The Mysterious Rangitikei
By Bree Wilson
Any spot in the immediate vicinity of Taihape endures an inevitable association with the humble gumboot. But alas, its mystery eluded me as I left State Highway One between Waiouru and Taihape en route to River Valley Adventure Lodge. On my arrival, I was greeted by Brian and Nicola Megaw, the lodge hosts. Janey, their daughter and a third-generation River Valley aficionado, informed me that I would spend the following morning exploring the Rangitikei countryside on horseback.
The River Valley Stables is a short car ride from the lodge, nestled behind the hilltop home of hosts Brian and Nicola. My ride was the aptly named 'Chestnut', a stunning, composed horse with a curious obsession with walking at the immediate rear end of fellow steed Gypsy. Chestnut's manner meant he was usually assigned to new or nervous riders, of which I was one, and so before long we had embarked on our half-day quest.
The trek takes riders over the sheep, cattle and deer farm that rises and falls along the Rangitikei river. The first part of the ride is spent getting accustomed to your horse and hearing about the history of the farm. However Janey, an extremely talented horse rider and teacher, won't have you relaxing for long. Barely 10 minutes into the ride I was informed I was ready to canter, which is not as frightening as it sounds: there's certainly no greater feeling. I was soon cantering and trotting 'off the beaten track', over amazing terrain with breathtaking views, including the imposing yet stunning Mount Ruapehu.
It was here that my horse riding experience went slightly awry, though not through any fault of Janey and the River Valley crew. I found myself with a runny nose, itchy eyes and a shortness of breath, though the problem was a little larger than I had anticipated: my lip had also produced a lump the size of an apricot and my face was covered in large, red, itchy blotches. Upon looking in the mirror, I was amazed that the crew had managed to bite their tongues and politely offer me an antihistamine.
At 8.30 a.m. the next day, after a night spent watching a rafting video entitled 'I Had a Bad Day', I joined the group to get my rafting gear fitted. I had doubted the ability of any clothing to keep me warm in a New Zealand river, but five layers and one inside-out wetsuit later, I was in a van making my way to the starting point about 20 minutes upriver. Joining me on the trip were, to my delight, a number of lodge staff, and to my amazement, a 13 year old girl. Our guide, Ben, was a jovial character who had devoted most of his life to rafting around the world.
The first part of the river is delightfully rapid free and so the majority of technique is learnt on the water. After a stretch of beautiful, calm river, words cannot the describe the terror with which we approached the first rapid. We had already been instructed to 'paddle hard' on Ben's prompt, though I was considerably nervous when this instruction had failed to cease as we teetered over the edge of the first rapid. I decided that I would take the initiative to 'pull in' first and hence I am noticeably absent from photos of the first few rapids (that is, I'm on the floor of the boat).
Rapids on the Rangitikei get more difficult as you approach the lodge, so while the panic certainly didn't subside, I did develop an overwhelming urge to laugh after each rapid had been conquered. It could have due to Ben's tendency to announce something along the lines of 'OH MY GOD! WHAT HAVE I DONE!' as we hovered over the edge of each rapid, but it was more likely that it represented huge relief. Needless to say, the laugh couldn't have been louder after we avoided capsizing on a death-defying 2m drop.
In between rapids, we watched the staff raft capsize, listened to Ben's amusing stories and even enjoyed a Moro bar. By the time we had reached the last stretches of the river (and the most dangerous rapids), the high levels of sugar had set in and our entire raft was paddling with all our might in order to gain maximum speed over each drop: an incredible feeling! By this stage, adrenalin was overriding fear and as we came round the final bend to the lodge, I had decided to forget Taihape's gumboot status and endow the Rangitikei region with 'Adrenalin Capital of New Zealand'.
