Merry Christmas from the team at Rangitata Rafts! It’s my third week in the office at Rangitata Rafts and time for an update on what I’ve been doing. First point of order was a trip down the Rangitata. Being a Mid Canterbury local I had always wanted to raft the river before and I didn’t know what to expect. The adrenaline rush blew my mind and like everyone one who rafts this river I came away grinning ear to ear. Experiencing Rangitata Rafts for myself has also made my job easier. First had I can now share with people they will have an amazing experience that they will never forget! Alex has been teaching me the ins and outs of the office, while Tussock and the awesome team in Peel Forrest have shown me the ropes up at the lodge. I’m looking forward to the experience in the big smoke of Geraldine, getting to meet new people and testing my knowledge.

If your passing through Make sure you pop into the office and say Hello!
 
Have a safe and happy Christmas,
Hannah and the Rangitata Rafts team.

After a crazy season filled with wicked rafting, high water, celebrity visits and an earthquake, the season is finally drawing to a close with our official finish date being the 30th of April. It’s been another awesome season, we’ve loved taking heaps of awesome people down the river, so to all those who rafted with us: Thank you!
But if you’re keen to raft the mighty Rangitata, don’t worry, we’ll be back soon – the off season’s shorter this year as we start rafting again early September. So if you’re coming to New Zealand for the big rugby tournament and looking for something exciting to do, then we would love to take you rafting!
In the meantime, have a fantastic and safe winter, and we’ll see you on the river next season!

Thinking of  those involved in the  Christchurch earthquake. 

 Letting you know rafting trips still operating & more importantly we  have beds available at our backpacker style lodge beautifully located at the base of the Southern Alps. Only 1.5 hours away from Christchurch free of earthquake damage. So if you are wishing to by- pass Christchurch on SH72 then come and join us for a night or two. You are welcome to stay without rafting. Dorms $25pp, Double room $60per room. All bedding supplied, large kitchen/living area with log fire opening out onto sunny deck. Come and relax for a night or two.
Freephone 0800 251 251.

Last Friday was a super exciting day at Rangitata Rafts, when we played host to the crew from Nitro Circus! We had a wicked day with the guys and girls, with some of the craziest jumps ever off ‘Jump Rock’. Travis Pastrana and Lyn-Z Adams-Hawkins did a flip off the cliff – with Lyn-Z on Travis’ back, while Aaron ’Wheelz’ Fotheringham did a handstand off it, was seriously wicked to see. It was really awesome to have these guys hanging out, and we loved taking them down the mighty grade 5’s of the Rangitata Gorge – and you might even see a few of us on TV! For pics of the fantastic day check out our Facebook page – www.facebook.com/RangitataRafts.

We have had another awesome, busy week and just thought I’d share some of the great feedback we’ve gotten over the week:

• “Best adventure of New Zealand so far – well worth every penny. Had a fantastic day, the whole experience. Jason was a great instructor – made it even more fun”.
• “An exhilarating rafting experience in stunning surroundings with excellent guides in a fun and relaxed atmosphere, and a BBQ to top it off!”
• “Super well organised, great guides, no rushing! An excellent experience for all ages!
• “Well organised, safety paramount all the guides and staff were friendly – we will be back”.
• “It was insane! Everyone should do it! Constant thrills, awesome crew and great accommodation!”
• “Fantastic day, full of fun, laughter and some awesome rafting thrown in!”
• “Exhilarating, definitely outside the comfort zone”
• “I absolutely loved it! Great fun and less scary than I expected. Thanks for a brilliant day!”

Awesome to get such wicked feedback, and to everyone who has been rafting with us – Thank you, we love taking you rafting!

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a good one. We had a really full on start to the new year, with heaps of water,  cricket teams and Uni groups. We are all stoked to be out on the river again, after high water off and on over Christmas and New Years – the river got to 10x our rafting cutoff level! We celebrated New Years day in style, taking a young Australian cricket team down the gorge and then a few days later we had two groups of awesome University of Missouri students down the river and staying at the lodge. It was brilliant to have these two wicked groups rafting the mighty Rangitata with us and enjoying our unique corner of New Zealand.  Now with the river finally calmed down we are back out there everyday, looking forward to a busy January!

Heres a few pictures from the last couple of weeks:

Last Saturday we had big day, with a couple of Stag Groups rafting with us. Both groups turned out in style, with one of our stags sporting a bright pink tutu down the river, and the other stag taking an inflatable doll all the way down the river with him – she even had her own place in the raft! Nice to have Paul on the river for his first commercial trip too, taking one of the stag groups down. Check out some of the pics from Saturday:

It’s been a busy week this week at Rangitata Rafts, with lots of trips and people being away. Jason, Ben, Duncan and Tussock have been super busy, holding the fort while everyone was away for a fews days on the NZRA rescue course. We’re really looking forward to having all our guides back with us, and gearing up for a full on weekend.
We have been going through a few feedback surveys, and have gotten some awesome comments, so we thought we would share some with you:

“I cannot say enough about the genuine staff at Rangitata Rafts. It was evident that they were passionate and knowledgeable about rafting. They always made sure that we were well informed and their sense of humour was an extra little perk. I had such a relaxing time at the lodge and a great thrill on the water the following day. It was the perfect combo! This trip is definitely great value for your money. Would come back in a heartbeat.”

“The drivers kept us well entertained with information and stories as the beautiful countryside of New Zealand went whizzing by on our trip from Christchurch.”

“Amazing location. Friendly professional staff that go above and beyond to make sure you have the best day on the rapids.”

“We were geared up in high quality, safe and warm rafting gear.”

“Informative, experienced guides made us feel very safe – even over the grade 5’s! Great BBQ cooked for you at the end – and trust me, you’ll be hungry by then! Perfect for backpackers as you can get picked up from Christchurch city centre.”

“I had never been rafting before, and will admit to being a little nervous before hand, but was made to feel so welcome and relaxed, I may well pay these guys another visit.”

Also check out some picture of our brand new guide Dave in action

The 2010/11 season has been in full swing for 6 weeks now, and it is fantastic to be back out on the river, enjoying the gorgeous crystal clear water and the beautiful sunshine. This weekend has be no exception, we have had awesome weather for the long weekend! The start of our rafting season has also meant the start of our Friday night touch rugby season, with the first game played last night. While we didn’t win, we definitely had some stand out moments, including a huge run from Jason (who knew those skinny legs could move that fast?) ending in a try by Reefton, some solid defence from Tussock, and big hits from Vic – just a pity it was OUR players she was taking out! We definately dominated the first 10 minutes, and everyone had an awesome time. Hopefully we can improve on the score next week.

This season we also have a new guide on the river – a big welcome to Dave, who is joining us for the season, after spending time in Canada, Australia and Japan. Awesome to have him joining our crew.

Hope everyone is out enjoying the wicked weather, if you are looking for something to do tomorrow we still have spaces avaliable – email us on info@rafts.co.nz or give us a call on 0800 251 251. See you on the river!

When I got up this morning and had to scrap the ice from my window screen I was feeling rather glad that the rafts are all stacked away in the shed for the winter! All of our guides have now go onto their winter jobs, with some in warmer destinations (very sensible) while others are opting to stay in NZ (hoping to get some skiing in perhaps).
The rafting lodge came in handy the other weekend as somehow our 12 year old son convinced us to have 12 of his friends for a birthday sleep over and our house is not that big! So we spent a very successful night at the rafting lodge – the perfect place for over active boys, as there is plenty of space outside for them to run around and burn off some energy. I am not sure why I still felt totally exhausted at the end of it all but certainly thankful that we could use the lodge.
So now it is time for some computer work, having time with the kids and a general catch up time. Our Rangitata Rafts season will begin again in September when we will be ready for another action packed season conquering those awesome grade 5 rapids with anyone who would like to join us out there on the river.