New Zealand

Whew! It sure took a long time to reach the top of this mountain, but we made it. The scenery is so beautiful! On the way up, we saw an amazing waterfall cascading down the side of the mountain. It was obvious this was a ski resort from all the cleared paths running through the forests. Moments later, this was confirmed as we spotted the ski lift. When the bus finally came to a stop, I could see the rafts were already here, so we posed for a group shot, then everyone piled into the rafts. The rafts were made of hard rubber, and could carry 7 passengers. The guide sat at the back - it was his job to make sure the raft was headed in the right direction. Two male humans sat in the very front, their task was to assist the rudder in keeping us from hitting the rocks. The rest of us had paddles, too, and our job was to help keep the raft moving; by alternating paddles on the right or left side, it prevented us from tipping over.


The ride started out fairly smooth. The Queen was not very impressed, at first. The gentle singing of the water nearly lulled me to sleep. But just as I was beginning to nod off, we heard a loud rush of water. I tried to look up river to see what was coming up, but large boulders on the shore blocked my view. The water began swirling around the rocks, carrying us faster and faster through the rapids. Suddenly there was white capped peaks everywhere! The water slammed into the side of the raft, sending us spinning in a circle. I could barely hear the guide shouting directions to the men in front, as I struggled to paddle as fast as I could. "Paddles up!" our guide sang out. I pulled my paddle out of the water and clung to the center ring to keep from falling out of the raft. "Things are going to get a bit rough, so hang on."

Newt had barely time to change his grip when suddenly the raft dropped through the air. I turned to see what happened, and got a faceful of water for my efforts. Rocks jutted up through the white water like fins on a shark. I could see a large waterfall behind us that had an eight foot drop. As I sat in awe of the feat we had just accomplished, I had forgotten about my duty to paddle. Paddles down!" was the sharp rebuff from our guide. He obviously didn't know who I was, so we let it slide for the moment.
Paddling furiously, we narrowly missed a rock jutting up from the sandy brown bottom. As I glanced over my shoulder, I saw our companions raft hit the side of the rock we had just missed, and it tipped over, sending the occupants into the icy rapids. Our guide slowed our raft til he was sure our companions were okay, then we finished our ride down the river. It was very tiring, but exhilarating at the same time. Moments later, the second raft pulled in beside us. Good natured shots were exchanged as the navigators jibed one another, while others collected on their bets. True to their word, lunch was waiting for us at the end of the ride!