"How fun was that!?" exclaims our guide Nick with his trademark exuberance. He deftly uprights the raft as my scattered boat-mates and I float serenely downriver. "Hey, it's not like I didn't ask," he adds truthfully when we're all back in the boat, dripping and laughing.
The flip was planned; executed by Nick on a calm stretch of water as part of our safety talk. Good practice, he assured us, before we set off to navigate 14kms of the twisting, turning, churning Rangitaiki River.At 155km in length, the Rangitaiki (or 'widening of the sky' in English) is the longest river in the North Island's Bay of Plenty region. On its journey out to sea, the river rises to an elevation of 800m, crosses the Kaingaroa, Galatea and Rangitaiki Plains and passes through two hydro lakes before exiting at Thornton on the Bay of Plenty coast, via a 100 year old cut.
The information I'm interested in, however, is of a somewhat more urgent nature: How many rapids are we going to hit? How many corners do we have to navigate? And how many rocks do we have to dodge on today's two hour journey?
I would ask Nick, but he's got his head over the side of the boat, dipping it in the frigid river. Sitting up, he vigorously shakes his springy curls, spraying us like a wet dog. "Woo!" he bellows excitedly. "You guys ready for this!?" Infected with Nick's enthusiasm, we whoop and holler in reply. I guess my questions are about to be answered...
We steer through the gushing river, listening for Nick's commands. "Paddle left!" he calls, above the roaring of the water. "Forward!" he yells. My six raft-mates and I dig our paddles into the flowing river, heaving the boat onwards. "Turn right! And stop..." Cruising now, we chatter excitedly - thrilled with our teamwork and nervous about the first impending rapid.
Ears pricked for Nick's guidance we begin to paddle again. We weave past a couple of rocks and suddenly we're bouncing raucously through the rapid in a blind tumble of foamy, surging water.
Soaked and delighted we laugh at ourselves, imitating the screams and cries that escaped, unawares, in the moment we shot through the rapid.
Nick suddenly looks at me. "Quick!" he yells. "Get down here - right down!" Alarmed, I dive towards the nose of the raft, where he's pointing, and crouch on the slippery floor."Hold on tight," he instructs. My raft-mates continue to paddle furiously.
Before I even have time to consider what I'm doing there, the boat plunges through the second rapid. A gushing torrent of icy water rears up over the front of the boat, drenching me. I scream. Nick laughs uproariously.
"We only let him out at weekends," jokes fellow raft guide and Wet 'n Wild owner Noel Rusden, as he steers his boatful of clients gently past us.
Noel created his successful Rotorua-based rafting business somewhat by accident. Working as an accountant, Noel realised he'd rather spend his time rafting, so took a career break to pursue his passion. "I thought it would be fun to do for maybe five years or so," he recalls. "That was 28 years ago". His eyes crinkle mischievously at the memory.
Wet 'n Wild now operates eight different rafting adventures on six local rivers. Their trips vary in length from a few hours to a few days, and vary in adventurousness from grade 2 ("rippling, cascading white water") to grade 5 ("adrenalin rush, thrilling and very powerful rapids").
After the excitement of a few rapids (grade 3 and 4), we welcome a calm stretch of river by leaping from the boat and floating face-up down the river. The chilly water is but a tickle as it seeps through my thick wetsuit, lifejacket, booties and helmet. The sun warms our faces as we bob along. "You picked a miserable day for this trip," says Nick, smiling up at the flawless blue sky. The river's edge is a pretty jumble of native and introduced plants: ferns, punga trees, gorse, pines and cabbage trees tumble over each other and across the surrounding hills. Herons rest nervously on rocks, watching us pass and Scaup (black teal) dart across the water in front of us."Alright guys, let's get back in," says Nick. "There's a bridge up here, and if we don't all stand up in the boat and touch it with our paddles, we won't make it out of here alive!" Laughing, we haul each other back in and watch the bridge approach. "Ready?! Ready?!..." cries Nick, excitedly. "Stand up!!" Cautiously, teeteringly, we all stand in the raft. It floats swiftly towards the bridge. "Paddles up!" We raise our paddles above our heads and, hollering and whooping, tap the bridge with them.
And, as promised, we make it out alive.
Rounding the corner there is a collective groan as we spy the Wet 'n Wild bus. Our two hours on the river has evaporated in a whirlwind of frenzied paddling, exhilarating rapids, laughing, floating and a newfound watertight camaraderie with our fellow rafters."Great stuff, team!" bellows Nick as we approach land. We raise our paddles once more and execute clumsy paddle high-fives all round.
Amelia experienced white water rafting on the Rangitaiki River courtesy of Wet ‘n Wild Rafting and www.fourcorners.co.nz.
