Beatrix pottering: Messing about in boats

New Zealand is known for its outdoors activities: mountain-biking, bungee jumping, hiking (although they call it tramping, which I love), and kayaking. This has been evident from Auckland's plethora of outdoors-y shops onwards; but none of these activities are particularly three-year-old-friendly. Or so we thought. But today, we took Jemima kayaking down rapids.

Ok, they were small. And we were in inflatable, stable kayaks. And, in fact, she was in the instructor's boat, so safe from Kevin and my efforts. But still, today, the Goodwin family kayaked down rapids.

We'd seen a poster for Pelorus Eco Adventures in Havelock, and its emphasis on "no experience needed" and "family friendly" was appealing (and necessary - we have literally no experience) . They did a pick-up from our campsite, so we booked ourselves onto the 1.15 session, drove across to the main site in the morning (parking up on a beautiful river front spot), and readied ourselves for the adventure, slightly nervous (or me at least).

Friendly, competent (and reassuring) Chris, 23, from Blackburn (yes, England) and Janina took us upriver in their van with the kayaks trailered behind; then Janina drove off to leave the van at the end point, while we (suitably fitted with life jackets and helmets, and a special short/ broken-handled paddle for Jemima), carried the kayaks down to the water's edge. And then we were off!

A bit like it's much better being on the sea in a boat than looking at it from the shore, I can now safely say it is much better being on the river in a kayak than looking at it from the shore. Kevin and I were fairly rubbish at going at any speed in a straight line, but it didn't matter: the river flowed gently but inexorably on; we would keep going forwards, no matter what he and I did. And Jemima was very happy sitting in the bow of Chris's boat, chatting as usual (Chris was wonderful with her), and giving instructions about when to go faster so they remained in the lead. It was beautiful: being on the astonishingly clear water, like glass, with thick untouched jungly vegetation either side and blue sky above. And the odd rapid (aka some faster water with white edges between some small-ish rocks) did add a thrill: I found myself whooping, and not just to amuse Jemima.

After a little while, just as I was beginning to get hot (I kept getting over-enthusiastic and thrashing about like I was in the Olympics), we paddled onto a bank near the stone remains of a bridge. Chris, Jemima and I went for a swim - or rather Jemima got up to her waist then shrieked about it being too cold and had to get out (my attempt to get her to swim by launching her to Chris, like we do in the pool, was unfortunately not successful - but she soon stopped crying...). Anyway, I loved it - so cold it made your skin tingle, and so clear you could see the bottom 3 metres down, but with a deceptively strong current - I had to work hard to get out where we got in.

Back in the boats, we continued on, mainly drifting peacefully but occasionally swooping through rapids - or in a few cases, getting out to push because we'd got stuck. Chris very kindly refrained from laughing, just giving us the odd pointer and suggesting the best line to follow (the rapids felt dangerous enough to be exciting, but not too unsafe - although it would have been a lot more stressful if we'd been responsible for Jemima, and we did occasionally have to rely on some Kevin-strength paddles to get us back on track...). We paddled past, and then under, a waterfall; then down the route of The Hobbit's Barrel Run (yes, another LOTR/Hobbit location, like all the best NZ places). And we took a detour up a joining river to paddle under the suspension bridge we walked over yesterday - and it was even more stunning being in the view rather than just looking at the view (although actually quite hard work going upstream). And then, after three hours, just as Kevin and I were beginning to get a feel for it, and I had finally slowed to the speed of the river, the adventure was over. We beached the kayaks, which Chris then manhandled up the slope; and were driven back, soggy but exhilarated - and converted to messing about on rivers.

Tea and ice cream in the cafe, hot showers, homemade Spanish omelette and salad, sunset over the peaceful river. A good day.

PS Fact for the day, thanks to Chris: kayaks originated with the American Indians, have tall sides, single-ended paddles, and you usually kneel in them; canoes originated with the Inuit (it used to be a seal skin that held you in), have low sides, double-ended paddles, and you sit in them. Our inflatable craft had high-ish sides, the two boats had different paddles, and we sat in it - so canoe or kayak? We agreed it didn't matter. So here, it's a kayak.

PPS The disadvantage to woodland/ riverside peace: rubbish internet. So I haven't made any progress getting my photos up to date, sorry. Hopefully tomorrow!