Whitewater rafting is undoubtedly one of the most thrilling of New Zealand's adventure activities, negotiating challenging rapids amid gorgeous scenery. Visitor numbers and weather restrict the main rafting season to October to May, and most companies set the lower age limit at twelve or thirteen. In general you'll be supplied with all the gear you need except for a swimming costume and an old pair of trainers. After safety instruction, you'll be placed in eight-seater rafts along with a guide (usually perched on the back) and directed through narrow, rock-strewn riverbeds, spending an average of a couple of hours on the water, before being ferried back for refreshments.

Thrilling though it undoubtedly is, rafting is also one of the most dangerous of the adventure activities, claiming a number of lives in recent years. Operators seem to be cleaning up their act with a self-imposed code of practice, but there are still cowboys out there. It might seem to be stating the obvious, but fatalities happen when people fall out of rafts: heed the guide's instructions about how best to stay on board and how to protect yourself if you do get a dunking.

Each main island has its major rafting centre - Rotorua on the North Island and Queenstown on the South Island - each with an enviable selection of river runs from mildly enervating to heart-stopping. Less frequented but equally exciting rafting areas include Turangi on the North Island, and central Canterbury and the West Coast in the South Island.

In more remote areas, helirafting is common, with rafts and punters airlifted to otherwise inaccessible reaches by helicopter. This can involve a lot of expense and considerable hanging around, so make sure what you are letting yourself in for and be wary of extravagant claims - the water may be no more exciting than more accessible (and cheaper) rivers. That said, if it's a wilderness experience you are after then consider basing yourself in Hokitika, Greymouth or Karamea for the best West Coast rivers.

Rafts are exchanged for inner tubes to undertake cave tubing , which involves a generally placid drift through underground waterways, with the emphasis on exploration and viewing glow-worms.