Rotorua Sports & Outdoors

Everyone is familiar with river rafting, but for those extreme sport obsessed New Zealanders that just isn't extreme enough. So for the slightly braver (or possibly stupider) they offer River Sledging. Basically, a sledge is similar to a body board (boogie board) except bigger, heavier, and with handle bars on the front. The rider simply lays on top, grasps the handle bars, and hurtles down the river.

My wife and I did sledging on the Kaituna River just outside Rotorua. The river has some serious grade 5 rapids and is not for the meek. We first got the idea to do sledging here because it was featured on an episode of the Amazing Race at this same spot. We had two experienced guides who helped us out a lot and kept us from drowning. We managed to make it through several kilometers of whitewater rapids with only a few bruises on our knees and a lot of river water in our bellies. Great fun but definitely physically challenging!

Equipment: The company will provide the sledge, wetsuit, helmet, fins, lifevest, and guides. You just need to bring a swimsuit and towel. You can also opt to have a photographer follow you in kayak, and then you can later buy the photos on CD-Rom for a small fee.

For the last two years I have entered a relay team in this marathon distance event around scenic Lake Rotorua. This year a team from my work entered (see picture). It was an awesome team building type event and a lot of fun!

About 2 km south of Rotorua on State Highway 5 is Whakarewarewa Forest which has a labyrinth of mountain bike tracks for all levels. It was my first mountain biking experience and I really enjoyed it!

Equipment: We hired bikes at the entrance to the forest from an outfit called Planet Bikes. They offer rentals from 2 hours ($30) to Full day ($50). You need to call them first to reserve a bike but you can pick it up from the carpark in front of the forest.

Sky Swing
This is very scary!
Enjoy the 150kph exhilarating ride in 2 seconds 50 metres above the ground level
Between these two tall poles is where they let go the swing!!
You can watch and hear "swingers" screaming with delight or is it fear !!?

$30 a ride and extra to be videoed in action!

10 years and up

Equipment: safety belts!!!!!!

THE LUGE
This is like a go-kart on 3 wheels, using a unique braking and steering system, giving the rider full control.
There is a choice of 3 tracks to drive this luge down the mountain

Scenic Track .....
Is 2 kms long and goes through the redwood trees.
Good for tandeming younger children
Intermediate track ......
is 1.7kms long and has spirals and hoops to manoeuvre around.
Advanced Track.......
1 km long givres excitement and thrill with the BIG DIPPER for all ages up from 10 years.
You catch a 2 seater chairlift to go back up to the top for another ride...or to catch the returning gondola

Equipment: Crash Helmet

Many eons ago when I lived in New Zealand, I organised for a group of about 12 of us and we convoyed up to Rotorua for a group package weekend extravaganza of white water rafting with River Rats in April '94...

Our package included a whole day out on the Rangitaiki River (Grade 3-4) and the Kaituna River (Grade 5!) the next day, as well as hostel accommodation for two nights at a hostel I can't quite remember the name of except that it was memorable by having a bar serving its own large thermal pool - all this for a crazy price of NZ$135 back at a time when the pound was worth 3.5 NZD!

Although the packages aren't the same, the rides seem to be...

The two rivers we rafted are very different affairs:

The Rangitaiki is a long and fairly placid affair and excellent for those new to white water rafting. We had tried for the Wairoa, but this is only open for 26 days of the year - so make sure you plan far ahead as this is supposed to be a real cracker and we were disappointed not to go on it!

The other thing about the Rangitaiki is that it can get cold if you choose the equivalent of late autumn as for long periods you are just floating along admiring the scenery...

The Kaituna however was a very different animal! When we went this was rated 5+ out of 5 and It is a fast and furious foam filled 45 min rollercoaster ride including the infamous 'taco', which squashes the ends of the raft together and culminating in plunging over the awesome drop of what is reputedly the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world at 7 metres!!!

Apparently only 1 in 4 rafts make it over OK, we went and clipped the rocks as we went over - tipping us out like so much flotsam and jetsom! Our next boat was successful by submerging from the force of the impact and resurfacing the right way up!

WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO, YEAH BABY!!!

I'm having an adrenaline rush just writing this as the memories come flooding back, so to speak!!! :-)))

Equipment: INCLUDES:

Helmets
Lifejackets
Wetsuits
*Polar Fleece Tops
*Sprayjackets
Wetsuit Booties

YOU BRING:

Swimsuit
Towel
A good dose of Courage! :-D

Items marked with * are optional dependant on conditions

Check out their amazing specials on the website!

While I was 'out of action' my husband took a bit of time out to have some fun - Huka Jet boat.

Very fast, quite extreme, and he loved it a lot, though driving straight at a sheer cliff and veering off at the very last moment wouldn't be my cup of tea...he's lucky he only lost his hat (I would have lost my lunch LOL)
New Zealand of course is famous for its extreme sports.

We found Rotorua (with its very shallow Lake Rotorua) a nice and very tranquil place for canoeing.

The cabin park we stayed at was right on the shores of the Lake, and canoe hire was free, so we took advantage of it here in the early morning, with nobody else around.

Equipment: Life jackets were provided.