15th February, Hilton
Hotel –New Zealand
This day was the best day I have ever experienced. It contained
everything a good day should consist of: excitement, fun, good mood, laugh,
amazing people and fantastic landscape and nature. Dear Diary, today I took
part of something everybody who is visiting New Zealand should do: Rafting!
It all began with me and my friends walking around in the streets of Auckland,
when we suddenly saw a poster hanging on a wall. The poster said: “Do you want
to have a once-in-a-lifetime-experience? Visit our office, and you will get all
the information you need about river rafting. Don’t hesitate, it’s fantastic!” After
reading it, we looked at each other and thought “Hey, why not try?” So, we went
to the office, and at once I put my feet inside the room, a special feeling appeared.
A feeling that said: you have done the right thing, and you will have a great
time! And it seems like this particular feeling was right.
The next morning we went to
Tongariro national park, where the rafting was going to take place, a little
nervous, but exited. We met our instructors who seemed very professional. Their
enthusiasm was huge, and they promised to keep us safe during the trip. After
we had been taught about how to behave in the boat, we finally went to the
river. The river was called “Tongariro White Water”, and it had a 3th grade of
difficulty (where 5 were highest).
When I sat down in the boat, all
sense of nervousness vanished. My body became full of adrenalin and all my
thoughts just disappeared. I was rafting with my friends, and the water was so
clear and fresh that I could have drunk it! We rafted past volcanic cliffs, and
through the native flora. The view was just incredible, and we did even see the
Whio Whio (Blue duck) natives. With us in our boat was an experienced river
guide, who told us about the environment and some interesting facts. Our boat went
down the river in an unbelievable speed and we did even go down some scary
waterfalls.
Sometimes the boat bumped into big
stones. When this happened, the passengers (us) jumped very high, and it was
really hard to not fall into the river. Everybody that knows me, are familiar
with my unsteadiness –and this became even worse in the rafting boat! With an
enormous splash I fell into the river like a big rock. I panicked, because the
water was freezing and I was afraid of drowning, but fortunately my friends
helped me up into the boat again.
The perfect trip ended with a lovely
dinner and good drinks at the base of the rafting-club. In my opinion this trip
was the highlight of our days in New Zealand, and I definitely want to do this
again!
Greatings from New Zealand,
Fanny