There's a spell on this land, and we've fallen prey to it's magic: the beauty of New Zealand is rich and varied, spectacular more often than not, and unrelenting in it's ability to inspire oohs and aaahs, even to the point where I've begun to say, "Stop it, New Zealand!" because my processor is overloaded. Much of the sensory overload is free, viewed from road, trail and campground, but a whole lot of it is not. The Kiwis, as I've mentioned, know how to separate you from your money, and they do it in the most affable way; if it wasn't so damn friendly and unbelievably beautiful here we might be offended. We do try to keep a tight watch on our wallets, at which, I admit, we're failing miserably. Yesterday, the spell took full effect, and we made a lavish choice: we went "Heli-Rafting" down the Whataroa River near the Franz Josef Glacier. Pricey, yes. But not as much as many things that have the word "heli" in them. In truth, it was an amazing price for an amazing day, and really, I'm not trying to justify it. The day will live in our memories as one of the most spectacular ever, and that is priceless.

The fun started in a Hughes 500 helicopter, which we boarded wearing our wet suits, splash shirts, life vests, boots and helmets, for a short 10-minute ride to where our rafting trip would begin. The flight was short but spectacular. We had a perfect day, calm, clear and warm, flying over the gorgeous Whataroa River, an incredible robins-egg blue, slicing over white-gray granite, winding through deep green canyons and over narrow valleys. The cool blue color comes from the melting glacial field, from which the river stems, then flowing over the gray granite rock, and it's a strange sight to behold. It's odd enough that that there are palm trees just two hours up the road from an icy glacier -- but the striking pale blue water of the river made it feel like we were on another planet.

After our spectacular flight, the pilot made a feather-light touchdown on the rocks beside the river, miles upstream, and dropped us off along with two of our guides, Bret and Justin. Both addicts to river sports, they literally follow the seasons in the rafting world, working the North American rivers in our summer, and the New Zealand (and other southern hemisphere) rivers in theirs. They had both rafted and kayaked some of the best rivers in the world, and Bret told us the Whataroa was in the top four. Of course, I can't remember the other three, but one of them was in Nepal, the other two in equally remote and exotic places. We were awed by the beauty and power of this river, and honored to be a part of it.

While they pumped up the raft, we waited on the beautiful rocks while the helicopter made two more trips -- one to bring more gear (and lunch!) and one with Michael and Gloria and our lead guide and owner of Eco Rafting, Josh. After the usual briefing in which you learn all the ways you can drown, get mashed and mangled by the river, knock your teeth out with your paddle, get your foot jammed between rocks, or be abandoned on the banks until rescue, we were instructed to jump in the icy cold glacial waters, which we reckon were about 8 degrees Celsius (46 degrees F). This was to accustom ourselves to the cold water and help prevent too much of a shock should we be tossed out of the boat. Trying to look unfazed, and at the same time trying to figure out how to make a run for it, we all nodded agreeably with nervous sideways glances, and ended up in the river in a big splashy water fight with our paddles, which, um, broke the ice, and relieved a bit of tension. A few more tips and how-to's and especially how-not-to's, and we were off, 7 in the boat and one in a kayak.

The river started off easy, which gave us time to sort of develop some timing, but overall I'd say we were a pretty abysmal team, I'm not sure how hard the guides were laughing because they were behind us, but I'm sure we were a comical sight. Yet we were earnest in our efforts, and have the sore shoulders and achy backs to prove it. The rapids came quickly enough, though, and I've never had such a blast being doused in frigid water in my life! What a fantastic rush, even though I was almost the first casualty, having been nearly tossed out on the first big wave. I learned very quickly how to wedge my rear foot at an awkward angle under the inflated cushion for more stability, and made a mental note of where the nearest rope was for a quick grab the next time. Luckily, there was no next time, although we went down more rapids, crashed into huge rocks, and dropped down a 3 meter waterfall in the next few hours. The best part, for me, was the water. The feel of it, cold and crisp, and amazingly soft. The color, unreal no matter how much I stared at it. And as fresh as any water you'll ever taste. It was mesmerizing. And surprisingly comfortable -- none of us felt cold at all, and we're all cold-water wimps.

Of course, at some point we all got really hungry, and despite the fun were having, had to beach the raft and go ashore in our helmets and gear for a crazy "bucket lunch" -- a delicious concoction of diced peppers and tomatoes, chopped lettuce and onion, taco seasoning, a can of chili beans, a can of corn, some mayonnaise, and the key ingredient, crushed tortilla chips. All dumped into a bucket and tossed like a salad with one of our rafting paddles, then scooped into flour tortillas with said paddle for a delicious wrap sandwich.

After lunch and a few slurps of cold glacial water, we took a short jaunt up a nearby arm of the river and jumped into a very icy pool, colder than the river, swam under a waterfall, then jumped back into the rapidly moving swoosh of waterfall to be rushed downstream and float, feet-first in the rapids-survival position, and down to a quiet corner of the pool. That got us wet again after our warm lunch on the rocks, and ready for more action on the river.

The second half was just as much fun as the first, only now we were feeling a little less nervous. At last I saw the old pillars of a former bridge in the river that marked the start of our journey in the helicopter, and I knew our gorgeous adventure was coming to an end. Michael, Gloria, Allan and I have had some amazing adventures together since we met in the Sea of Cortez a year ago, and with the exception of swimming with Humpback whales in Tonga, which can't really be compared to anything, this was the highlight of our trip.

I promised the guys I'd put in a plug for them: if you're headed this way, and you want some action, I guarantee it will be the best money you can plunk down for a fantastic day, in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Josh is on the web at www.ecorafting.co.nz and would love to share his beautiful rivers with you. We are so glad we fought off our frugal tendencies and, um, took the plunge. (No more puns intended.)

Prior to all this crazy fun, and since I my last blurb, we've:
- enjoyed a beautiful but steep hike up the hill above Lake Roroiti in the Nelson Lakes area, where I re-discovered my hip-flexors and also realized I'm out of shape;
- had a fun reunion with our cruiser buddies from Tonga in the beachside Kiwi Holiday Park campground in Nelson, getting all their tips on South Island (it was they who put us up to the Heli-Rafting -- peer pressure is even more convincing than Kiwi Tourist Brochures);
- shopped at Katmandu, one of the many outdoor clothing stores that pepper this land, stocking up on long underwear and wool socks to survive the cold nights;
- and spent a few days in the Rain Forest campground in Franz Josef, a lush, tropically landscaped property with great bird songs echoing in the trees.

That was our coziest campsite so far, with Gloria and Michael right next to us in a little fern-ringed nook, a canopy of trees above, and a picnic table nestled at the back against the forest wall. It was our eco-tech camp stay, with the four of us plugged into HQ (Henny Quarters, our camper) via a tangle of extension cords and foreign plug adapters to power Sony Readers and laptops, and recharge electric razors, cameras, and phones. Got a great photo of us "roughing it" out here in New Zealand.

Continuing the activities bullet-points, we:
- took a short walk to the head of the Franz Josef glacier, and marveled at it's blue cast and massive size.
- had a gorgeous drive yesterday from Franz Josef to Lake Wanaka, stopping constantly for photos, as well as continuing to hone my drive-by photographing skills, and taking a detour up a narrow dirt road to see the Fox Glacier from afar, which seemed even more stunning than the Franz Josef;
- visited the Fighter Pilot's Museum (quite interesting, actually) and then, finally:
- spent last night right on the shore of Lake Wanaka, the full moon reflecting off the water, the fresh breeze blowing, the water lapping the shores. We spent the evening reading our Lord of the Rings trilogy -- Allan is starting the first book, I'm halfway through the second. Fun to read about Middle Earth while we're right int the midst of it. This morning I even got up and out of my warm cozy camper for a stunning sunrise walk, and to top off the cool morning, Allan made me coffee!

Today, off to Queenstown for lunch, then Mossburn for a quick overnight stay, and then into the grand and fabulous Milford Sound, which we'll explore on kayaks.

Stop it, New Zealand!