Jet Boat & River Yak'ing

I got up this brisk morning, expecting a warm day. I put on my shorts and a sweater with my swimsuit underneath. I was hoping for an opportunity for cold plunging today. I walked down to the station to meet my group and ordered a coffee while I was waiting.

There were about 40 of us loaded on a large bus and ride up to the top of the lake to Glenorchy. Glenorchy is a quaint littlest of towns, not much to see really except the Glenorchy barn and a few cafes and coffee shops.

At the Dart River Adventure building, I was given a hankerchief to wrap around my neck and face if needed, a fleece shirt which was so comfy that I now want one, a wetsuit, some boots, a dry bag, and a life vest. All the ladies huddled in the changing room and donned our gear. I left my swim suit on under the wet suit.

Then we piled on another bus for a 3 minute trip down to the marina. I was the only solo traveler in the group, so when they need one person to fill a spot, well that was me.

The jet boat ride was 100 km fast and lasted about 45 minutes. We headed up the Dart River to Mount Aspiring National Park. There were spins that usually resulted in sheets of water slamming against the side of my face. My nostrils and cheeks were flapping in the wind. The "mist" that you can see in the pics/videos is actually a silty dust that the strong winds were whipping up from the rocks.

Arriving in the National Park, one of four National Parks in NZ that are part of UNESCO (I've been to three of them now), we divided into groups of 8 or so and each group had a guide. My group's guide was Anna. Elizabeth was from Arizona and was traveling with Laury from Massachusetts. I shared a "funyak" (an inflatable kayak) with them.

The kayak was a bit challenging at first. Me being in the middle of Elizabeth and Laury and the bickering that was going on between them... they were like, "Kim, you're awfully quiet; you okay?" "Oh yeah I'm great. I'm just a quiet person until you feed me tequila." That broke the tension a bit.

We had to stay really close with our group, but the three of us were the strongest kayakers. The other kayakers were getting way off course and going round and round in circles. Anna was trying to corral everyone and yelling and signaling constantly. The water was literally less than 2 ft deep 90% of the time. We had life vests on. The rapids, if you want to call them that, were not that exciting. I really was ready for something more adventurous.

After awhile of kayaking and mostly waiting on the others to get where they were supposed to be, we stopped for lunch. There was a little lean-to with a large tank of water, some folding tables, a burner and some gas, kettles for heating water for tea and hot chocolate, a couple of picnic tables, and a fire pit. Back behind in the trees was a portable toilet. This was off grid but a nice little camp spot. They whipped out a nice sandwich spread and some fruit and desserts. It was delicious, despite the Miracle Whip that I thought was mayonnaise.

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