White Water Jet Boating in Taupo – Day 305, Part 2

So apparently this jet boat is the most thrilling in the whole country. So Laura and I are bracing ourselves.

Previoulsy on Day 305, part 1 we took you to the Aratiatia Dam. It is very close to Taupo and was on our way toward the Rapids Jet which is our activity today. it’s a definite must-do as a pitstop and if you’re driving in or out of Taupo. Do not miss it out. Because it’s an amazing sight. Check out the video if you want to see more and the continuation of NZPocketGuide.com’s New Zealand’s Biggest Gap Year Day 305.

This afternoon we’re heading to the base of Rapids Jet which is along the river banks of the Mighty Waikato River and only about 16km out of Taupo. We follow our jet boat driver guide to the boat and get in to meet our real jet boat driver.

Our jet boat driver today is Rusty, no he’s not too old to drive a jet boat his name is actually Rusty he’s going through a few safety briefing telling us of the boat are on every single side of the boat and if we’re capsizing then we better know how to swim. However, that’s not going to happen and as soon as we hit the water it’s full speed.

First up we are heading upstream the river because we are trying to go as close as we can to the Aratiatia Dam if you guys remember at the beginning of the day we actually stopped at the Aratiatia Dam to witness the amazing power of this crazy waters and just being below those waters of the jet boat is absolutely humbling. But we’re not staying there long. We get back to it at the end of the tour we are now heading down stream for an adrenaline filled trip.

Just a quick disclaimer about this video. I have not sped up any of the footage if you think this boat is going crazy fast that’s because it is. I did not cheat whatsoever.

This jet boat ride is incredibly insane from the get go. Not only are we going super super fast down the Waikato River but it seems that around every single corner we are doing full 360 degree spins. The reason jet boats can do all these crazy maneuvers is because they’re lot different from a normal speed boat. Instead of having a propeller which is blasting you through the water, these take water from the river in a jet propulsion system and blasts it back out.

Rapids Jet is a lot different form your average jet boat ride in New Zealand. That’s because these jet boats actually go over huge white water rapids. You’re kind of doing white water rafting in a jet boat. there’s no other tour that we’ve been on that is like this and it’s absolutely insane.

Around midway throughout our tour we arrive at the biggest and widest rapids that we’re going to encounter today there are absolutely crazy this is something that should be like grade 5 white water rafting you guys saw us going that on actual rubber boats and that was already challenging but oh my gosh of a jet boat that’s absolutely epic and the 500 horse power engine is making it a breeze. Despite the fact that our adrenaline is pumping.

I don’t think I picked the right seat.

So this rapid is basically the crown jewel of this tour. It’s the Nga Parua Rapid and we take the time to go up and down this rapid a couple of times. We also surf the waves so the team from Rapids Jet can take some awesome pictures of us and I have to say, at the end of the tour w’ell show you the pictures at the end of this video and you’ll see that’s some of the best jet boat pictures I’ve seen.

Despite us not showing you these bits in this video, because it’s way too action-packed, we do stop a couple of times for Rusty to tell us more about some of the areas that we are seeing along this stretch of the Waikato River for instance. part of the Hobbit were filmed here as well as The Yogi Bear Movie and there’s even a little teddy bear attached to a tree to tell you the exact point where it was filmed.

Although we’re heading away from the rapids when we start making our way back upstream on the Waikato River, that doesn’t mean that the adrenaline moments have to end, of course there’s so many of those 360 spins and on top of that we’re having near misses with different trees and canyon walls. And that’s all again thanks to the maneuverability of these boats they’re just super impressive.

I have to say we’ve had a really awesome experience on the Waikato River so far especially from Taupo where we’ve seen Huka Falls which has these huge huge rapids, and early today even we saw the releasing of the dam on the Aratiatia rapids which is just incredible to see as well and now we are riding the rapids of the Waikato River how awesome is that?

The good thing about Rusty our driver is that he’s a very well seasoned jet boat driver he’s capable of showing us a good time and actually giving us a few really big scares without even putting us in danger it’s absolutely amazing the maneuverability of his jet boat and his confidence driving it. Needless to say that almost every single bump on the road we’re getting super soaked but the good thing with Rapids Jet is that between every shower we’re getting a free blow dry which is absolutely awesome.

As we’re getting ever closer to the end of our tour jet boat driver Rusty is actually stopping along the way and telling us a little bit more about the mighty Waikato River the Waikato River actually is the longest river in New Zealand and it starts from New Zealand’s largest lake which is actually quite impressive plus on top of that the river is used to generate power for a vast population of New Zealand giving it it’s mighty name.

And speaking of power we are not going to finish our tour without going again toward the Aratiatia Dam the sight is so impressive that we actually all wanted to see it again and Rusty was only so happy to oblige.

Ending our tour at the base of the Aratiatia Dam is the perfect way to finish this completely rapid-filled day in Taupo. I can’t believe how many different rapids we’ve seen in one day and not only that but got to experience them on a jet boat. It’s a really insane jet boat ride and completely a unique experience in New Zealand so we couldn’t recommend it enough.

SHEEP I don’t know how to describe that. This rapid was just full on it was a full on rapid and we went up and down it about three times. Holy SHEEP. That’s all I have. I just have Holy SHEEP.