Holy cow what a day and I’ve got the bruises to prove it!
We had a leisurely and extremely pleasant breakfast at Ciabatta Cafe in an unexpected location on an industrial estate. My breakfast was a little lambie breakfast sandwich, I always think that having lamb for breakfast bodes well for the day ahead!
We had some time to kill and it was a great spot with free wifi so we chatted to the owners, a Kiwi woman and her Swiss hubby, Alex at length about their life in Rotorua and their love of making great bread and pastries. They have a fantastic classroom onsite where they offer bread making classes, if we’d been in town for longer I think we’d have been interested in signing up for one. Really nice people…I’ve said it before and I say it again, I love the kiwis!!
Fortified with lamb, pastries and coffee we drove the short distance to the rafting outfitters, ready for a full-on day in and on the Kaituna River with Kaitiaki Adventures.
First up was our white water rafting adventure; after the safety briefing, getting kitted out in yet another wet clammy wetsuit and nerdy helmet and offering respect to the ancient Maori’s for letting us on their river, we jumped in the raft and headed down the rapids for some grade 5 action which included a drop down the 22ft / 7 meter Tutea Falls, the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world.
Mike and I were in the front of the raft which meant we got the biggest dunk. Nothing more to say about the rafting trip other than it was a thrilling adrenaline ride and you have to see the photos to believe it!
After a very quick break and a guzzle of water we were back at the river, this time with sledding boards which I have to say were very heavy and pretty arduous to carry down to our entry point.
I thought the guides were joking when they pointed to a safety rail and instructed us to climb over it with our sleds and wait on the other side; the sleds were heavy, the rail was high and slippery and on the other side was a raging torrent of water. They weren’t joking. I was able to navigate the rail safely but not at all stylishly and waited on the other side for further instruction.
I have no idea how long we were in the water riding the rapids but my recollection is that it was scary, exciting, exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure and when it was over I was sad and relieved in equal measure!
The rafting company had advised us that doing both activities in one day is a bit full-on but we were sure we were fit and able and knew what we were letting ourselves in for but in truth we were like walking zombies by the end of the day.
Once we’d changed into dry clothes we drove back to the viewing platform for Tutea Falls so we could watch other rafters coming down. We got some great photos and it was fun to see the rafts coming down, some with the riders intact and some being ejected on the way down. We were glad we’d been able to stay in our raft and hadn’t flipped, we would have been fine, but it might have been a little bit too much excitement for one day.
Back at our campsite we BBQ’d up some lamb steaks with a Greek salad and as is becoming the theme for the holiday, we were in a coma in our tent shortly after dark. We’re going to need a vacation to recover from the vacation!