Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Rafting and Christchurch


I'm so glad all my travelling worked out, because when I woke up on Tuesday morning in Christchurch there was a bus waiting to take me to the Rangitata River... to go white water rafting! Sweeeeeet. We all got there and got suited up in wet suits, poly pro, windbreakers, life jackets and helmets, then headed down in a huge van to the river. Four rafts were going, and since I wasn't with anyone I got put with a group of 4 blond-haired blue-eyed girls from Sweden. Go team Sweden! They were all really sweet, and since none of us knew what we were doing, we got a really experienced guide (Ben) who was really funny. He kept making fun of the other guides, jumped out of our boat a couple times, and was pretty happy to have 5 pretty girls in his boat to scream when we hit something big :)

The river itself was amazing, it goes slow, then starts to progress down a gorge. We hit Class 5 rapids! Woo! None of us fell out, and we always got to go down first so we could watch the other rafts coming down. It was a gorgeous sunny day too, and not far from Lake Tekapo, so really beautiful scenery. At the end of the rapids there is a part where you can jump in and swim down in a really strong current, then you swim to the left and climb a huge cliff (30 ft) called Jump Rock. And then you jump off. And I did! It was pretty freakin' cool. After that we got a barbeque at the lodge, and got to see the photos from the trip. It was such a fun time! I'm missing lots of stuff because so much happened, but you get the idea. Here is a picture from their website:
Just pretend that's me in one of the rafts :) Ok, I'm about to run out of internet time. It's off to breakfast with a guy from England I met on my rafting trip, and then a 6 hour bus ride to Dunedin! Write you later :)





Team SWEDEN! Me with Emily, Emilie, Erica, and Malin :)

2 comments:

Sara B said...

i want some pictures... especially of cute maoris... love ya girl, sounds like you are having a BLAST!

Unknown said...

I never would have guessed my sweet little intern would be up for such amazing adventures! Cliff diving?!? Scooter rides with native hotties!?! Next thing I know you'll be the next SURVIVOR champion!