Rafting, Gondola/Luge & Redwoods

This morning we picked up the hire car at 8.30 from RAD. We drove straight to Roturoa rafting. It was such a nice feeling to be on the road again. We arrived early so we went to the cafe next door for a coffee. The cafe was called Okere Falls Store. It had a lovely beer garden at the back so we sat outside in the sun. We then went for short stroll across the bridge over the river where Ashleigh will be doing his rafting.

Ashleighs rafting experience

At Rafting Rotorua, I was greeted with my guide and given all the gear to get into ready to get on the river. We were handed our helmets which I was able to attach my gopro to. Excited to go, the guide introduced us all together who would be on his raft. He takes us across the road where the raft is there ready to get on. He tells us he has worked all over the world such as Norway and Japan but this is the one he keeps coming back to as it is the most exciting and safe.

As we cross the highway, he tells us this is the most dangerous part of the whole experience. We get onto the raft and gives us a quick briefing of what we will be going down. From the start there was a few smallish rapids. We do a 180° spin and go down some of them backwards; this is fun. Then we pull in at a calm bit and he explains whats up next. We are shown what to do under his instructions from sitting on the edge of the dingy to paddle, to which handles to grab when he says hold on and then how to crouch inside the raft when we hit the big bits.

We go down some fast flowing water and small falls getting wet along the way. Then we could get out of the boat for a quick swim before carrying on. We pull in just before the big 7 metre fall which is the largest commercially taken rafted fall in the world, apparently.

When we pull in, the other rafts are already there and the guides tell us a legend of how the river got it's name Kaituna which is to eat fish in maori. He tells us that a chief once died at the fall and we must let him know that we respect the river and ask him to allow us to pass the fall safely. If we do not call to hi. As we go down then he might pull us under the water and slap us about a bit before we can go on. After repeating what to say after the guide, there is no way any of us are going to remember it. Looks like we're in for a few underwater slaps from the maori waterfall chief.

Our guide puts me towards the front of the raft with the others so we well be more likely to tip at the bottom (all part of the fun). We don't tip and have survived it without being pulled under and slapped about. Thank you maori waterfall chief.

At the next rapids, the guide gives us the option to jump out and go down these off the boat. I take this option which was pretty good.

Not too far after that, we come to the end of the tour and carry the raft up to the car park before being driven back to the base for a warm shower.

While Ashleigh did his rafting Conny and I went with the photographer a long a path by the river. We were able to watch Ashleigh go down the first waterfall and the large waterfall Okere Falls. I managed to catch a video. We found some caves near the waterfall while we were there. We then got back on the road and stopped off at a picturesque spot by the lake to have our packed lunch.

Next we drove to Skyline Roturoa to go up the gondola and to do the luge. The luge is a part go-cart, part toboggan and moves by gravity. We went up in the 900m long gondala and had spectacular views of Lake Rotorua, the city and steaming geothermal vistas. At the top is known as Rotovegas.

We then headed to the top of the gondola with excitement. We had 3 goes on the ride. The first was scenic, then intermediate and last advanced. It got quicker by the 3rd track. It was great fun! Ashleigh managed to get a video on his go pro. After this we went to Wendy's a fast food restaurant for a burger and fries. We wanted to eat in but when we arrived they asked us to download an app to order online and pick up. Unfortunately the app didn't work on our UK phones so we had ton go through drive through and then sat in to eat inside.

Next we drove to Redwoods to do the night tree walk. It was such a magical place. We were 20m high up in the trees surrounded by lanterns and different coloured lights. In the evening we stayed at a lovely air b&b in Tauranga. The couple Judith and Leon were very welcoming.Read more