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.

It’s getting towards that time of year again, when everyone heads off in search warmer climates and different rivers. Yep, it’s nearly end of season. We had our end of season dinner this week, we had an awesome dinner and it was really wicked to get everyone together for an evening (with everyone sporting some very cool hats). We have also started the good bye’s  for the season, with Steve, Chunk and Muz having their last days this week. Steve, Hachi and Rio are headed back to Japan and Chunk and Muz are headed to Canada for the Winter.

But it’s not all over yet! We still have a few more weeks of wicked rafting yet, so if your keen to join us, come along before end of season! And if you can’t join us till later on in the month you’re in luck – we may be rafting for a bit longer this year, as a few of the boys are keen for winter rafting this year….anyone keen to join them? The winter scenery is particularly breathtaking - beautiful alpine views and rafting down crystal clear water surrounded by snowcapped mountain ranges.

So come and join us before the end of season to experience the wicked white water rafting on the mighty Rangitata River, we have avaliablility all this week, so give us a call on 0800 251 251 or drop us an email.

While the rest of the country has a bit of a holiday, we will still be pumping on the mighty Rangitata Gorge all long weekend. So if you are are looking for something to do this Easter weeked, why not come rafting with us? We have a huge day on Saturday – 2 trips, both completely booked! But we still have space avaliable on Friday, Sunday and Monday. Or if you are heading down to Warbirds Over Wanaka why not stop in on your way there or back, we are located off the main route from Christchurch to Queenstown, so stop in for a fantastic rafting trip on your way through!
We had a bit of action on the river early this week, with the river coming up a bit and ‘Arleens Hole’ in ‘The Pinch’ Grade 5 rapid causing some crazyness. But after the rain on the coast last week the river is back to normal and at a perfect level for some wicked Grade 5 white water action.
Hope you all have a great Easter (and get lots of easter eggs), see you on the river!

We have had an awesome last couple of weeks, with the weather being PERFECT! Summer has finally arrived (just a little bit late), and we are definitely making the most of it and getting out on the beautiful blue water as much as possible. The mighty Rangitata River is running pretty low at the moment, so we are super lucky that the Rangitata is a Grade 5 river regardless. So even though its low we are still getting some wicked Grade 5 white water action – life is good!
This past weekend was Bullerfest 2010 held in Murchison on the Buller River. Bullerfest is the biggest white water festival in Australasia, attracting around 500 people from around the country for 3 days of rafting and kayaking. One of the big events is the Raft-A-Cross race, and a big congrats goes to our guides and trainees Amigo, Muz, Chunk, Duncan, Paul and Jenny (from Peel Forest OPC), who battled 12 other teams to take out first place!
Last week we also took one of our booking agents, Emily from the Christchurch I-Site, rafting and she had an awesome time! Check out her experience on the Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism Blog here.
On a sad note – Vic has left the kitchen for the season to head down to Waimate wallabie country, but we are stoked to have the lovely Sarah taking over BBQ duty.

While going through some old emails recently we found this one from Chris in the UK and thought we would share it:

Dear whoever,

I have just been on your website and reminiscing about the time myself, girlfriend (now wife) Natalie and friends Rory and Ann Marie spent with you rafting in 2004 (I can’t believe it’s already almost 4 years ago(now 6 years, Chris sent this two years ago!)). I was looking at the pictures and just had to send you the one of us that you guys took for us back in October 2004, I think the faces tell the story!!

The fact that we went travelling for 1 year to some amazing countries and yet this is the picture that is still the wallpaper on my computer at work tells you how much we enjoyed it and the memories it provokes!!

Keep up the good work and put this picture on your website

Chris Morgan (UK)

We absolutely love getting feedback from our awesome customers, and we work really hard to provide the best possible New Zealand white water rafting experience, so its awesome to get great feedback like this! If we have taken you rafting recently (or not so recently) and you enjoyed your experience, please let us know – we love to hear what you enjoyed and what we can improve on. Send us an email or write us a review on either Rankers www.rankers.co.nz or Trip Advisor www.tripadvisor.com

After the crazy weather at the beginning of the year and the drizzle last week, we are super stoked the sun has finally come out to play! And after the high water we had early in January, the river has calmed down and is a beautiful, clear, blue, perfect for rafting. So its fantastic to be getting out there and making the most of it.  One of the (many) awesome things about the hot weather is it means we can do lots of playing on the river – surfing, swimming and jumping off rocks, are heaps of fun when the sun is shining and the river is crystal clear. Heres a few pics from the last week of us loving the blue….

Mother Nature has been playing havoc with the weather lately. It’s been beautiful and hot here in Peel Forest, but heaps of rain falling at the Rangitata headwaters has caused the Rangitata River to flood with the  river peaking at 800 cumecs this week, 4 times our safety cut off level! This has meant a few dry days off for the guides, and when we have been able to get out on the water it’s been some big, crazy water to add to the excitement of the river.

But a flood isn’t enough to keep us off the water, this week we’ve run the Lower section with a couple of American University groups. The normally more sedate Lower Rangitata becomes  exhilarating and exciting in flood, and everyone had an awesome day of rafting down this wicked stretch of river before heading back to Christchurch. 

Fingers crossed the weather calms down this week and we can enjoy some more hot summer days on the Rangitata River.

This November some of the boys decided that they would get involved with ‘Movember’, an awesome cause to raise awareness for men’s health.

As anyone who visited the lodge during November will tell you, there were some seriously dodgy Mo’s gracing the faces of various guides. So we thought we would share some of their efforts with you. Cheers to everyone who put money in the tin and supported the blokes.

December brought more crazyness with our Christmas ‘Do/ Justines Leaving Party. In honour of Justine the awesome Office Hag leaving us we had a ‘J’ theme for our Christmas party. Everyone looked stunning, with some sporting really crazy outfits, including Jason cross dressing as Justine and our bus driver Ron dressing as raft guide Jason.

So  after 9 years Justine is leaving us and heading down south,  but fortunatly for us she will be making star appearences now and again, so we won’t have to miss her too much.

Merry Christmas from everyone at Rangitata Rafts, hope everyone has a good one!

A superb day to be out enjoying rafting on the crystal blue water of the Rangitata. I just found an old email comment from a guy named Tim which I had to share with you “I have rafted twice with you and it was excellent both times. It was more of an authentic Kiwi back blocks adventure then the more “disneyified” trips of other tourist towns which seem to have more of a “conveyor belt” feeling about them!” The views of the mountains & plains give you a feeling of endless space. Cheers Tim

October has been and gone  so we thought it was time to share  what some of the punters have said about their rafting adventure down the mighty Rangitata River.  (if you don’t read them all make sure you check out the last crazy one)

• “Lots of great fun and plenty of adrenaline! Wicked sweet BBQ afterwards!  Awesome trip overall” 
• “Our guide was friendly & very competent. We were given enough time to be familiar with the basic skills.  The experience was totally exciting and fun”
• “An absolute credit to New Zealand, friendly, fun and fantastic”
• “Just loved the nasal flush!”                                          
•  ”Rapids were crazy! Jumps were cool, really excellent”
• “Don’t think cold, freezing – think invigorating!”  
•  ”Beautiful surroundings, great staff and awesome rafting! Great day and great food!”
• “You might get wet!!!” (now that is a very truthful comment)
• “A shame AWESOME is an over-used word….. awesome staff, awesome time and awesome food!”
• “Extremely well organised, confident and knowledgeable staff, excellent progression of rapids.”  (Hmm, I bet those guide’s mothers are pleased to hear such rave reviews about their boys!)

And I have left the best and the longest for last;

“A true testament to Kiwi hospitality and adventure! WE had the best time ever, great guides, river, photos and chowtastic BBQ and we think …

• the potatoes were lush
• and the showers are heavenly
• and the guides haristyles are inspirational
• and the fire is hot
• and there are free brews
• and the sofas are incredible
• and my bed is so snuggle and far enough away from the smelly boys
• and I liked the stripey polypro tops
• and the grass was cut so nicely
• and the photos on the walls are fab
• and everyone has been sooper welcoming – the best in NZ!”

They were taken from the Oct surveys – next time I will hunt out some comments from the visitors books which can always be entertaining!