Dart river jet boating
Water activities
The more mountainous regions of New Zealand experience high precipitation in the form of rain and snow and this is drained by its numerous rivers. The character of these rivers varies but many are suitable for a range of exciting water activities.
Rafting on the Kaituna, near Rotorua
If you are happy to get wet (and you will!), one of the most thrilling is white water-rafting. New Zealand's rivers are not particularly long but they descend steeply from the mountains and this means that the water moves quickly. This produces rapids graded from 1 (nice and gentle) to 5 (scary) to 6 (unraftable). Both islands offer excellent rafting through wild and remote country and your raft adventure can often combine a real wilderness experience with adrenaline pumping action.
The Buller and Rangitata are two of the best rafting rivers on the South Island with the Shotover and Kawarau near Queenstown being two of the most accessible. The North Island has the Rangitikei, Rangitaiki and Tongariro amongst others and the Kaituna near Rotorua presents the rafter with the challenge of the 7m high Okere Falls, the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world.
Black-water rafting is a quite different experience and can be enjoyed in the Waitomo Caves on the North Island and near Westport and Greymouth on the South. Here you will don hard hat, head torch and wetsuit and hang on to a big inner tube as you float and cascade down underground rivers and through spectacular cave systems.
Kayaking can be enjoyed everywhere in New Zealand whether it be a leisurely paddle in the sheltered waters of Abel Tasman National Park or a white-water pulse racer through the rapids of the Hokitika River.
The river bug shows the thrill seeking lengths that
Kiwis will go to - his expression says it all!
It is probably already obvious that Kiwis like an adrenaline rush from time to time but if further evidence is needed, two home grown creations provide it: the river bug and the jet boat.
The jet boat was invented by New Zealander C.W.F. (Bill) Hamilton in 1954 and is propelled not by propellers but by a jet of water blown through a nozzle at high speed. Jet boats are ideally suited for operation in shallow water as there are no parts under the boat and the directional jets make them highly manoeuvreable. In fact they are able to spin through 360° within the length of the boat and this is what makes for such a thrilling experience.
From the Huka Jet on the Waikato to the Dart or Shotover Jets, a trip on one of these boats will take you bouncing along the river at high speed on a seemingly certain collision course with a large rock or canyon wall before you spin away at the very last second.
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