Originally Posted by hauteboy

The weather in Rotorua was supposedly better so decided to head there for this afternoon. A friend had recommended going whitewater sledging there and I was able to book a tour for 2 pm. The weather started clearing as I headed south from Thames after 10 AM. I passed through the town of Matamata which has labeled itself 'Hobbiton' as the set used in the LOTR movies is nearby and has become a huge tourist attraction. The visitors center resembled a Hobbit house and there were loads of tourist buses here. The tours to the site run like every 15 minutes yet were already sold out for the next 3 days!...
...The guides demonstrated some safety procedures and how to twist around in the water, and the main rule 'don't let go'. We went down the first rapids and had to kick hard to get to the calmer side of the river, but even kicking as hard as I could the guides still had to haul me along. Whew. They asked how I was doing and said I could manage. We went down a few more rapids but one I was a bit too far left to the edge of the channel and bashed my knee hard on a rock! Another one the current caught me and did a corkscrew in the water! Definitely a lot tougher than whitewater rafting.. in sledging you are the raft! Finally, we came to the final rapid and hung out there for awhile trying to surf the waterfall. I was pretty worn out and was worried about there being a large hike out, but luckily there was a parking lot on the same level as the exit point! Definitely was fun but definitely tough when you're out of shape!