Day 165 - We were up early and back on the road again on route to Rangitata. We stopped off along the way at a beautiful church called 'The church of the good shepherd' which sat right beside a lake. After a few pictures we carried on to our Rangitata river base, this stop is purely for people wanting to go rafting - it is in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. Even though it was a little pricey we decided to sign up as white water rafting is something we really wanted to do and having grade 5 falls made it one of the best places in the world to do it. When we arrived we were all herded in to a room and told they had so many people there that night they had set up a tent with 5 beds in outside for a cheaper price than the room so me and Lloyd tossed our hands up and were put in the tent, which actually consisted of a proper bed. We dropped our bags and got ready for lunch. Luckily lunch and a BBQ was included in the price of the rafting which was fab. We ate our lunch which were massive baguettes and unlimited salad - lush. We were then all kitted out with thermals, wet suits, wet boots, helmets and life jackets and we headed down to the Rangitata river. Here we formed groups and we buddied up with 2 of the guys we were talking to the night before and three others. As I was the smallest on our raft I was placed at the back next to the guide, this was also known as the 'ejection seat'- great. We started on the calm part of the river learning all the commands and instructions and getting to know the raft. We also did a practice capsize, I being over eager -and not wanting to be on it when it went over, decided to jump off the back before it got a chance to capsize which everyone found hilarious. After about 45 minutes we headed for a fall. This fall only had a grade of 3 (all falls are graded between 1 and 5, 5 being the most dangerous you can commercially raft) We shot down it with ease, and enjoyed every minute of the adrenaline rush. The next one was a 4-5 grade and we had to get out the raft to allow the guide to view the fall from the cliff by the side of the river so he could judge the angle first. With butterflies in our stomach we attempted the fall. It was pretty scary and we had to listen and follow every command of the guide as we struggled through. It was fab. Our final rapid was 30 meters long and grade 5. This one was so fast and seems so long when in it but at the end of the day everyone managed to get through without any injuries which was great. We finished the day with some 'cliff jumping' I wasn't too bothered about jumping in the water but Lloyd was well up for it. The first jump wasn't too high at 10 feet but the second was really high at 30 ft and Lloyd broke the strap on his helmet from the force he hit the water with. We rafted to the end of the river and it was all over and all worth it. We headed back - showered and got ready for the BBQ. A whole load of sausages, buns, salad, potato salad etc and hot chocolate fudge cake to top it off - gorgeous. There was a big TV and a DVD player so me and Lloyd put on 'The Bucket List' and pretty much everyone came in to watch it, then after someone put on 'Jerry McGuire' and we watched that also before bed.