Rangitata, River of the sky
New Zealand
Whether it is the unbelievable beautiful scenery, the unique culture and the hospitality of the Kiwi’s (the people and the birds), the and fresh food and gorgeous wine, or the thrills New Zealand has to offers, a gap year in New Zealand has something to offer for everyone.
But we Xtreme Gap is not for everyone, so if you wish to join us on a Xtreme tour through New Zealand be in for great adventurous and thrilling moments.
There is so much to do, from the glaciers to the fiords of the South Island’s West Coats, and the mighty volcanoes of the Central Plateau, to the giant Kauri forest of Northland, and the whales, dolphins and seals of Kaikoura.
Because we do not sent you on just an experience and find out after that it was not extreme or adventurous enough, we source all our activities ourselves. We raft rapids 5, we do canyon swings, we jump the bungee and we dive from the sky. We have checked out the Franz Joseph Glazier, we felt how cold the water was in the Rangitata river. And we did not forget the jet boating either!
Take your pick from our gap year New Zealand tours and we will make sure you will have the time of your life!!
7-11-2010
Arriving in Christchurch New Zealand.
After a 3 hour flight from Brisbane to Christchurch I was pretty pooped. One serious drunken rum drinking man behind me, 2 screaming babies and 2 giggling ladies, the last was actually quite funny and made me miss my best friends a bit, I wanted to have what they were having, 3 hours long laughing without taking a breath. Funny.
On arrival we got in a taxi to the nearest hotel and made arrangements for the next day. We were going to meet Ryan from Haka tours and select a nice, friendly , fun and down town Christchurch backpackers hostel.
We found the hostel, and finally also found Ryan.
Christchurch looks quite English. Pretty, organized and a good mix off all sorts of people. We bought our mascot for the trip and called him Kiwi (very original). Christchurch had a big earthquake 1 month ago and there have been hundreds of aftershock. Surprisingly the city looks good, just a few road works here and there. So nothing to be worried about.
The hostel we have selected is base. We just went I to the most central backpackers place and asked for a snoop around. Phil and Gin, the managers were very organized and friendly and took us on a hostel tour. The hostel has 300 rooms. Dorms, Privates, Family rooms and (I like this) girls only quarters. Oh and a Penthouse session. So if you are with a bigger group it might be nice to stay at the pent house as you have your own (shared with max 16) kitchen and lounge / TV room. The hostel has good deals on food, there are good communal rooms and there is a TV room with a massive TV, there are computers and there is Wifi in every room (Global Gossip about 10 NZD per day, or 4 NZD an hour.). The hostel also has a bar, where every night they have something different going on. This is very nice to socialize and it makes it a lot easier to meet other travelers.
There is another good thing about it, it is in the middle of the city and the pick up for the Rangitata white water rafting is just at the doorstep.
We got picked up on November 9, 2010 (which is today) at 8.15. The nicest driver welcomed us and there were 4 others on the trip.
The Rangitata is the best river to do the whitewater rafting in New Zealand, and that is why we want to include it in the Xtreme Gap New Zealand Adrenaline tour. It starts of with a rapid 2 and ends in a rapid 5! Ok that’s needs to be done by me to tell you exactly how it feels and what you can expect.
Two hours of scenic driving towards the lodge. The driver Billy was great and told us we wanted to know. On arrival we hooked up with 4 others, had a lunch and finally it was time to get into the ridiculous wetsuits, booties, fleece sweaters and helmets, I looked so pretty) and get going. The first 20 minutes in the raft were fine, easy (we had 2 boats by the way so not too crowded), smooth water, sunny weather and breathtaking scenery. Our guide Ben told us all we could expect and we had to practice some peddle techniques.
The guides are such good fun so even when there are no rapids you will not be bored for a second… and then it started. The first one was rapid 2. We did well a little giggling here and there. Then a god rapid 3 plus and we were more concentrated and after a while a rapid 5. We were soaked! Wow I felt the adrenaline run through me, it was amazing!
Oh oh, there it was the rapid we had all been waiting for. Peddle, peddle harder, back peddle, left forward peddle, right back ward peddle and inside hold on! Whiha! Everyone soaked and happy we did not flip. But I have just seen the pictures back at the hostel of the ride, and we scream and look much stressed.
After all big rapids there is something else that you might like. You get to swim downstream the Rangitata river (it was only 11 degrees, but worth it) and after that you can do cliff jumping. So yep. Being the co owner of an adrenaline travel company called Xtreme Gap I had to jump too! Actually I was fine but Oliver… Too Funny! But in the end he did it.
After a bit more rafting we got back at the lodge where a nice barbecue was waiting for us. Oliver and I decide to stay the night here and actually it is a shame and a sin I am writing this, because I have the best view ever! It is so beautiful here that I wish I was English so I had more words to describe it. In Dutch we say waanzinnig!
The other thing I am happy about (that is just the house wife in me) is that after 2 weeks I finally could wash my clothes, and Oli’ s one pair of underpants.
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