After a brief chat in the café at Queenstown Resort College about the overview of the day ahead with our supervisor Ray Obrien, we grabbed our bags and were ready to embark on the wonderful day ahead. The activities planned for the day ahead are to consist of a spectacular scenic drive to the West Coast, photo shoots, a stop at the DOC centre in Haast and followed by the arrival in Hannah’s Clearing where we were going to meet John Duberly, our host and guide for Waiatoto River Safaris. Of course what would a trip to the West Coast be without a downpour of rain but this was not to deter us as we where all excited and ready to attack the days events. We boarded the small van we had and set out on the three and a half-hour long journey to Hannah’s Clearing on the West Coast.
The singing of songs and the banter made the trip fly by, the smell of salt water was in the air as we reached Hannah’s Clearing. Ray took us straight to Hannah's Homestead, this was the accommodation where Waiatoto River Safaris are based. We met John who was to be looking after us for the afternoon and night. The accommodation was very welcoming and warm. John showed us around and gave us a briefing about the jet boat ride that was ahead of us. It was essential that he gave us a safety briefing so that we could handle the situation in case of an emergency. Our group split into two so one group went with John to go on the Jet boat ride whilst my group stayed back at the accommodation minding the radio. John gave us a lesson on how to use the radio and what to say as he had to radio in to us and less us know where he was. This is not usually the case if you were to come and experience Waiatoto safaris. We were doing this activity as part of our Queenstown Resort College (QRC) course in which we where learning the foundation on how businesses run and how to interact with customers.
After about 45 minutes of relaxing and working the radio our group and Ray jumped eagerly in the van to meet up with John and the gang at the river. On arrival we met the happy, but wet faces of our class mates who where raving on about how much fun they had just had, which made me even more excited. The air was thick as the rain pelted down. Warm gear was being dispersed to us so that we did not feel the wrath of the brisk West Coast day. The five of us plus John walked down the bank and onto the Jet boat, everyone was quiet as they were getting ready for the entertainment that was among us. The boats engine roared as we took off on the astonishing Waiatoto river. Stopping occasionally to discuss what is in the river and the river level before we got to our destination. John tied the boat up and we stretched our legs and had a walk around. The group congregated under an old run down tree and John explained to us how the wild life work. There were no animals to be seen as the bush was too dense but he told us how all the plants lived off each other and how all the organisms worked together to better each other. I found this extremely informative and interesting as I learnt a lot of new things. We all got back in the boat and held on tight for the vigorous ride back down the river. Doing 360 spins, close encounters with rocks, not to mention the hail coming down on my face all made the journey down the river hugely exciting. But as with all good things it came to an end fast.
Back at our accommodation John started to make our dinner, everyone went into the kitchen and stood around the bench in anticipation as John gave us a great cooking lesson. He gave us all things to do and taught us some great skills on how to prepare food. The salmon and steak for dinner finished off the great day. All in all this was a great experience that I would recommend. Hannah’s Clearing is an amazing untouched place in the world and it is worth the trip to the west coast.
If anyone would like to here more about this trip or here some other views have a look at Nick Shea's blog and Regan Doake's Blog.
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