The next morning we wandered up the road to a Maori village called Whakarewarewa (pronounced “Fa-kar-rey-wa-rey-wa”) where there are hot springs, thermal geysers, and boiling mud pits. The weather was really quite dismal; overcast and rainy. Fortunately they provided golf umbrellas, but it meant that most of us could hardly pick up a word the guide was saying. This was more of a shame because of the chuckles and oohs and aahs coming from those who could hear her. We went and saw a weaponry and weaving display – sitting in the front row as a large angry Maori man swingle a purposefully crafted stick at you is a self examining experience. A little later, after a tour and explanation of wood carvings we were treated to a Maori song and dance troupe performing all sorts of Maori song and dance. I was the only member of our entire contingent with enough self esteem reserves to handle getting up in front of the crowd to participate in the Hokie Pokie. The video is ridiculously shameful, but I wasn’t quite a match for the old man next to me.
A pleasant buffet lunch followed, consisting of meat and veges roasted in a hangi heated by a thermal steam outlet. Quite nice full flavour actually, not at all like the sulphur that fills the air all over the town.
As our digestive juices were getting into full swing we headed off to the rapids of the Kaituna River, home of the largest commercially rafted waterfall in the world. Once again I was the odd one out, choosing to kayak instead of raft; the river certainly wasn’t wild for the most part so I didn’t think it would be a match for the Zambezi. It was their last day rafting before closing it though, so the kayaking was great fun.

The kayaks were dual; I sat in the front and my main man (also named Tim) sat behind me and ran the show. It was a shock for me at first, during practice, to be comfortable just sitting holding my breath underwater while Tim made the effort to right us, but once I was over that it was tremendous fun. Going over the waterfall we rolled it, which is par, but as I clasped the kayak my paddle got stuck between me and the kayak. Known this would cause problems I ‘sat up’ (or ‘sat upside down’) to get it unhooked. AT that time Tim tried to right us, but of course we only got halfway before we toppled straight back under. But now the paddle was free so at the second attempt we shot straight up in an instant; Tim being a little flustered as to the first failure. A little further down Tim started explaining to me about undercuts which are areas where the current flows into a narrow cave or under a ledge, and are places where it is very easy for a kayak to become stuck under; which often ends up being lethal for the rider. He then pointed past the next rapid and told me it went straight into a big undercut on the other side so we had better be careful. If we got too close I was to push us off the rock to keep us out of it. Right. So over we go and straight for the rocky outcrop. I hear a should for “backwards!!”, a totally new command for me, so I get my back into reverse paddling but my enthusiasm is upsetting the balance of the kayak so there’s soon a slightly more frantic cry for “stop!!”. I was about to stop anyway because the rocky outcrop was beginning to loom up, but Tim had control and we were soon to the safety of the open river again.
It’s only a small run, so we came to the end shortly after that. After going through the final rapid, Tim showed me the rafts paddling back into it, kicking up spray to make a for a great shot for the photographer standing there. No worries I thought and pondered a facial expression to pull. I needn’t have worried though because the water caught the front of the kayak and I was dunked, the nose pointing directly downwards. Tim later swore he nearly fell out, and the photos prove the kayak was dang near vertically straight up. A great way to top off the experience!