Rich and I had heard lots of great things about Queenstown from other backpackers, a place where adrenalin sports were in abundance and life was easy going. We were looking forward to our five night stay there.
“We weren’t hanging around, we were ready for an adrenalin rush.”
Upon arrival at our hostel we picked up every leaflet we could find for the activities on offer and spent an hour sifting through them, carefully selecting the most enticing one for us to do the following day. We weren’t hanging around, we were ready for an adrenalin rush.
River surfing on the Kawarau River was our chosen activity. Getting dressed head to toe in wetsuits, booties, life vests, helmets and flippers didn’t feel like the most extreme thing but when you then put yourself onto a body board and head face first into the river rapids you soon get a rush of excitement.
I like to think that I started off better than Rich, less that 10 seconds after starting the first rapid I heard him shout across to me ‘Sonia, I’ve just hit my knee on a rock’. Idiot. Don’t worry, I’m not saying this behind his back, I said it to his face at the time too. Rich kicked on with his sore knee, never one to be put off having fun and happy that the best place for his knee was the cold river water we were submerged in.
“River surfing was awesome, hard work but loads of fun.”
The adrenalin built quickly as Rich and I passed through the first rapid of the river run. Being propelled in the air by the strength of the rapids, swirling around in whirlpools, going with the flow until we were propelled out and taking a breath in the calm water before heading in to the next set of rapids for more.
River surfing was awesome, hard work but loads of fun. The water was clear, cold and refreshing from the heat of the morning sun. The guides that we had were amazing as well, on a couple of occasions when everyone gathered together to regroup, I’d find myself in the fastest part of the river and kicking with all my strength to escape the current and get to the side. Somehow (I’m still not sure how) the guides were able to paddle out to me and pull me back towards everyone without too much of a problem, thank goodness!
It took twenty minutes for us to ride the rapids down the river and at the end of the first run we had the option of jumping off a rock on the riverbank about seven metres high. It didn’t seem that high, nothing compared to the two hundred and sixteen metre high bungy jump we did in South Africa, so I followed the others up to do the jump!
Standing on the rock and looking down into the water below, seven metres felt really really high! I took a few seconds to have a quiet words with myself…come on Sonia, it’s only seven metres and it’s easier to jump down than scramble back down the rocks.
“Despite our aching arms and legs, we were eager for more.”
Then I leapt out as far as I could, held my hands flat to my side and tried not to look down at the water rushing towards me. I had seen some people smack their faces onto the water doing that and it looked and sounded painful! As I plunged into the cold blue water I kicked up back to the surface quickly, happy that I’d landed safely and without injury.
High on the adrenalin rush, Rich and I opted into doing another run down the rapids, despite our aching arms and legs, we were eager for more. The second run was even more exhilarating. Having made it down the rapids safely once, we pushed ourselves more, flipping over on our body boards, spinning round lots of whirlpools and trying to surf the rapids for as long as possible.
“It was awesome!”
By the end of our river surfing experience we were exhausted and immensely happy with our choice of activity, thank you Kerry Sille for the recommendation on this, it was awesome!
Lambs on the loose 