Rafting & Rotary (Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008)

Tuesday began with a slight chill in the air, and sense of eagerness to go rafting on the rapids. Of course this was only after everyone woke up; as many people slept a little longer than they wanted to with the travel finally taking its toll. Once we all got set it was a quick 5 minute drive up the road to meet with John Acland at the Church of the Innocents. John and his family own and farm approximately 23,000 acres, some of which borders the river which we would be rafting on later that day (his son-in-law also happens to operate the rafting business). John met us as the Church of the Innocents, which is the original church that was built on the property when his family first began farming on the south island. There was no electricity in the church, with the only light being the sun light entering through the magnificent stained-glass windows. John explained to us how his family has gone about building their operation, and the size and ownership changes of the property. He also mentioned how he and his brother began to manufacture cattle identification tags as a side business to their farming operations. Finally, John took us through the cemetery next to the church, where everyone buried there has a connection with Mount Peel Station in some way. You can click here to learn more about the original John Acland, settler from England... http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/A/AclandJohnBartonArundel/AclandJohnBartonArundel/en

Church of the Innocents - Mount Peel Station

John Acland...station manager, farmer, father & story teller

After we all had learned about the area from John, it was time to get a more "hands on" experience...a.k.a. time to go rafting! http://www.rafts.co.nz/ We headed back up the road to gear up for the trip which meant wearing those fun wet suits again in addition to several layers of fleece like materials to keep us warm. We then piled into the van/bus and head to the river. The group then split in half with six of us in one boat and seven in the other. The guides that we had were absolutely wonderful. For the first 30 minutes or so the river was very smooth and they taught us what they call "plan A, plan B, and plan C". Plan A was learning the basic strokes and how to shift our weight in the boat. Plan B what to if someone falls out and how to help them. And plan C, as you may have guessed, was what to do if the boat flips (main thing: try not to panic….yeah right). Once we all thought we knew what we were doing we took our first class one rapid. After that everyone felt like they could take on anything. As we proceeded down the river the rapids got more intense as we all looked forward to the first class five. Everyone had the option to walk around the rapid if they chose to but since we all are thrill seekers we took on the river. Both boats made it through without any issue and couldn’t wait until the second class five. This one was fiercer than the first but since we all had become professionals we went at it full steam and made it through perfectly. After the rush of class five rapids we got to have some fun. Abby, Hannah, Maggie, Chris, and Leighton took turns jumping off some rocks into the river, and then most of us did a smaller jump and floated down the river for a while. The last leg of the trip was in the rafts again for some class 2 rapids. Oddly enough it was at this point where we had some people go overboard. Sid and Matt ended up in the river on the last rapid but made it back in with no problems...we attribute this to our guide who switched with another for the last part. Finally we made it back to the lodge where we showered and headed toward Lincoln.

The gang...

Our youngest fruitgrower & only Dad...just a wee bit to small for rafting...

Some of the awesome professional pics taken by the guys from Rangitata Rafts

Dinner capped off the evening with the Lincoln Rotary Club http://www.rotary.org.nz/. We all found it very enjoyable to interact with members of the local community, listening to their stories and telling our own as well. The main event of the evening was a presentation which Matt gave about farming in Pennsylvania compared to New Zealand, as well as chemical/mechanical peach thinning and the economic advantages of these concepts. His presentation fit perfectly since he was able to show how he is putting his degree from Lincoln to use which he completed with the help of the Rotary Foundation. Once the meeting was complete we all piled back in to short bus and headed down to the Jailhouse Accommodation http://www.jail.co.nz/ get some well need shut eye. (Don't forget to check out the Jailhouse slide show at the bottom of the blog!)

Ben Keim