Queenstown Second Free day

This day was adventure filled with me doing the a heli-rafting combo (costing me NZD249) which is a combination of helicopter ride and White Water Rafting. Initially I was in a dilemma of should I do it as it was freaking cold in the winter season and even in the day, the temperature was a single digit. Today was a relatively warm day, sunny with no rain and the temperature being 6 Deg. C. So you can imagine if it wasn't a warm day, the temperature could be say 2 Deg. C. Chilling...

During the winter period, the Shotover River, which is more challenging having difficulty of Grade 3-5, is only accessible by helicopter, hence more pricey. First, the rafters were all gathered at the Information Centre in town before we were drove up to the rafting base. At the base, all the rafters were geared up with wetsuits and safety gears. On the helicopter, you to view the Wakatipu Basin, historic Skippers road and Coronet Peak Ski Area before stopping at the Shotover River. Extensive briefing was given and it was important to listen to the commands of the river guide.

My river guide was Chief and straight away he guessed I was from Singapore. Chief, kind of looked after me during the whole rafting trip as I was rafting just beside him. Or rather he could see that I was alone and small sized, more easily lost if I fell over the raft, so need to recuse me fast. Hahaha... There will be time for scenery viewing of the Skippers Canyon, where it was being mined for gold in the early days and also time for some actions in the river. Anyway, at first we rafted through peacefully before heading to more adrenalin pumping areas as we rafted through the lower canyon, with Grade 4-5 at the “Mother In Law”. To complete the experience, we got to raft through a 170 m Oxenbridge Tunnel before shooting through the Cascade.

After the rafting, there are the hot shower, sauna and of course some snack to enjoy before being drove back to downtown.

I felt that this rafting is not as intense as I thought, as there was no overturn of the raft which I could understand as it was winter. Then there is only one or two Grade 4-5 area. Later on, I learned that the rafting will depend a lot on the river guide and the rafters you are with. Maybe there are more gals in the group, hence we were doing a milder one. I sure will love to do it again with a more intense experience if possible.