AMAZING EXPERIENCES

Canyoning in New Zealand

I didn't know what canyoning was until this trip and am overjoyed to find a new outdoor activity. Canyoning is the technical descent of a canyon. It can be either wet or dry (depending on the canyon you choose). I chose the wet version while I was in New Zealand. Basically, start at the top of a canyon and then rappel down water falls, swim and float down streams, climb and jump off of water-sculpted rocks and slide (sometimes head first!) down polished rock slides.

We drove about 30 minutes outside of Wanaka to the Matukituki Valley. We walked about 45 minutes uphill to the start of our journey down the Niger Stream Canyon. We got a quick lesson in abseiling (same thing as rappelling) and started off straight away with several raps off of raging waterfalls.

The descent took about 4 hours and it was absolutely non-stop exhilaration. The rappels were really fun, but I most loved the sliding and jumping. It's just pure joy to recklessly (but thoughtfully) throw yourself off a cliff into the water or to lay down on your stomach and slide down the rock until you plunge into the water beneath. It's really amazing. A couple times I had to convince my body to actually do it - there was some self-preservative resistance going on! But I won out in the end and completed all 12 rappels and countless slides, jumps, swims and climbs.

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