Today was an incredible day. Our plan was to head over to the Kaituna River for some ziplining and rafting. It was going to be a beautiful day, but the morning started cold, cold, cold.

After a short drive we got to Rotorua Ziplines, where we met our two great guides, Lucas and Nui. We put on some matcha-matcha cold-weather gear, belted on harnesses, and headed off to the ziplines. Julie was particularly excited since she’s never been ziplining before. After a short ride and a walk through beautiful natives woods, we reached our first zipline.

It was great! We zipped over native forests and stretches of the Kaituna River, which we’d be rafting down later that day.

With one zip down, Team Hubbard+ was having a great time!

As we walked to our next zipline, we stopped to learn from our guides about the native plants and local Māori history. We all were particularly fascinated by the discussion of Māori medicinal plants (Rongoā). We learned that the leaves of one small tree — the kawakawa — has mild numbing properties, and is used to make herbal teas and skin creams.

Our next zipline took us over Tutea Falls, but I’ll save the full details of the falls for the rafting part of this post below. I was the last to zip in our group, so our guide Lucas went with me and videoed our passage.

Seeing the falls got me excited and a little nervous for our afternoon adventures. After learning a little more about the area, we stopped for a short break. Our guide Lucas had been brewing a light herbal tea from raw kawakawa leaves, which we all enjoyed. We also learned a bit about Rotorua Ziplines’s incredible conservation efforts. As of 2021, the company was 20% carbon negative, meaning that they offset more carbon than they use. The way they’ve achieved this was by planting thousands of native trees in the area.

The next stop was a railless swinging bridge. Midway through, our guide gave us a chance to hang off the side and flip upside. Lydie and Cassie were more than happy to give it a go, but it wasn’t Connor’s cup of tea.

The bridge could only hold 4 people at a time, so Julie and I had to wait our turn.

We went upside down but didn’t look as cute as Lydie and Cassie — must have been something about our declining circulation and collagen. I’ll spare you the photos.

Our next zipline was a race. We told Lydie and Cassie that the winner of the race gets to keep our dog, Suki. With real stakes on the line, the girls were deadly serious.

Cassie won! Then I raced Julie (again with dog rights on the line), and I won. But since Julie and Lydie are actuallly Suki’s favorites, we decided to stick with joint custody for now.

We soon reached our last zip, which we all did upside down (including Connor).

We finished up and headed back to the ziplining home base, which was also where we’d be starting our rafting. We had a little time, so we grabbed a quick lunch at the cafe next door. A little before noon, we checked in for rafting. Fortunately, the day had warmed up considerably. We got wetsuits (which were dry and much, much warmer than the ones we got for caving) and helmets, and headed to the river. The section of the Kaituna we’d be rafting includes numerous class 5 rapids, including the massive Tutea Falls. At 23 feet, it’s the highest waterfall in the world rafted by commercial rafting companies. Oh, and it was Julie’s first time rafting.

At the rivers edge, we split our larger group into 3 boats. Fortunately, Team Hubbard+ would all fit in one raft. We met the fantastic guide for our boat, Justin, who asked us who would volunteer to sit at the front of the boat to take the brunt of the rapids. Julie, Connor, and I were all delighted that Cassie and Lydie were not just willing but actually excited for the job. With the seating sorted, we hopped in the boat and headed down the river. After a little instruction from Justin, we quickly *mastered* paddling. He also tested our commitment by instructing us to paddle the boat towards a stone cliff, which we did without hesitation. We crashed into the cliff. After Justin confirmed that we would blindly follow orders, we were ready to head off to our first big rapid.

We all crouched down in the boat and held on tightly, while Justin stayed seated to steer us through. The pictures don’t do the drop justice, but you can get a sense of the speed and height from how far into the water the boat plunged.

The river was gorgeous, and during the flatter sections we enjoyed looking around at the rock walls and tree ferns.

Julie was already having a great time on the river. If you look closely you can see her excited grin as we headed off another huge rapid.

After about 20 minutes, we reached a calm patch just above Tutea Falls. Justin told us a little bit about the history of the cascade. It was a sacred place to the local Māori people living along the Kaituna River. One of their main foods (kai) were the eels (tuna) in the river, which is why the river had been named “kai tuna.” The Māori living along the banks would sink their dead in the river to return their “energy” back to the land. Specifically, the eels would eat the softer bits from the bodies, leaving just the bones. The more durable bones were then placed in small caves along the river near the falls. As we paddled, we could see some of those small caves in the cliff walls. One of the chiefs, Tutea, had the great honor of having his remains placed behind the falls, hence the name “Tutea Falls.”

Before heading down the falls, Justin led the group in a Māori prayer. Our pronunciation wasn’t great, but our desire for safe passage was certainly sincere. Justin also led our particular boat in a chant of “flip, flip, flip,” which he described as river reverse psychology. We also shifted our seats a bit to distribute our weight more evenly, leaving Cassie alone in the front of the boat. Thus “prepared,” we headed over the edge. This time, Justin assumed a crash position as well.

Our sharp-eyed readers will note that my mouth is open in just about every picture. I process fear and excitement with similar whoops and cries. And a hefty amount of water in my mouth when the entire boat submerged at the bottom of the falls.

But we didn’t flip! Our prayers and reverse psychology worked. In looking back at these photos, I’m super impressed by our guide. He was seated and steering while the rest of us were still trying to figure out which way was up.

Team Hubbard+ was all smiles.

But our guides had more in store for us. For one rapid, we had the option of swimming through on our bellies. Julie wisely declined, but Cassie, Connor, Lydie, and I all were up for the nonsense. The kids all nailed it. I got a little turned around and may not have followed the instructions correctly. With a little direction from Justin and the safety kayak, I made it to the boat before getting swept downstream. I also confirmed that I cannot breathe underwater.

We were just about done with our paddling excursion, but we had time for a bit more tomfoolery. Justin told Connor to climb to the front of the boat and grab the ropes.

And as we hoped, Justin steered the boat straight back into the rapid. Though we had a sense of what was coming, the amount of water Connor took to the face was incredible.

And he’s clean!

And then Justin told Julie and me to climb to the front of the boat. Uh oh. He also told us to kiss. By this point, we’d do anything Justin told us, so much to the disgust of the 20-somethings, we smooched, and were plunged under the water.

I think it counts as a celebration of our 22nd anniversary. The kids were also pretty thrilled to watch us get our sinuses blown out.

We headed home twisted, tired, and sore. But we were elated with the day. That night, we drank wine in our hot tub. We chatted, laughed, and looked at the stars. We also toasted Julie for succeeding on her first day of ziplining and white water rafting. Cheers!

-Will