Her name was Betsy. Betsy from Florida. By her wrinkled skin and long white hair, I'd guess she was around 67 years old or so. She was the hippie type, wearing Indian moccasins and gold jewelry, hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. And she was hammered :) I had seen her in the Lake Front Lodge earlier that evening when I was checking some stuff out online. I only had so many minutes left on my internet card, and I was trying to hurry. But Betsy seemed oblivious to the fact that I was super busy. She sipped her HUGE glass of white wine (the 2nd one I'd seen her pour since I sat down) and babbled on and on, asking me a zillion questions. I tried to multi-task the best I could, but Betsy wanted my full attention. Eventually I went back to my room.
Tossed and turned… just couldn't get to sleep last night! Finally around midnight, I grabbed my book and went out into the lobby. Betsy was sitting on the couch with another HUGE glass of white wine, giggling over a TV show and making eyes at a boy from Panama sitting on an opposing couch. I plopped down and started reading, but the TV show caught my ear and before I knew it Betsy and I were laughing together over the outrageous sitcom. After the show ended, we started talking about our travels. She went on about how much she loved Cuban men. And men from Mexico. "How do you pronounce that city in Mexico?" She asked, then garbled a string of vowel-sounding words, looking at the boy from Panama and myself for help. We tried to help her sound it out, multiple times. "Poo-wer-toe-vee-ay-hoe!" But bless her heart, I don't know if it's cuz she just can't speak Spanish or because she drank too much wine. She absolutely could not even come close to saying it right.
So we played music instead :) Betsy swayed out the lobby door and to her car, returning with a Cuban mix. Popped the CD in, and we danced. Betsy danced by herself, I danced by myself, Betsy danced with Panama boy, I danced with Betsy… it was hilarious! She kept grabbing at the poor boy's bum and every time he would howl and jump away. She just laughed… eyes closed, swaying around a bit, arms in the air doing a little hula type of thing. She was a real kick. I got winded and sat down for a few minutes. Betsy grabbed my hand and tried to pull me up. "C'mon! DANCE!" she coaxed. I refused, so she picked my bare foot up off the ground and tried to bite it! Allllllll righty then… time to go to bed.
On to today's adventure. It definitely goes down in my NZ top 10. White water rafting on the Rangitata River. AMAZING!!! The Magic Bus dropped 4 of us off in Geraldine where a guy named Steve met us and transported us to the river. He was cool, had an eyebrow stud, beard, and a 1 1/2 y.o. baby. The baby was at home with mum, of course, but the proud papa told me that his son is already jumping off the couch. These Kiwi's, I tell ya. The staff at Rangitata were awesome. They had all the gear, hot drinks, and sub sandwiches waiting for us. After a brief introduction - turns out Steve was to be our white water guide - we piled into a van driven by Tussock, the dreadlocked owner, and took off for the river. It was raining and cold, the kind of weather that made getting into wet gear and frigid water very unappealing. But the promise of Grade V rapids further on… well, that made it worthwhile. I asked which seat had the most action. They pointed to the front. I sat in front. "This one's gonna be trouble" Tussock said as he shook his head.
Steve taught us basic instructions, how to paddle as a team, what to do if we fell out, what to do if we capsized, etc. "Don't panic, get in the missionary position, and keep your feet up." He said if he threw the rope bag at us and it hit us in the head, that was 10 extra points for him :) A couple from CO training in rafting and an instructor from TN were in my rig, so I felt pretty good about our team. The river started out really calm, then gradually got faster with more rapids. The last 2 rapids were both grade V. The 1st set was short but steep. We kept spinning around in circles before we hit the biggest one head on. We paddled as hard as we could to work up the momentum to shoot past it. The 2nd was pretty much the same but 3 x longer! I dug my feet into the rubber sides of the raft, and when I saw a wall of whitewater coming at me, I closed my eyes and paddled for dear life! The funny thing is, half the time I just paddled air cuz the front of the boat wasn't even in the water. Our guide thought it would be great fun to "surf" a particular rapid. It just so happened that a kiwi girl and myself were the ones who got sunk in the water up to our waists. The boys to our left thought this was amusing and couldn't stop laughing. Hmmmm, funny how they were the only ones who ended up in the water at the end of the day. Get 'em Steve!
Hot showers and a fantastic BBQ were the perfect way to end this incredible adventure. We were all freezing to the bone. My left pinky toe was completely numb. Plus they had me squeeze into this way-too-small wetsuit so I felt like a rubber band anytime I moved. The photographer, Ben, showed us a slideshow of the pics he'd taken from perch on the bank. Our faces… hahaha… not the most flattering looks on most of them :) Btw did I mention the crazy hair these people at Rangitata Rafting Co. had?? Of course there was Tussock, the owner who had golden dreads down to his shoulder blades. Then there was this photographer Ben who rolled in wearing a mullet wig. And to complete the trio was Dan whose hair resembled Curly from The Three Stooges. HA-larious.
A shuttle took the 4 of us to Methvin which is a town so small it isn't even mentioned in my travel book. It's a detour stop right now as Magic won't take anybody into Christchurch for obvious reasons. Made myself a grilled cheese sandwich and settled on the couch to watch a movie with the girls. I'm stoked for tomorrow. Kaikoura's next, famous for their wale watching, dolphin swimming, and penguin observing tours. Perhaps I will run into Betsy while I'm there. I could introduce her to Peter :)
Plan: check out Kaikoura for 2 days
Budget: $200 rafting, $3 black currant drink, $25 hostel, $1 internet
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