28DEC2019 – DAY 15: THE FIFTEENTH DAY

I woke up this morning with a raspy cough likely due to a delayed acclimation to the change in atmospheric composition of the Rotorua air. I did laundry for the 3rd and final time of the trip while taking an easy morning to get ready for white water rafting on the Kaituna River. I was getting increasingly more excited as we boarded some trucks to take us to the rafting area. I may have never been white water rafting before, but this seemed as good a time as any to go on a class 5 rapids excursion. What started out as a balancing act hobbling into the raft quickly turned into an intense listening game as the rafting guide yelled out directions as we made our way down the river. The rapids started out pretty intense and then got a bit more mild as we came to a halt where we were informed Tutea Falls was up ahead. I wouldn’t find out until I asked at the end that the waterfall was a whopping 7m (~22ft) tall and boasted as the world’s tallest drop on any commercially led rafting tour! I watched as the first 2 rafts disappeared over the edge wondering if anyone had fallen overboard. Though, I had little time to think on it further as we were already pushing off for our turn down the waterfall. There was something about the weightlessness of the brief moment during the fall that felt more than exhilarating. One moment I was at the top and the next I was at the bottom. It all happened so fast but nobody fell out! As our raft floated down a little ways, we turned back and watched 2 other rafts makes their way over the falls. Continuing down the river, we hit a few more rapids and finally made our way to a large pool where we were allowed to jump in and cool off after the past couple hours spent under the New Zealand sun. After swimming around for a bit, we hopped out and helped carry our rafts up a small hill to the trucks for transport back to the starting area where we shed our life jackets and helmets. Back at the hotel we regrouped, changed out of our wet clothes, and then walked through town to Eat Street. We broke into several groups to grab dinner. I ended up going with the group to CBK restaurant where I got a massive hamburger. Afterwards we went out to a bar for shots to see off another one of our group members for their last night. This was also supposed to be my last night with the tour but I had worked in an extension earlier in the trip so I could finish seeing the North Island. On our way back to the hotel from the bar, many interesting stories were shared about previous trips we had all been on. Back at the hotel, I managed to catch room service just before they finished for the night. My legs were getting quite swollen from all of the activities over the past few days so I had requested a bag of ice for my feet and some ice cream for my soul!