White knuckles on the white water

SPECTACULAR: The river trip offers stunning scenery, including sheer cliffs and waterfalls. HBT134126-32

"The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting," Andy Warhol once said.

When the thing you are waiting for is to bolt down some mean looking white-water rapids in what seems like a flimsy rubber raft, there is a fine line between excitement and dread.

At least we knew what we were letting ourselves in for. A group of us just had climbed to the top of an outcrop of rocks that looked down on the loud, angry, gushing rapids we were about to traverse.

We were at a beautiful, isolated spot somewhere along the Mohaka River. Getting there had involved a 45-minute bus ride from the Napier-Taupo road, followed by a half-hour float downstream in the raft.

But this was a white-water rafting trip under the expert guidance of Mohaka Rafting and we were about to encounter our first stretch of white water.

The stretch of river in front of us was called Long Rapid, for reasons that became obvious when we looked down on it. Ours was the last of three rafts on the trip, so on this occasion the excitement/dread of waiting came with an upside: the bonus of observing other people's terror ahead of experiencing your own.

During the first (genteel and white-water free) leg of our journey downstream, guide Gwynn had used the time to explain the instructions he would use to get us paddling the raft effectively and safely through the rapids. These were a series of commands, such as "forwards" and "backwards" to direct our paddling, so we would end up on the best side of particular rocks, or in the right spot to be pulled along by the most appropriate currents.

Gwynn's other commands included "hold on" and "get down", which were for when things got wet and bumpy.

"All left" and "all right" meant a mad scramble to one side of the raft to redistribute the weight of the bobbing vessel's human payload if he thought we were running into trouble.

The journey down Long Rapid went well.

Gwynn's instructions, followed by our scrambled compliant paddling, worked a charm, getting us through the maelstrom. It was a thrill to have made it safely down into the calm waters below.

Long Rapid is rated a grade 4 or 5 on scale of difficulty used to assess sections of white water - where grade 1 means very little rough water and grade 5 is extremely difficult to navigate safely.

We were on Mohaka Rafting's grade 4/5 trip but the company also offers tamer grade 2 and 3 excursions for the less adventurous.

The next stretch of quiet water gave us the chance to take in the river's stunning scenery, from the sheer cliffs above to the almost extra-terrestrial rock formations. "It's like Jurassic Park isn't it?" one of the other guides said.

The exhilaration of successfully mastering the art of navigating the raft was wiped away at a later rapid when we get stuck, lodged sideways, on a rock and the fierce torrents of water begin to quickly fill the bottom of the boat. We did a quick "all right" which, as we had been taught, lifted the side of the raft higher out of the flow so water does not pound in quite as quickly. Then we began a desperate wrestling match with the rock, trying to pull ourselves free against the relentless force of the current.

Eventually we won the battle, the raft lurched forward and the threat of being swamped and capsized was averted. Again there was a sense of exhilaration in feeling we had mastered the technique for overcoming the challenges of these mighty surges of water.

Further downstream, we stopped at "Hotel Rock" - a mid-river formation so named by the guides because it is larger than a house and its cavernous formations make it look like it could be a temporary home.

After clambering around the rock it was time to traverse the section of river, and more spectacular scenery, but this time with the added thrill of rafting during a thunderstorm. Large dollops of rain wet us from above, adding to the spray from the rapids, as eerie claps of thunder fill the river canyon.

By the end of our 20km journey downstream, the sun had come out again and the sight of our bus, and the hot drinks and biscuits set out by driver Marilyn, were a welcome treat.

It has been a full day of sensory overload and exhilaration. An ideal and unique way to discover the Mohaka River, one of the scenic gems of the Hawke's Bay region.