New Zealand Day 11

Day 11 Rotorua to Hamilton to Auckland

The white water rafting guys called us today and told us that the Waitangi River was open for rafting. They picked up us at our motel in the morning and we set off on our adventure.

We arrived at a large shack and there were changing rooms for us to change into the wet suits. The cost of water rafting is NZ$65 per pax.

After changing into the wet suits, we locked our bags in the chest and headed back onto the minibus to get to the start of the river.

Upon reaching, we were assigned different seatings according to our height and weight. The lighter ones sat in the centre of the raft so that the weight is evenly distributed.

Next, we were taught the correct body position while sitting on the raft, the rowing techniques, the commands and what we are supposed to do, the proper duck position when approaching rapids and waterfalls, the correct technique to hold the oar and the correct oar grasp when we are ducking.

Also, we all chanted a Mauri prayer for our safety before descending onto the icy cold river. The water was flowing quite fast and the tide was rather high. We practised the rowing techniques and the execution of commands first before going down any rapids or waterfalls.


Our first rapid

The instructors were very fit and they knew how to manuever the rafts around. We went through a series of rapids before reaching the feared 7 m high waterfall. The raft is about 5 metres in length and we will be racing down the river.


-------------------The 7 m waterfall-----------------------Submerged in the water------------


--------Emerging from underneath the water--------------Cheers to our bravery--------------

Unfortunately, i breathe in some water and got choked when the whole raft was submerged in the water. Was coughing out some water from my windpipe when we emerged from underneath the water.


Waving to the cameraman (3rd guy from the top left row)

There were a series of rapids before we concluded the adventure of white water rafting. We spent a total of around 45 minutes in the water. Rather fun but not as exciting as i expected. It was more tiring than i expected as we rowed quite a lot and carried the raft some distance to the car after we finished the water rafting.

We sat on the minibus that took us back to the large shack and we changed back into our clothes. There are no shower facilities in the shack and we just wiped ourselves with the towels. We bought 1 cd-r containing the photos that the cameraman took which costs $40. That translates to $10 extra per person.

They brought us back to the motel and we drove to QE Spa again for our mineral bath. It was another refreshing and rejuvenating experience.

Our late lunch was at Fat Dog and we headed to The Luge next. Only Jr and i went for the luge, a go-cart-like activity that is racing down a hill. Jh and Jm went to the glass blowing shop nearby for a look.

The Luge costs only $25 and it entails us to 2 cable car rides (up and down the hill), 2 luges (down the hill 2 times) and 2 chair lifts (up the hill 2 times).


Rotorua Skyline Cable Car

It was drizzling and we went for the luge anyway. The controls on the luge (go-cart) is simple; pull to brake and release tension to accelerate. We were racing down the hill in no time and the speed of the luge can reach up to 50 km per hour! However, we cannot go so fast at the bends or we will roll down the grassy slope. There are no barriers to protect people from falling over and we have to take care of our own safety.

There were certain parts with sharp turns, some parts with narrow road and some parts with steep slope to make the ride more exciting. It was definitely much more fun and energy efficient compared to go-cart as it relies on just gravity to power the luge and the speed is faster.


The Chair Lift to go back up the hill

There are again not much safety features on the chair lift other than portions of net below us and a movable bar in front of our chests. Our feet were dangling over the steep slopes and any loose footwear will be gone forever if the wind gets strong. Not that i mind the lax in safety features though, as we will be more nervous and the activity gets more exciting with more danger involved.

The next round of luge was more exciting as Jr was chasing me from the top to the bottom of the hill. He was so close to my luge that he nearly bumped into me when i braked at a bend. We negotiated the bends at quite a high speed and our luges near flipped. There was one point when my luge was dangerously near the side of the road facing steep slopes. An exhilarating ride indeed. We then sat on the chair lift again back up the hill.


Scenery of Rotorua with the cable car

Next, we sat on the cable car back down to the bottom of the hill where Jh and Jm were waiting for the 2 of us. We then continued on our road trip back to Auckland.

Jm had arranged to meet up with her friend staying in Hamilton as we will be passing through the city on our way back to Auckland.

Jr and i went for a night shopping trip at the city centre while the rest of them were catching up at Starbucks. Got another t-shirt at a shopping mall.


Shopping mall

We went to her friend's house for a short while before heading back to Auckland.