Day 100 - White Water Rampage

Today the four of us were up at 08:00 to get ready for an 09:00 pick up. We got picked up from the White Water Rafting company; 'Cascades' for today we were going to be travelling down the Kaituna River, famously known for it's 7 meter waterfall! We got to their base and chucked on some warm clothing before getting briefed in what was going to be our raft for the next hour. It was quite slow waiting to get on to the river, many companies were queuing to get going. We were very fortunate to be rafting at all as it was only the 3rd day in the last few weeks that the river was safe enough to raft on.

The 4 of us were in a raft with a German and the guide, we went down 3 waterfalls and many rapids in the 45 minutes it took us to get to the point in the river where our trip ends. It was a great morning, exciting and enthralling. We all loved it, was fun to be rafting alongside each other going down a huge waterfall in the process, Chino was told about the Kaituna when rafting in Cairns, so glad we did it.

We got back to Base Rotorua around 13:00, got some lunch and ate in the car. Chaggie left Basil and Jamie to check out the town for about 45 minutes whilst we headed off back to Jan's just to catch up with her and tell her what we managed to do over the last few days. Had been very successful with what we managed to book, we said goodbye again and got back to Base where we picked up the other two. We then set off to Tauranga at 14:15.

Was our first road trip as a 4, Brian the car was fully packed but still comfortable for the hour long journey. Phill couldn't get in touch with Murray and Kate who we had planned to stay with for a few days during the trip so once we got to Tauranga we carried on to Mount Maunganui where we had heard is home to a lovely beach....And so it was. This afternoon we came up with a game called 'PAJB' using our initials, a game with a rugby ball using skills from Basketball and Volleyball on a small pitch with two teams. Very fun and kept us amused for an hour or so. We hit the sea too of course before drying off and heading off to Murray's house in Tauranga.

Murray and Kate were so kind to put the 4 of us up in a room built onto their garage, was perfect for a few nights. We made sure we had plenty of beer and meat as tonight we had a BBQ with Murray, Kate and a few of their relatives for today was their Nephews birthday. Was a great evening, nice for Phill to catch up with his Cousin Murray too. Murray also gave us a tour of Tauranga and Mt Maunganui later on in the evening.

Chaggie x