We have done so many of the things that NZ has to offer, such as bungee jumping, sky diving, glacier walking, hiking, caving, experiencing the wildlife, etc. It sounds like a lot, and it is, but because it was spread out over the course of nearly two months, it doesn't feel like it. However, on April 4th, we managed to pack three very Kiwi activities into one day.
Morning: Whitewater Rafting the Kaituna River
We enjoyed our first rafting experience on the Shotover River near Queenstown enough that we decided to do it again on the north island (not to mention it was relatively cheap). This one was on the Kaituna River near Rotorua, which boasts the highest commercially rafted waterfall in world at 23 feet tall. No wetsuits were required this time because the Kaituna flows out of the very shallow Lake Rotorua which is warmed by the sun and natural thermal springs. The rafting on this river is incredible because there are many rapids and falls packed into a short distance, which means you aren't just drifting for most of the time. Typically, a lot of white water in a short distance is a bad thing because if you fall out of the raft (or it flips over) in a rapid, you want some calm water in order to get your affairs back in order before the next set of rapids. The beauty of this river is that at the bottom of most of the rapids or falls is a deep pool with calm, slow moving water. Even though there isn't a lot a distance to the next hazard, there is plenty of time. Jesslyn and I were lucky enough to have front row seats for most of the trip, including the big drop. Despite a few bumps and bruises inflicted by colliding with others on the raft, this was some the best rafting I have ever experienced. This was one of the rare occasions that we purchased the pictures they sold us afterward. Check out the short slide show of us going over the falls below and the full set of pics here.
Our journey over the 23 foot waterfall on the Kaituna River near Rotorua, New Zealand
Early afternoon: Mountain Biking
Over the course of the twenty years I've been mountain biking, I have had to walk my bike a few times due to an obstacle or steep incline that I wasn't able to ride over, but it was a rare occurrence. I used to think I was decent at it, but it turns out I have just been riding on easy terrain. We rented bikes and rode through the Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest in Rotorua, where there is an awesome network of trails dedicated to biking. Jesslyn and I decided it was best for our marriage if we split up and rode our trails at our own pace. All the trails are well marked and mapped with the level of difficulty. I knew from a previous ride here in NZ that I should stay off of the expert trails (and not even think about the "extreme" ones). So I stuck to the easy, intermediate, advanced. It is sort of like green, blue, and black in skiing. The easy trails were a nice warm up through the scenic trees and the intermediate added some fun obstacles and hills. On the advanced, I had to walk the bike a number of times over five foot cliffs and nearly vertical descents littered with neck breaking roots and ruts. How on earth could someone actually ride over this stuff? The cliffs don't land on nice, smooth, flat trail, but onto more insane steepness covered with roots. It is impossible to jump off a cliff or descend extreme declines slowly, so it is sort of an all or nothing proposition. What do the expert and extreme trails look like? Oh, I forgot to mention that the front and rear brake handles are reversed in NZ. I almost went over the handlebars a couple times when I mistakenly applied the front brake instead of the rear. I love mountain biking, but I just don't have the balls or skill level to be more than mediocre at it. I'm OK with that. I will just blame it on being over 40.
Late afternoon: Zorbing
Zorbing is one of those funny words that is technically a brand name, but has come to be used in a generic way, like "kleenex". We actually went with a company called OGO. Here is the premise: climb in to a giant inflatable ball, add water, roll down a hill. The device is actually one ball suspended inside of another, which provides you some cushion from the ground. The inner ball is about seven feet in diameter and the outer ball about ten feet. As the ball rolls down the hill, you slip around inside, sort of like "Slippin' Slide" meets a dryer. Jesslyn and I rode down in the same ball together, and we felt a little silly since we were at least 20 years older than anyone else doing this. Once we did it, we didn't care, it was a blast. We laughed the whole way down the zigzag course carved into the hill. If you want to see what this looks like, check it out at http://www.ogo.co.nz/gallery.html.
Note from Jesslyn:
We almost skipped this activity because it seemed so absurd and it was on the expensive side. However, my friend Allyson had zorbed in NZ many years ago and said it was a must. She was right, we'd highly recommend it to people of any age. When my brother was really, really little, he watched the Teletubbies, a lot. I couldn't get over how much the landscape where we zorbed reminds me of that ridiculously awful show.
- Jake