We Survived!

New Zealand (at least the south island) is beautiful! So I have decided that NZ is awesome. It is beautiful, and there are no snakes or nasty killer spiders. There are no bears or really anything that can kill you other than people, weather and drowning in lakes and rivers. (-:

We arrived pretty late into Christchurch on the 5th, and we departed relatively early on the 6th for our six hour drive to Queenstown. The drive was picturesque with beautiful mountains surrounding us and a few SUPER blue lakes. It reminded Tim a little bit of Montana (I can't comment never having been to Montana).


When we arrived into Queenstown we met up with the British friends from the boat in the Whitsunday Islands. It was raining so there wasn't much we could do except chill out in a bar and go to dinner. They were great company, and we enjoyed reminiscing about our three day boat excursion and laughing...of course global politics did come up.

After dinner we were roaming around town (the rain had stopped) figuring out what to do when we happened upon a Kiwi Bar Crawl and decided to take part. It was fun, but just like on the boat we were the oldest ones in the group. We are all only 27, which isn't old, but you still feel old hanging out with 20 year olds. Anyway, we had a grand time.



This morning Tim and I got up early to plan our day. We booked our whitewater rafting trip for the afternoon and got Tim all booked for his bungy jump tomorrow (the 8th) morning. I have no desire to do it. I once bungy jumped in Destin, FL when I was 18 and that was enough for me. It was fun, but I see no reason to do it again. One of our British friends did the biggest jump there is this morning. We haven't been able to talk to them, but we are assuming she survived...haha! Anyway, bungy jumping was kind of invented in Queenstown and this is an adventure sport capital sooooo....

Anyway, our whitewater rafting experience was definitely the best I have probably ever had. Most of you know, I love most sports where water is involved and this is no exception. In my short 27 years, I have been on a couple whitewater rafting adventures with my family, sisters and friends. A good time is always had. Tim and I felt that our experience in whitewater rafting made us eligible for the class 5 rapids. There were two options class 2 and 3 and class 4 and 5. We didn't even blink and immediately signed up for the class 4 and 5. I get butterflies in my stomach just typing about it.

Our bus to the Shotover River put in was almost just as "adventurous" as the actual rafting. It was a 45 minute drive around a mountain on an unpaved round that was built in the 1800's for a gold rush. There are warning signs everywhere when you enter. At points, I couldn't even look out the window because you couldn't see the road...only the very VERY deep canyons below. Our little guide dude was a Swiss dude who liked to lighten the mood by saying that no one has ever died on the road...only at the bottom of the canyons. It didn't really help much.

So at the river put in we got into a boat with seven other people and our guide. We were the only Americans. There were two Polish guys, two Irish people and an Austrian. The Polish guys and the Austrian chick had never rafted before...and you could tell. They were terrible paddlers. At one point, I felt bad, but I told the Austrian chick that she could actually put her paddle in the water and that if she stuck it in deep it would actually help. I was nice of course, but seriously, I had to say something because she was practically going to hit me in the head a couple of times. Although, to her credit, she fell out a couple times and by the end was a pro.


Our raft guide was an Aussie who definitely liked to rip on people and cause trouble, although he was hilarious. When he was giving all the safety instructions about when you fall in not standing up blah blah...all stuff I knew and had heard a couple of times, I was thinking no worries. I just won't fall in. I never have, so I won't this time. I am an old pro at this. He proceeds to talk about if the boat flips over and everyone falls in, swim out from under the boat grab onto the rope...blah, blah. Again, all stuff I had heard before, so I wasn't worried.

Oh, Jeff (Cook that is), Tim and I kept thinking of you because there were kayakers with us. They were guides to help the rafts, but it just made us think of you. We miss you! You would have loved this river!

Ok, so the trip starts, and it is seriously one of the most beautiful rivers ever. The water was so clean, and we were so far below in the canyon. It really was picturesque, and I was like so excited because I was just so happy to be rafting. I was thinking I wish this wasn't just a half day trip...blah blah.

Our guide seems like a pro, and we are cruising down the river. Tim and I are pros at paddling, and we never get yelled or lectured at from our guide (everyone else did). So here we are going down, some rapids are ahead but they aren't the class 5 ones. Our guide hasn't flipped a boat or had anyone fall in and is ripping on everyone else bragging about how awesome he is. So during our second or third set of rapids we get stuck on a rock. No worries, I am experienced, and I know this happens. So our guide says for everyone to go to the right, and Tim and I don't think twice. However, as soon as this happens another raft hits us and BAM our raft turns upside down and we are swimming for our lives. I seriously never thought the whole holding onto the boat or not standing up speech would come in handy. I mean survival mode kicks into my head and I am like I need to get the hek out from under this boat and I swim up . But the rapids are rushing and it is hard to hold onto. I have no idea what to do, but I keep holding on. Tim is awesome and makes sure I am doing what I am supposed to do. All of us in the boat are accounted for, and our guide stands on the raft and yells I need to flip the boat. I am like seriously...how the hek is that going to happen. We are supposed to swim to the back, which I do, but we can't stand up or we might get stuck under a rock or something. All of this gets too confusing, so I say screw it and swim to another raft and I proceed to let my paddle go. At this point I don't care, I just want to live. I look behind and Tim is fine, but the people in the other raft just stare at me as the raft continues to go down the river. Seriously, people, pull me up like they taught us. Finally, (I am sure this was only like five seconds but it felt like forever), I hear the other guide yell "PULL HER UP!" So I am rescued. I get in the boat, and look around...Tim is fine. He is in our raft (being the amazing outdoor man I think he actually helped our guide flip the boat), and everyone else is another raft. Phew we made it. I turn to look at everyone in the other raft, and they are staring at me. So I say "well just in case anyone was wondering, that was actually scary." (-:

So a few moments later, everyone gets back into our raft, and we are off. I actually get a little nervous at this point because we haven't even hit the class 4 or 5 rapids. I try not to worry. I say a prayer and focus on the beautiful surroundings.

Well, the class 5 rapids were flipping awesome, and we didn't fall out. All was well. We even had to go through a 150 meter or so tunnel.




The trip was pretty awesome, and I would totally do it again.

OK...that is all for now.