Christmas Eve!

Hope everyone has a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! This is how I spent my Christmas Eve! Not too Shabby! Got to run and enjoy the rest of the day....Love to all!


River Rafting on the Kaituna River! This was an awesome trip! It would have been greater if the ride was longer than on hour. But it made it worth it, because it was a class 5 rapids. This rating is the highest to raft where 6 is unraftable! This was my first raft on class 5 rapids!

Going over the first of the two waterfalls on the raft trip. This one was only a 4 meter drop!

Us going over the most commercially rafted waterfall in the world. That is what makes this river trip famous. There is two waterfalls on the trip. This being the biggest at 7 meters! The water was at it highest during our trip so even though it is a vertical drop, the amount of water going over the falls makes it slightly less vertical than in lower water! Can you believe, I am even smiling!

GET VERTICAL!!!!! As you can see in this shot...it was a 7 meter vertical drop! AMAZING!!!

Us and the raft completely buried from the falls! The only way to even see that we were in there was a faint hint of yellow beneath the water and the oar coming out of the white water on the far right side! AWESOME!!!!!!!

Coming out of the falls and the massive white-water. I liked this one because the guide was completely covered and looks like he almost fell out! I guess the back seat is the most dangerous!
View of the waterfall and our raft after we were safe. The boat did not tip over and noone fell off!

Us coming through a much smaller rapid, toward the end of the run! Right before this, the guides asked the guy behind me, what he did for a living. He said he was a policeman in Japan. Evidently this was the wrong thing for him to say and they made him pay for all the tickets other cops have given them! He had to sit on the front of the raft with his feet hanging over and go through another small rapid....We were all laughing so hard! They said if they found out he was a cop sooner, they would have had more fun! I guess I am not the only one in the world with a ill feelings about cops!

Jayme on the white-water sledge! He is kicking his way into the calm spot to glide in between the rapids. This was a first for him in both rafting and sledging!


River Sledging for my first time! We did a combo trip and rafted first! This was on the Kaituna just like the Rafting but we entered the river at the bottom of the falls! This picture is the 4 of us surfing the waves, it was so much fun! Me in pink, Jayme yellow, and the guides in purple. We had the river to ourselves and the guides too! It was nice to have the one on one training!

Jayme and I kicking our way down stream. If anyone has ever rafted, this is nothing like it! You are in control of your destiny. The guides tell you what to do, but sometimes mother nature has a different plan. There were times I was so out of breath, just to stay on the right side with the flow! Definately a good workout! And much more time to play in the waves!

Once we came through the rapids...we would find a calm spot and rest up and come back in to surf the waves. It was hard work to get to just the right spot in the rapids where the swell was calm. Once you are in the calm...you can just sit there and watch the water falling toward you and you are not moving. Was one of the coolest feelings in the world. Well, until mother nature rips you out of it...and right after this picture she did just that, and I swallowed loads of water and almost lost the sledge. I hung on though...the number one rule in sledging...don't let go!

Going over the falls on sledge! I am in pink and Jayme behind me in yellow...our guides are both in purple!
Just out of the big white water, and gasping from the exhileration of it all...So much fun to be in control of your trip! Well not completely...mother nature does have a hand in things!

I made it through! All smiles now! This has got to be the best X-mas eve I have ever had....beautiful day, and a river at the highest volume it could be commercially rafted and sledged!