New Zealand Adventures: White Water Tongariro

The last (and only) time I remember rafting down a river was the Sandy River in Oregon. It was a quiet Sunday afternoon and I think we were in some kind of canoe. Since then, I've wondered what rafting a little wilder river might be like. Today, my wondering was answered.

We booked with Tongariro River Rafting, an outfit that's been in business for about 20 years here in Turangi. They definitely knew what they were doing. They picked us up at our lodge, greeted us warmly, outfitted us with wetsuits, boots and helmets and then made the rest of the day good wet fun.

After dressing up, we boarded their van and drove about 15 minutes to the launch point on the Tongariro River. The 40 or so rapids we went through over a course of 12 km were rated no higher than a 3 on the 5 point scale. That means no one fell into the river and no rapids were extreme. We did hit the bank several times and did some spin arounds but we also had good wet fun. And we were always safe.

The biggest challenge we faced was getting hung up on rocks several times. Most of the time we could rock ourselves free; however, once "Mad Dog Mike" our guide was forced to get out of the boat to rock us free. It was lots of fun.

Sandra and Rachel "volunteered" to be in front of the boat. It's good it was them as they ended up flying around back on several occasions. Better them than one of us guys. Two in our party were Aussies, our guide and Peter are Kiwi's and there were us two Yanks.

The canyon we came down was gorgeous. Steep cliffs, evidence of volcanic activity, trees, beautifully clear and pure water - it was New Zealand at its finest. We enjoyed three hours of fun, challenge, some physical activity, photo ops, and good fellowship at the end. To top it off, they presented us with photos we took along the way and some taken by our driver, who happened to come along in time for the last big rapids.