River Valley to Wellington
Trip Start
Oct 04, 2004
1
39
102
Trip End
Ongoing
River Valley, New Zealand
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
We were driven for about 30 minutes to a field that had access to the river. We split into 2 groups; me, Dan, Dave and Paul, a strange lad from up North that took great pride in telling us he was a supervisor at his local pork pie factory?! There's job satisfaction! And then the rest of the group, including Katie and Louise, in the other raft.
After getting kitted up we jumped into the boat along with our guide, a kiwi local called mike; who, bore a scary resemblance to Max out of the TV program Hollyoak's. He thought he was very funny when he capsized the boat of the first corner. The shock of the freezing cold water quickly forgotten as we desperately tried to climb into the raft, before it drifted down the waterfall rapidly moving in our direction!
We were out on the raft for 2 hours and I'm glad to say that we didn't fall in again after the first mishap. When we reached the end Mike told us that we had actually ridden a class 5 river, the highest, most dangerous class of rapids. He also pointed out that last year someone had actually drowned, after falling out at the last waterfall and getting pinned under one of the boats! Now this is an extreme sport I could get into!
To finish the day we climbed up a nearby cliff, to jump off an 8 meter waterfall. A fitting end to a great day on the water! Sadly we didn't get any pictures of us rafting as their photographer was ill that day! Typical!
It wasn't long after we got back to River Valley, that we were packing up and walking back up the stupidly long, and steep, hill back to the coach. One night here really wasn't long enough. It would be good to return one day and do it all again! Oh well, onto Wellington!
Wellington, or the windy city as its better known to the Kiwi's is New Zealand's Capital city and sits at the bottom of the North Island. We arrived here at about 6pm to a massive storm blowing in from Antarctica. Because of this we sought refuge in our hostel, the recently opened Base Backpackers. Although very nice and new, they had these really annoying key cards to open your doors, which never ever worked! I have forgotten the amount of times we had to walk down 4 flights of stairs to get them fixed!
Because of the rain we decided to stay in the hostels bar, shame the headline act was New Zealand's no.1 Hip Hop DJ! After putting up with 2 hours of complete crap, and after quite a few drinks, I 'suggested' that I take over. Well let's just say his 'home boys' (friends for all you oldies not down with the hip hop lingo!) not so politely, told me where to go... so that put an end to that night then! I was going to bed anyway!
Joke of the Day
Three New Zealanders and three Aussies are traveling by train to a cricket match at the World Cup in England.
At the station, the three Kiwis each buy a ticket and watch as the three Aussies buy just one ticket between them.
"How are the three of you going to travel on only one ticket?" asks one of the Kiwis.
"Watch and learn," answers one of the Aussies. They all board the train. The Kiwis take their respective seats but all three Aussies cram into a toilet and close the door behind them.
Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the toilet door and says, "Tickets please." The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.
The Kiwis see this and agree it was quite a clever idea. So after the game, they decide to copy the Aussies on the return trip and save some money (being clever with money, and all that). When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the Aussies don't buy a ticket at all!! "How are you all going to travel without any ticket?" says one perplexed Kiwi. "Watch and learn," answers an Aussie.
When they board the train the three Kiwis cram into a toilet and soon after the three Aussies cram into another nearby. The train departs. Shortly afterwards, one of the Aussies leaves the toilet and walks over to the toilet where the Kiwis are hiding. He knocks on the door and says, "Ticket please."
