Jet Boat and Hiking in the Rakaia Gorge

Blasting into rugged river wilderness

We soon find out as we are blasting up the river. Within seconds, it we have gone from a riverside dotted with cars and people to the feeling of absolute wilderness. We love that about New Zealand. The riverside gets higher and higher with dense forest the further down the river we go. Rugged rocky walls line the river, which the jet boat dares to pass close by.

360 spins

Of course, a jet boat experience wouldn’t be a jet boat experience without a few 360 spins – just one of the many perks of these brilliant Kiwi inventions! Blair gives us that universal signal for “spinning on a jet boat is about to occur” and we zip around in a full spin, saying hello to some new water droplets on our sunglasses! No matter what age you are, doing a 360-spin in a jet boat always gives you that giddy feeling.

Nice ride for speeding down the Rakaia River

Canyon and braided channels

What was a forest-lined river with some rocky features turns into a huge gorge. We are deep in a canyon feeling smaller than small against nature’s giants!

Because this is a braided river, Blair is negotiating from one river channel to the next, powering over sections so shallow that we can see the pebbles and sand centimetres under the water – just another awesome thing these boats can do: go over extremely shallow water.

Landing at the Rakaia Gorge Walkway

These pebbles and sand deposits splitting the river into different channels also make a good landing spot alongside the river. Blair pulls the boat up and we hop off the nose of the boat – not even having to get our feet wet. Winner! However, we almost forgot about the wind with the motion of the jet boat.

We say goodbye to our ride and are left stranded in the wild to fend for ourselves. (Well, we got a little help from Blair who pointed out where the track starts).

A scramble through the forest

Starting the uphill climb to the top of the gorge, we hike along a pretty rugged and adventurous single track throwing all sorts of fun terrain along the way: pebbled streams to cross, wet mud, dry mud, dry loose rocks, and large tree roots to step over or use as a staircase.