What can I say, I have travelled the corners of the globe in the quests to find a better destination than Ōkere Falls. I couldn’t find it! Growing up in Ōkere Falls had a massive impact on my life direction. As a young guy, it was the quiet community full of holiday baches allowing a free-range upbringing and summers spent playing in the lake and winters in the hot pools. Fast forward to my teen years, and the river community had started thriving. It is now a diverse community that has so many colorful personalities from all different backgrounds and socio-economic upbringings/ living standards, yet somehow, it is a community that is bound with passion and enthusiasm for living a unique and for-filling lifestyle. I will forever be grateful for the privilege to work in Ōkere Falls, raise my children in Ōkere Falls, and enable people to experience a truly unique destination.

Sam’s Rotorua Rafting company operates exhilarating whitewater trips on the Kaituna River. For more information and bookings go to their website rotorua-rafting.co.nz