was soooo much fun!!!!!!!!!!!

Back at the rafting office, the owner had transferred all the pics to his notebook, and did a slideshow for us. The pics are awesome! Mom, you would freak if you say what I did. His camera can take 5 pics/second for up to 40 pictures, and he has shot-by-shot action of us going down the falls, and disappearing completely from view, before emerging upside down. I bought a CD of the pics for $40 as well.

Got back to the hostel about 2:15, Chris asked me how it was, and saw me carrying the CD, he wanted to see them, so we went into the office, and looked at them on his notebook. I only got my pictures, I didn't get the rafters pictures, though. They were really good too. I made some grilled cheese sandwiches.

About 3:45, dove out to Mt Tarawera (17km), a volcano that erupted in 1886, burying a Maori village, which is not excavated and a tourist trip, called, imaginatevely enough, Buried Village. Saw Lake Tarawera, a cottage lake at the foot of the volcano. Driving along it was very much like driving along Buffalo Pound Lake, cottagees, big and small everywhere. Also checked out Green and Blue Lakes.

Back to the hostel and read for a while, then at 7:00, went to Burger King (I deserved it!), and then to the Polynesian Spa to use my free pass. Of course, the Radium and the Priest Spring pools were shut down, effective today, for "water testing", and they didn't know when they would be open again, so I was resigned to the public pool, a low-acid hot pool. Sat around with a bunch of Japanese tourists, while gobs of hair and other questionable things floated around me. Stayed about two hours, and my skin was all red and itchy after.

I'm feeling very crappy after the kayaking, I got sooo much water up my nose during the trip, and it's quite an unpleasant experience getting water up the nose. But I got a LOT, so it's much more unpleasant for me.

At the hostel, the have a "phone card wall", where people can stick their phone cares from all over the world on the wall. Someone stuck their Saskatchewan Health Card on the wall! Hahaha!!

Figured out my gas mileage on my car, since I started the trip: 43.85MPG! Yay!!

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