Queenstown - Adventure Capital of the World!

We wound our way back from Milford Sound to Queenstown today. It was exactly the same journey as two days ago. We did however stop at the Mirror Pool, which we missed coming in. This was a well worthwhile photo opportunity and 10 minute break in the journey.

The Mirror Pool

We arrived at Driftaway Campsite this afternoon and have a lovely spot by the lake. This is our view this evening.

The Driftaway Campsite

We went straight into Queenstown centre and walked along the quay. We stopped for Sue's happy hour cocktails and listened to a fantastic duo, guitarist and female singer.

We took some pictures of the views from Queenstown to jog Dave and Caroline's memories.

Tomorrow we have our Dart River Jet Boat Wilderness Trip. We leave early to go to Glenorchy, where we get the boat. More about that tomorrow.

After a wonderful drive to Glenorchy, we prepared for the next two hours on the Dart River. Sue said she felt like the Michelin Man. I knew it was best for me not to make a comment.

Mr & Mrs M. Man

This was our most exciting experience to date and we absolutely loved every second, although my narrative below might suggest otherwise.

Our jet boats were powered by 2 Chevy V-8 engines producing 350 bhp each. They suck water in, pass it through a turbine and jet it out the back of the boat. As they have no propeller, they can operate in a few inches of water, at speeds approaching 50 mph. They also have a little scoop that can drop down behind the jet outlets, which sends the jet towards the front of the boat. This means it can almost stop dead in the water, or do a 360 degree turn from any speed.

We were lucky enough to have all the boats capabilities demonstrated to us by our skipper. He would nonchalantly wave a finger in circles, to inform everyone the bottom was about to fall out of their world. This meant brace your legs, hold the safety rail with all your might and squeeze your bottom cheeks as hard as you can. The beautiful scenery suddenly flashed through a 360 degree kaleidoscope of mountains, sky, clouds and a cascade of water. Everyone except our skipper would do one of those nervous little laughs that people do when they try something risky and survive, but before you could think about it we were back to 50 mph over gravel and rock beds lubricated by about 2 inches of water. Actually, 2 inches featured a lot with our skipper because that was the margin he seemed to miss everything by at 50 mph, including boulders, bridges and trees. I commented on this to Sue, who hadn't registered the small margins by which we were still alive because she had her eyes closed. Fortunately, no humans were harmed in the making of this adventure, but most felt they had just been through a smoothie blender. Take a look for yourselves at our little boat.

Our jet boat. Regular stops were made to count how many passengers remained.

The Dart River - the bit of water between the gravel and the bank.

I know what, why not come and join us! Get seated, hold on tight and pucker up!

At points on the river, they let the passengers off. Most wondered around in a catatonic state looking like a new bread of red and black penguins, before being ushered back on board.

I'd made a run for it along the gravel bank but the two skippers caught me and dragged me back on board.

One passenger refused to leave his boat. We can only guess at his reasons for not wanting to stand up!

At the end of our 2 hour adventure, our skipper put the boat into a very slow spin out on the lake to name the mountain ranges. What made him think we were in any fit state to do a geography lesson at this stage of our adventure fails me.

I would have liked to introduce you to our skipper, but for obvious legal reasons he was not keen on us getting any of his identifying features or name.

Does anyone know this man’s identity?

It was most definitely one of those great to be alive adventures. We left Glenorchy and headed back to Queenstown. After a bit of driving we stopped by the lake for a Gin & Tonic and small beer to help ourselves recover. Are you OK, I asked Sue. Not sure. Let's get out and do a selfie, just to prove to ourselves we are still OK. What do you think? Good idea.

Happy Smiling People, or two nervous grins?

Tomorrow we travel to Mount Cook, heading north now. We thought we might try to do the cable car ride out of Queenstown before we leave. It's the steepest cable car ride in the world. I think we might be getting acclimatised to the adventure capital of the world!

See you all again soon.

Lots of love,

Sue & Trev xx