Grade 3 White Water Rafting on the Tongariro River

Teaming up and hitting the river

Once at the launch point, we are filing off the bus and getting our life jackets checked by the guides. Then, we are huddling together for some group photos before being split into boats. We are teamed up with two Taupo-dwellers, Leo and Aly, as well as three American students with Jesse being our guide.

We carry the raft down a short hill following the four other rafts on our trip. Once launched in the water, Jesse is spinning the boat around for another photo and also revealing the dam behind us. There is 30 cubic metres more water than usual in the river, giving Jesse the motivation to tackle some different rapids to the usual on this tour.

Nailing the paddle commands

After we practice a few paddle commands with Jesse, because after all, this is a proactive activity, we are quickly approaching our first set of rapids! The rapids are super dippy and wavey, making our boat do some sort of Mexican wave across the water. Sometimes our raft doesn’t hit the rapids quite so smoothly giving either one of the front two rafters, i.e. Laura and Robin, a massive splash in the face. At 8-10 degrees Celcius, the water is sure refreshing!

Rapids and awesome scenery on the Tongariro River

“Get right!”, “Get left!”, “Get Down!”

Between each of the initial rapids, Jesse adds more paddle commands to our arsenal for the upcoming rapids. One is “Get Right!” or “Get Left!”. We find out the point of this as we hit a rapid called the “Cheesegrater” where we are the cheese and the river is the grater. The raft wedges between boulders, where the only way to get around is to “Get Right!” putting all the weight on one side of the raft so we can squeeze through on one side.

When Jesse introduces the “Get down!” command, that’s pretty much for the bigger and bumpier rapids where we just get down, hold on and enjoy the thrill ride! Everyone in our raft is whooping and yelling as we take on some of the crazier rapids – happy rapids makes happy rafters.

Constant action and epic scenery

The awesome thing about the Tongariro River is that the rapids are pretty constant. There’s not much time between each set of rapid to think about all life’s mysteries. It’s action-packed so you’re not likely to feel short-changed.

On those rare occasions where there are those slightly longer sections of calmer waters, it’s time to soak in the scenery. Most of the river is lined with towering gorge walls topped with forest. We often see fantails crossing just overhead from one side of the river to the other. The real “Wow” section is in a deep and dark canyon covered in moss and tiny trickling waterfalls. At the end of this canyon, our guides bring the boats to the side of the river and start serving us hot chocolate and a classic Kiwi candy – chocolate fish. This also gives us time to have a quick yarn with our rafting crew before hitting the white water once again for more action!