January 16

Kaituna Cascades Rafting, Bus to Aukland, Flight Home

This would be a long day. I would be going home tonight, and gain a day at the International Date Line, making this about twice as long as a normal day. I got up, had breakfast, and packed for the plane. I got out everything I would be needing for my raft trip, and checked my bags. This YHA makes you pay to store stuff: they have coin lockers. This was the most secure storage I had seen yet, though. Many hostels use an unlocked closet.

The Kaituna Cascades raft trip would spend only 45 minutes on the river. Its main purpose was to run Okere Falls, a 7 meter waterfall said to be the highest commercially run drop in the world. The bus came just after 9 AM and brought four passengers to the takeout on the Kaituna River. I had actually met the other three before at the Ski Haus in National Park - two were Canadians. The Kaituna River is one of the warmest in New Zealand, and shorts and a fleece top (provided) were sufficient. There were enough people here for three rafts. People such as myself who had sandals wore them, while others went barefoot. Helmets and lifejackets were distributed, and we received some instruction.

The rafts had webbing to grab onto for the bigger drops, especially Okere Falls. We were told to get in the bottom of the raft and hold the webbing for the big drops, with the oars held outside the raft, parallel to the edge. I brought my waterproof camera to take pictures, but the gorge was deep and and lushly vegetated, and it was cloudy, so I suspected I wouldn't get many good pictures.

The river started with reasonably easy class 2-3 rapids. It was narrow and deep enough that rocks weren't a problem. The lush green plant life made the run quite pretty. We practiced some maneuvers on the easy rapids. I was in front, beside one of the guides. Each raft had two guides, one at each end. I was told my paddling was excellent, and I said I had lots of practice at home. The first big drop was a 10 foot falls, probably class 4, which was pretty straightforward and not too steep. An old generating station was next to it, now in ruins.

The second big drop would be Okere Falls. Our raft went last, and we flipped at the bottom. I tried holding on and coming up under the raft, as instructed, but the water was too frothy for there to be much air under there, so I came outside. The raft was quickly righted in the big smooth pool below the falls. We all paddled back up for a "victory picture". We could buy a pack of six pictures later, if we wanted.

The remaining rapids were minor. We did one while spinning, and surfed a hole. We were last, and tried the hole twice. The gorge had beautiful fern trees and high rock walls. The short run ended quickly, just before a falls that cannot be run safely due to a death hole at the bottom which has claimed a few people.

We were back at the hostel at 11:30. I stopped in some souvenir shops trying to find a nice Maori carving, and I bought one. It was a carving of a warrior sticking his tongue out, with big paua shell eyes. Such carvings can be found in most of the shops. Tikis are common too. Then I went to the Pig & Whistle Pub for lunch. I had decided to do this last night when I was here, because they had an extensive menu. I got lasagna with garlic bread and their Swein Lager, which was not as interesting as their ale. I managed to use up most of my coins here.

I went back to the hostel, and took a short walk along the smelly lake-shore, which was bubbling with noxious gasses. I picked up my luggage from the hostel locker and waited for the Murray's Bus I had booked. It arrived around 3 PM, and was actually a small van with a trailer, with no air conditioning. It was cheap, though. There would be only a few riders. The driver was a nice young lady who was very friendly.

After boarding, I rewound the film in my cameras, so I could carry the film separately through the airport X-ray. I noticed now that none of the pictures on the last roll in my Nikon camera would come out, because the film was not loaded correctly. This was disappointing, because I would have had some pretty pictures of the Bath House gardens.

The bus got warm inside on the ride, because the sun was out now. We picked up an elderly lady along the way, who talked a lot about how much things had changed. We went through a town called Paeroa, home of L&P soft drink, which is very popular in New Zealand but unknown elsewhere. The name stands for "Lemon and Paeroa". I had tried it once, at the Shotover Jet headquarters, and wondered what paeroa was. Originally, the soft drink was made with naturally carbonated water from a spring in Paeroa. That spring no longer runs, and ordinary carbonated water is used to bottle the drink in Aukland. The elderly lady on the bus said it still tastes just like it did originally, and she finds it more refreshing than other soft drinks.

We came to a coastal town, Papakura, on a bay south of Aukland, and stopped for a while. I was the only passenger going on, and I was let out at the Information Center, next to a mall, for 25 minutes while the van was serviced before our scheduled 4:15 departure, when we would pick up two more people. I walked to the mall next door and looked around. I thought of getting a snack, but I didn't want to change any more money, and I had already spent most of what I had. I would need $20 at the airport for the departure tax, and some money to get from Aukland to the airport. I found a CD store and bought a Maori CD. Most CD's in New Zealand are expensive by American standards, even considering the exchange rate, but this one was reasonably priced.

There was a lot of traffic on the highway as we approached Aukland at rush hour. I was glad I didn't have to drive in a place like this. We decided I would be dropped off at Aukland Central Backpackers (ACB), which has regular shuttle service to the airport for $8. I got there at 6:30, and had time to get dinner at the budget cafe on the seventh floor before departing. I had exactly $7.95 to spend, beyond the $8 for the shuttle and $20 for the departure tax. I spent all but 15 cents of it on shepherd's pie and an L&P soda. I think L&P soda tastes something like lemon hard candy.

I waited in the cafe, which was painted like a forest. Backpackers' Hostels often have such murals, though they are not seen at YHA's. At 7:30, I got my shuttle to the airport. I tried opening my big duffle bag to get some things in it, and noticed that I had lost my key, probably on the bus. I had a spare key, but it was locked inside. The duffle bag already had a few holes in it from this trip, which were patched with duct tape. I thought I might have to cut another one.

At 8:10, there was already a long line at the Air New Zealand counter in the airport for the 10:30 flight to Los Angeles. I checked in, and after some hunting, found the place to pay the airport departure tax and get a departure card. The security lady agreed to check my film by hand, and opened all fifty of the containers. We departed a little late for the 11 1/2 hour flight to Los Angeles.

An Australian couple sat next to me, and the man gave me an Australian mystery book to read. It was really dull, and I quickly went to sleep. An Australian movie about a pig came on, and I slept through most of it, except when they served dinner. I had the beef casserole, and slept through another movie, waking in time for breakfast. I had the mixed grill, just like on the flight over: sausages and baked beans. We were still a few hours from LA as the sun came up. It was the morning of January 16 again. They showed American sitcoms and Pink Panther cartoons and a really bad comedy gameshow. We arrived in LA at 1:15 PM, a little late.

I collected my bags and went through customs, with nothing to declare. A little dog with a green "Agricultural Inspector" vest sniffed all the luggage. There was time to check my bag here, so I didn't have to carry it all the way to the domestic terminal, a long walk. (I didn't take the bus.) I just had time to get a chocolate croissant and cafe mocha before boarding the 3:15 plane to Atlanta. There was no one next to me for the 3 1/2 hour flight, so I could sleep comfortably. I skipped the movie, Truman. They charge $4 for earphones to hear it.

I had a chicken pasta dish for dinner. We got in on time at 10:20 PM, and I just had time to walk to the other terminal to board the 11:05 flight to Knoxville. This flight was not very full, so they planned to leave early if everyone arrived on time. The half hour flight arrived in Knoxville at 11:40, and I got an ABC shuttle back to my apartment, arriving just after midnight. Using a little topology, I was able to get my duffle bag open far enough to find the extra key inside and unlock it, so I didn't need to make any new holes.

Copyright Scott A. Yost, 1996. All rights reserved.