White water river boarding down the Mighty Kawarau River River in Queenstown –the scariest god damn thing I have ever done and will never do again – what was I thinking!

It’s sheer madness but being a confident swimmer I was sure I could handle it.  Before I go on, on average two people die per season!  Basically you surf an 8km stretch running, surfing and dodging waves, rapids and whirlpools. The Kawarau River is a grade 3+, perfect for kayaking but riverboarding I’m not so sure.  I came off my board on the ‘Man Eater’ rapid (first video) and was pulled under for a good few seconds and emerged gasping for air – my life flashed on front of my eyes.  I picked this activity instead of a bunjy and I’d make the same choice again, it was worth every penny and more but I’ll never do it again – pure adrenalin and not for the faint hearted.

I don’t have any pictures. There were pictures of the group and a few of the rapids but they weren’t worth the asking price so I’ve embedded a few YouTube videos to give you a flavour of the activity – these are all surfing the same stretch.  We were in the water for a good two hours and exhausted by the end.

The last video is a little long but if you have time will give a great insight.