Day 323: White-Water Rafting!
So much of New Zealand tourism is “adventure” and “adrenaline” and/or requires fitness and endurance levels for intense biking, hiking, etc. Not quite our scene yet. But Teddy found the perfect solution: A “family float” version of white-water rafting from the Tongariro River Rafting Company.
So we signed up for a 3:30 ride.
That meant we had the morning and midday to ourselves, and made the most of a relaxing day at our gorgeous house. After making breakfast, we did school.
Side note: Homeschooling with Willa has gotten SO. MUCH. BETTER. Every day was a battle in the first half of the year. Then Q3 got slightly better and now we can just get through it without any attitude at all.
The rewards have helped (for every six good days she earns an iPad game she likes), but not in the way I anticipated. At first it helped eliminate the negativity. Now I realize that what it really did was break the cycle. She seems like she’s kind of forgotten she’s “supposed” to whine at school now, simply because it’s been so long since she has. Anyway, side note.
After school we ate lunch at home and had 2.5 hours of “quiet time.” Even a month ago this would have been tough because James would’ve needed some management. But here we are — unfortunately at the end of our trip — able to have an extended stretch of family quiet time!!
This is a huge breakthrough for us and, I think, a major parenting milestone that doesn’t get enough attention.
Two+ hours, no TV or video games, go entertain yourself, and don’t bother the grownups. Oh and by the way we don’t really have any toys for you to play with.
James read his book (he’s able to read the 13-Story Treehouse series now on his own — if you don’t know this one, btw, you should….Willa read it herself starting back in Vietnam, then we read the whole series to both of them, then Willa read the whole series aloud to James, now he’s reading it on his own. After Harry Potter, it’s been the kid book obsession of the year).
Willa’s busy re-reading Harry Potter. They also quietly painted and did some logic games we have. For the last 20 minutes they got their swimsuits on (by themselves) and went in the pool.
Aaaaaaah. Heaven.
As for us, we’ve felt a little busier than usual. Feeling the time crunch to put down in writing as much of our experience and the thoughts/feels/observations/learnings of the year as possible, and it’s taking a lot of time.
But it’s a necessary and interesting exercise that I’m enjoying.
Teddy’s spending a lot of time organizing the remaining logistics of the year plus thinking about stuff for our return. More on that below.
We drove an hour to the river while the kids read and snoozed. We listened to two “The Daily” episodes: first the interview with Pete Buttigieg then the ep recapping Trump’s 50+ minute call into Fox & Friends. Two more different men could not exist.Trump sounded like a senile, incohenerent grandpa talking gibberish about conspiracy theories!!! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy is he our president.
By the way, it’s funny to see a big chapter-book-reading boy in a baby seat:
Once at the rafting spot we suited up in many layers and headed out with our guide, Tau (pronounced “toe”).
Actually Tau is short for Te Ao O Terangi Raehana Tamehana Thompson, his full ancestral name. We learned on our ride that he’s a Brazilian jiu jitsu world champion and also a coach — two of his six kids are also world champs.
The ride was 1.5 hours down about 9 km of pristine river. Most of it was very tame (“if 0 is a bathtub and 6 is Niagara Falls, this is a 2,” they told us). But it was perfect for the kids. They got a thrill out of “surfing” (standing up and holding on to the ropes when we got to white water), “bumper boats” (when the raft bonked the rock edges of the river) and drinking water right out of the river!!
The water was so clear you could actually see the rainbow trout just hanging out on the floor of the river, five feet below. We did see a number of fly fishermen out along the way. Tau said that on any given day, a fly fisherman might catch between 30-90 fish a day out here. Whaa?
With about 5 minutes left in the ride, Tau suggested we jump in the water. While Teddy, Willa and James hesitated and did a game of “no you go first,” I jumped in! I’m never the one to go swimming, so thought I’d surprise everyone.
Damn it was freezing! Eventually everyone got it. We put up our feet and floated with the current the rest of the way back. I couldn’t feel my hands at the end!
We took a few group shots out by the van (there was an Aussie family in the other raft), then got driven back to the office.
We had “juice and bikkies” before saying our goodbyes and heading out.
GameChanger employee Ben doppelganger 
On the ride home we listened to more of the “Dolly Parton’s America” podcast, which is really, really good.
Back at home it was the usual routine here in Taupo — dinner, The Hobbit, kid bedtime and grownups on computers writing and planning.
It got chilly last night after a really hot day, so we had the fireplace on. So peaceful. No Sunday Scaries here.
MISC:
It was so nice to not have to “document” the rafting trip. No phones/cameras in the boats. They did all the picture-taking. I love the process of documenting, but this year has been relentless. I’m looking forward to not having to capture so much content in a given day.
One thing we’ve noticed this year is how people in tourism are super quick to say that something is “great for kids.” When we hear that line now we’re instantly skeptical, assuming it means 1) they vaguely mean some kind of mature 10 year old and/or 2) they’re just trying to close the deal. We’ve had so many “kid-friendly” experiences that were definitely not, that we now practically demand proof that the operator/guide actually *has a five-year-old and knows what they can handle* and/or photo evidence that a recent 5-year-old has *actually done whatever tour/experience it is and enjoyed it.* Kidding, but you get the point. Needless to say, we’re savvier travel consumers and researchers these days and have gotten better about sniffing out the fakes. This afternoon’s rafting company was a great example of an operator that “gets it.”
Here’s what’s on the current Trello board for our return to-dos:
- Find short-term apartment
- Browse long-term apartments
- Plan a back-to-NYC playdate for the kids
- Arrange conferences with their teachers
- Sign up for any spring 2020 after-school classes/activities
- Meet all the new babies born while we were away (Conrad, Anabel, Cole, baby Twerdun, baby Peun)
- Get health insurance
- Get the car inspected
- Book all our return doctor and dentist appointments
- Write a job descrip for an after-school babysitter
- Etc.
- Etc.
I think one of the things we’re most excited to do when we get back is…eat bagels!
One thing I’ve recognized in our recapping is that we’ve become better tourists. We’re better travelers, for sure, but specifically, better tourists. That means that we know better how to both respectfully and fruitfully visit a new place. We’ve made some mistakes that make me cringe when I look back, but they were part of the learning too. I was just writing about this when I saw this sign hanging in the bathroom at the rafting place. It’s so New Zealand to be this conscientious and PC. It’s the opposite of every other country we’ve been to, of course.
I admit we’ve unwittingly been in violation of some of the below this year, and each instance, looking back, makes me cringe. But being out here for so long you really start to see to ugliness of tourism and it’s all much clearer to us now why it matters to get this right. This is what being a good tourist means:
- Show the local people respect (in our experience: don’t treat poor, un-consenting people as tourist destinations — like, don’t go to orphanages, don’t take photos of people without permission, etc. — make friends instead)
- Keep things clean (eg, do your part to recycle, reduce use).
- Leave nature the way you found it (eg, don’t collect shells, rocks, etc.)
- Don’t support icky practices that are harmful to animals in captivity (eg, donkey/horse rides, any animal experiences that aren’t responsible zoos or sanctuaries or wildlife refuges, etc.)
