Superfun River Surfing

   We had originally planned to go canyoning while in Wanaka, but on Monday morning we woke up to rain. It had rained enough that the river had come up to a level that was unsafe for us to go into the canyon. In order to make the best use of our time we moved our sledging tour up. Sledging and river surfing are almost the same. Sledging is a bit easier because the body board is more buoyant and outfitted with handles. River surfing is very similar but it really is just a boogie board and a pair of flippers. We suited up in a full wet suit, life jacket, and helmet. We took video of the two 6k trips we took down the rapids. The river was a class three river. It was quite a struggle to go the direction we wanted to and the river flows were pretty high creating a faster current. One of the guides told us that he has guided in Aspen, CO river surfing on class five rivers. Our trip was enough of a thrill at class three.