New Zealand trip 2008

Christchurch ( 1 ▪ 2 ▪ 3 ▪ 4 )

Reunited, battered and bruised, but adrenalin-fuelled, we headed for another set of rapids.  It was a little relentless.  Steady as she goes.

Oh no, not again.

Not this time, suckers!  We rode out of there triumphantly on our metaphorical horse.

No sooner had we got out of that one and we were into another one.  Of them.  We paddled like crazy until instructed to hold the oars parallel and sink into the middle of the raft, holding on for dear life.

We're going in.  Again.

Oh, we seem to have bounced out of there fairly well.

Oh jeez, this is like a rollercoaster.  Note once more the standard issue expressions of the two of us.

We plunged once more into the water, looking like we might never get out of it.

But somehow we did.  Well sailed, captain.

We dragged ourselves ashore for the next action, which Lynne quickly excused herself from, satisfied to watch it from the sidelines.  The action I speak of involved jumping into the river from about four metres.  I watched intently as one of the girls gave it ago.  Our guy pointed out where the camera was.  Accurately.

I got myself into a comfortable position, waiting for my turn.

Which it soon was.  My main fear was slipping on the edge.  It looked precarious.

Oh well, here goes.  Jump, fall, splash.  Easy.  Oh and don't forget to fold your arms before entry.

Incoming!

Act like the Fonz, act like the Fonz.

Man, that was one hell of a dunking, but there was more to come.  The bravest souls (which in fact was pretty much everyone who had attempted the first one) moved on to the bigger drop, which was estimated to be around ten metres.  Whatever it was, it looked a looong way.  You can almost see me asking myself if this is really the way I want to go.

Ah well, here goes then.  This is very much a leap of faith.  What was particularly disturbing is that you actually got time to think.  With the other jump, just when you were about to realise you had been in the air for a second, you hit the water.  Here, it was a case of jump, one-two-wonder what to have for tea tonight-three-did I leave the alarm on-four-SPLASH!

My attempt would not be rated highly by the judges.  I started off okay, but because of the long drop any misjudgement in angle was exaggerated, like potting on a full-sized snooker table (in my mind, anyway).  Because my arms were folded in overly-eager readiness of impact, I had no control over my balance, and I slowly started to tilt backwards, pedalling like a lunatic to try to right myself.  It didn't work and I landed more or less in the sitting position.  There was an almighty thunder-crack (if you pardon the pun) which would undoubtedly have been heard from miles around, prompting Lynne to turn to fellow onlookers and comment: "that's my boyfriend".  Soon, all the bruises on my knees and lower legs were forgotten - there was only one part of my body in which I could feel pain right now.  And that was my arse.

Still, I had managed to jump ten metres into a river.  Which is the kind of crazy thing I never thought I would do.  One or two people (probably just one girl, actually) had to be coaxed into it.  They stood at the top looking over for at least five minutes.  With these things, you just have to go for it.  Anyway, they tried every trick on the book, but the best line was that you would regret not doing it - when would you get the chance to do it again.  That was resonating in my mind when I attempted it.  Well, at first anyway.  I then got on with the business of crapping myself (not literally, thankfully).

Anyway, we got back in the rafts, and our guide ominously let the air down in the raft.  A little bit, you understand, not all the way.  As it turned out, this was to enable us to get stuck in a pocket of rapids.  As you can see, I got the raw end of the deal, basically being the person who acted as the water break.

We sunk quite far down into the water, and it came crashing in from the side, as we were asked to do one last pose for the camera.  We did our best.  Some of us did better than others.  How you can manage to sing opera and play the guitar whilst rafting is beyond me, but he did well.

To finish our trip, here is a picture of our guide.  I've not been able to do that kind of pose since I was about 12.

All in all, the rafting was an amazing experience, and I would heartily recommend to those not of a nervous disposition.  Oh no, that's not quite the end.  There's one last "we did it" photo.

Back in Christchurch the next day, we saw some guy juggling up a stick.  As you do.

Next stop, the Penguin Express.  On, I think, Easter Sunday.

More next time.

Ooh, a relatively big break between posting given my recent form, but it can't helped.  Busy busy at work and all awash with ante-natal classes.  Anyway, the Penguin Express bus, complete with a family of penguins perched expectantly on the roof.  This was our mode of transport to get to the International Arctic Centre, which is located near the airport.  Whilst it was warm outside, that wasn't true of inside.  They had a blizzard room to try to re-enact what it's like in an, um, blizzard.

I was cheered up by having a go on this sort of snow speeder.  Go me.

They really went the extra mile when making cups of coffee, tracing the silver fern into it.

Next up, a ride on an all-terrain vehicle.  Look at those tracks.

Lynne was ready and prepared for action.  Check 1-2-3.

These were the kind of hills we had to negotiate.  I say "we" - Lynne and I weren't driving.

Oh my god, we're in water and sinking!  How are we going to get out??

Well, in fact, the vehicle we were in was (unsurprisingly) very adept at coping with such situations.  It was pretty impressive stuff, though.  Absolutely no idea why Lynne is sat next to these barrels.

We looked into the penguin enclosure, as one of the penguins eyed us up in return.

They liked to keep abreast of the latest fashion trends.

Here is a list of the penguins, with names and everything.  They were all injured and being nursed back to health.  Altogether now: awww.

Well now, I'm having a go of all the vehicles.  That reminds me, I really need some refresher driving lessons.

Not sure where this is, but Lynne tucked into a starter of scotch egg.  Ooh she loves it.

That will do for this page.  I'm going to have to spread it to a fourth because there is more action to come.