New Zealand is said to be the No1 adventure destination in the world.

Kiwis have come up with a variety of ways to get the adrenalin pumping and helicoptors and aeroplanes feature in many of these.

Gordon and Sherry our friends from Serenity took the opportunity to have themselves pushed out of a perfectly good aeroplane

at 18,000ft to sky dive over the Franz Josef Glacier.

Having come north from Fox Glacier the four of us decided to go off for a days Heli Rafting! And after 3 days of very heavy rain the

rivers were swollen and in full flood.

The temperate rain forest that covers the western flanks of the southern alps here on south island is so dense and tracks so few that

helicoptors are required to make any progress inland from the coastal plains.

The river we were due to raft, the Whangaroa was deemed even by the mad Kiwi guides as too dangerous so we moved on to the

Wanganui where a helicoptor picked us and our gear up for the flight up the river.

                                                                Still dry but about to get very wet

Unlike the helicoptor flight I took over the Bay of islands, this pilot had no quarms about flying low and we skimmed over the tree

tops and below tree level along the winding river. The rapids looked pretty tame from above.

                                                                Or so we thought!

In addition to the guide on the raft we had another guide in a kayak to pull anyone who fell overboard out of the rushing river.

The trip down river was great fun and after a stop for lunch in some hot pools we continued downriver and out into the flood plains.

A great day out.