It’s only 8.30pm and I’m so tired I’m ready for bed, but that nasty Tom has made me sit and write the blog!
We’ve had a fairly short day in comparison to others, but I think all the activity is catching up with me. We haven’t really had a no action day since we set off from Al and Jenn’s. Today we rose late (9.30am), had a leisurely breakfast, went shopping for tonight’s dinner and other necessities then set off at about 12.30pm on our explorations.
It’s very hilly round here so wherever you go it’s good exercise(!!). We first walked up to see what the Kiwi and NZ Birdlife Park was like and decided it wasn’t for us; walked on to the Gondola (chairlift) and decided we’d do that in an evening so we can see the town lit up; then we were so exhausted we had to stop for coffee! We were attracted by the sign that said “Best carrot cake in Queenstown”, and I think they weren’t exaggerating as it was lovely – no calories of course!
As Tom wanted to compare the attractions of the various Jet Boat rides on offer, we carried on down into town – this place has to have the largest concentration of travel offers, adventure activities - and clothing and gear to carry them out – that we’ve seen anywhere. Then there are all the beauty treatments, massage and tanning you could ever want in one place. The gift shops are almost one every few paces selling for the most part high end products with prices to match. Lots of Merino wool, and sheepskin, with fleeces of all types and weatherproof outerwear for the winter outdoor pursuits. Tom couldn’t believe how fine some of the Merino wool garments were, especially the underwear. “Who would want to wear woolly knickers?” he said before then feeling almost every pair in the shop! I was tempted by the jade, pearls and paunami (paua shell) jewellery and eventually gave in to some paua shell as you don’t see it as much as the other two. (I’m also more likely to wear it.)
Anyway, I digress, we haven’t got to that point yet. Back to comparing the water rides on offer. After what felt like hours (for me), he finally decided that we’d go on the Kawarau Jet, mainly cos it was from the centre of town (where we were), and we could go NOW! So on went the lifejackets
and into the boat we went. 
Now, you know me, not the most adventurous person around, so when we set off from the jetty at about 100mph, my knuckles were so white, you’d have thought all the blood had left my body! Then we stopped. OK I thought this can’t be all bad if we’re going to stop at intervals like this. AH, but this was only for the safety information 
– hold on tight, brace your feet against the bar and don’t stand up. DON’T STAND UP?? What did he think we were all going to do, a mexican wave while we were in the boat?? Ballet dancing?? Or was he just afraid we’d be so scared we’d all stand up and leap overboard? He also warned us that he would be spinning the boat occasionally and would give us some warning before doing so – by circling his arm above his head. I’d have preferred him to keep both hands on the steering wheel but I didn’t say anything cos I didn’t want to look too much of a wuss in front of the other 10 poor souls who were going to die with us. So off we went again at 200mph this time, bouncing and banging our way over the wake of the other boat that had come in (complete with passengers I was pleased to see) but that could have been a ploy to make us all believe that we’d all come back too.
On this ride, you set off up the Frankton arm of Lake Wakatipu and then over the falls (rapids really)
into the Kawarau River which is very wide and deep. So we stop – right in the middle while Jim (the child who’s driving) tells us a little bit about how deep it is at this point (!!!!!!) and how the boat sits almost one metre down in the water while we’re not moving but only requires 10cm when we’re up to speed. At this point, I realise I can touch the water over the side, we must be sinking. I look at all the other passengers but as they’re Chinese (I jest not!) they’re inscrutable and Tom just laughs and says something like “Isn’t this great?” He clearly has no idea of the danger we’re in, nor of the murderous thoughts going through my head. We’re off again at our usual 300mph straight towards the bank – oh my god, we really are going to die. Then Jim makes his lassoing motion above his head – I thought you only did this when you were drowning to attract attention? Well, he’s certainly got my attention!! At this point, the whole world rotates and water COMES INTO THE BOAT! I close my eyes and wait for the angels chorus! All I hear is laughter, strained laughter to be sure, or maybe that’s the Chinese way of showing fear and not losing face. Oh no, we’re off again and now we’re turning sharply into the Shotover River, which, Jim has calmly told us, is only a few centimetres deep in places and we’ll have to keep moving or we’ll have to get out and push the boat off the gravel – ha! ha! Looking around, (with one eye) there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of a passage through all the grey gravel that stretches almost as far as the eye can see, so obviously the river level has dropped during the night and we won’t be able to go any further. I think Jim likes a challenge or is out to prove a point as he SPEEDS UP and drives straight up the nearest trickle and then we turn – boy, do we turn! More water in the boat. Hysterical laughter – mine I think.
I’m sure they all think I’m enjoying this – little do they know I’m just about to have a nervous breakdown. At this point, we stop….but Jim said we daren’t stop as we’ll get stuck…but he only wants to tell us more about the history of the area. While he’s chatting, we become aware of another Jet boat from the same company heading up the river towards us. (There must be two drivers who’ve got a death wish). Somewhere in the distance I hear Tom’s voice saying “Is it alright if I stand up and video the other boat as it passes us?” “Yes, sure” says Jim so Tom stands up and cheerfully films as they pass us waving as they go. How many arms do they have? I have two and they’re firmly welded to the safety bar while my bum is glued to the bench.
I don’t quite know when the thought penetrated my frozen brain that, having come all this way, we had to do the return trip – aaagh!! And sure enough, not many minutes later we do another screaming turn and start back down the river. In the short while we’ve been there, the river has changed its route and the channels have shrunk leaving us even less room to manoeuvre.
But luck is with Jim as, whichever way he turns, water magically appears in front of us and we make it safely back to the Kawarau river and he even finds space for a few more violent spins. At this point, he has the nerve to admit that the surging noise the engine has been making isn’t actually normal and we’ll have to put in to the service area to change boats. Oh good, he says, this little one we’re changing to is even faster!! So we’ll have an exciting ride back for the last few kms. THIS HASN’T BEEN EXCITING ENOUGH? It was not what I’d call exciting, more buttock clenching, but we did make it in one piece.
Seriously, it wasn’t that bad although I did close my eyes on several occasions when we were doing 360degree turns. The last bit of the ride was over some very choppy water and even Tom found it uncomfortable, as every time the boat jumped over the waves, it lost thrust; it depends on water being sucked from under the boat and squirted out the back so, when you’re in the air, there is no water to drive it. It was very wet too as when we bounced the water splashed into the boat so everyone got a good soaking. We both felt quite jelly-legged when we disembarked and stumbled downstairs to the underwater observation room, where we could buy the photo pack and cd-rom to remember our trip. We sat and watched the fish while we dried out and got our land legs back. I hadn’t taken my hair brush today – big mistake! I looked like the wild woman of Borneo – a definite bad hair day, but looking at the film Tom took, at least the wind while dragging my hair back also smoothed all my wrinkles out!
Then we went shopping as I described earlier and had an ice-cream while walking along the jetty and lake front. We decided to eat in again tonight, so we bought potatoes for baking and had them with smoked chicken and salad. A glass or two of wine has helped us relax ready for another exciting day tomorrow –NOT as exciting as today PLEASE.
Goodnight everyone
We’ve had a fairly short day in comparison to others, but I think all the activity is catching up with me. We haven’t really had a no action day since we set off from Al and Jenn’s. Today we rose late (9.30am), had a leisurely breakfast, went shopping for tonight’s dinner and other necessities then set off at about 12.30pm on our explorations.
It’s very hilly round here so wherever you go it’s good exercise(!!). We first walked up to see what the Kiwi and NZ Birdlife Park was like and decided it wasn’t for us; walked on to the Gondola (chairlift) and decided we’d do that in an evening so we can see the town lit up; then we were so exhausted we had to stop for coffee! We were attracted by the sign that said “Best carrot cake in Queenstown”, and I think they weren’t exaggerating as it was lovely – no calories of course!
As Tom wanted to compare the attractions of the various Jet Boat rides on offer, we carried on down into town – this place has to have the largest concentration of travel offers, adventure activities - and clothing and gear to carry them out – that we’ve seen anywhere. Then there are all the beauty treatments, massage and tanning you could ever want in one place. The gift shops are almost one every few paces selling for the most part high end products with prices to match. Lots of Merino wool, and sheepskin, with fleeces of all types and weatherproof outerwear for the winter outdoor pursuits. Tom couldn’t believe how fine some of the Merino wool garments were, especially the underwear. “Who would want to wear woolly knickers?” he said before then feeling almost every pair in the shop! I was tempted by the jade, pearls and paunami (paua shell) jewellery and eventually gave in to some paua shell as you don’t see it as much as the other two. (I’m also more likely to wear it.)
Anyway, I digress, we haven’t got to that point yet. Back to comparing the water rides on offer. After what felt like hours (for me), he finally decided that we’d go on the Kawarau Jet, mainly cos it was from the centre of town (where we were), and we could go NOW! So on went the lifejackets
and into the boat we went. Now, you know me, not the most adventurous person around, so when we set off from the jetty at about 100mph, my knuckles were so white, you’d have thought all the blood had left my body! Then we stopped. OK I thought this can’t be all bad if we’re going to stop at intervals like this. AH, but this was only for the safety information – hold on tight, brace your feet against the bar and don’t stand up. DON’T STAND UP?? What did he think we were all going to do, a mexican wave while we were in the boat?? Ballet dancing?? Or was he just afraid we’d be so scared we’d all stand up and leap overboard? He also warned us that he would be spinning the boat occasionally and would give us some warning before doing so – by circling his arm above his head. I’d have preferred him to keep both hands on the steering wheel but I didn’t say anything cos I didn’t want to look too much of a wuss in front of the other 10 poor souls who were going to die with us. So off we went again at 200mph this time, bouncing and banging our way over the wake of the other boat that had come in (complete with passengers I was pleased to see) but that could have been a ploy to make us all believe that we’d all come back too.On this ride, you set off up the Frankton arm of Lake Wakatipu and then over the falls (rapids really)
into the Kawarau River which is very wide and deep. So we stop – right in the middle while Jim (the child who’s driving) tells us a little bit about how deep it is at this point (!!!!!!) and how the boat sits almost one metre down in the water while we’re not moving but only requires 10cm when we’re up to speed. At this point, I realise I can touch the water over the side, we must be sinking. I look at all the other passengers but as they’re Chinese (I jest not!) they’re inscrutable and Tom just laughs and says something like “Isn’t this great?” He clearly has no idea of the danger we’re in, nor of the murderous thoughts going through my head. We’re off again at our usual 300mph straight towards the bank – oh my god, we really are going to die. Then Jim makes his lassoing motion above his head – I thought you only did this when you were drowning to attract attention? Well, he’s certainly got my attention!! At this point, the whole world rotates and water COMES INTO THE BOAT! I close my eyes and wait for the angels chorus! All I hear is laughter, strained laughter to be sure, or maybe that’s the Chinese way of showing fear and not losing face. Oh no, we’re off again and now we’re turning sharply into the Shotover River, which, Jim has calmly told us, is only a few centimetres deep in places and we’ll have to keep moving or we’ll have to get out and push the boat off the gravel – ha! ha! Looking around, (with one eye) there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of a passage through all the grey gravel that stretches almost as far as the eye can see, so obviously the river level has dropped during the night and we won’t be able to go any further. I think Jim likes a challenge or is out to prove a point as he SPEEDS UP and drives straight up the nearest trickle and then we turn – boy, do we turn! More water in the boat. Hysterical laughter – mine I think. I’m sure they all think I’m enjoying this – little do they know I’m just about to have a nervous breakdown. At this point, we stop….but Jim said we daren’t stop as we’ll get stuck…but he only wants to tell us more about the history of the area. While he’s chatting, we become aware of another Jet boat from the same company heading up the river towards us. (There must be two drivers who’ve got a death wish). Somewhere in the distance I hear Tom’s voice saying “Is it alright if I stand up and video the other boat as it passes us?” “Yes, sure” says Jim so Tom stands up and cheerfully films as they pass us waving as they go. How many arms do they have? I have two and they’re firmly welded to the safety bar while my bum is glued to the bench.I don’t quite know when the thought penetrated my frozen brain that, having come all this way, we had to do the return trip – aaagh!! And sure enough, not many minutes later we do another screaming turn and start back down the river. In the short while we’ve been there, the river has changed its route and the channels have shrunk leaving us even less room to manoeuvre.
But luck is with Jim as, whichever way he turns, water magically appears in front of us and we make it safely back to the Kawarau river and he even finds space for a few more violent spins. At this point, he has the nerve to admit that the surging noise the engine has been making isn’t actually normal and we’ll have to put in to the service area to change boats. Oh good, he says, this little one we’re changing to is even faster!! So we’ll have an exciting ride back for the last few kms. THIS HASN’T BEEN EXCITING ENOUGH? It was not what I’d call exciting, more buttock clenching, but we did make it in one piece.Seriously, it wasn’t that bad although I did close my eyes on several occasions when we were doing 360degree turns. The last bit of the ride was over some very choppy water and even Tom found it uncomfortable, as every time the boat jumped over the waves, it lost thrust; it depends on water being sucked from under the boat and squirted out the back so, when you’re in the air, there is no water to drive it. It was very wet too as when we bounced the water splashed into the boat so everyone got a good soaking. We both felt quite jelly-legged when we disembarked and stumbled downstairs to the underwater observation room, where we could buy the photo pack and cd-rom to remember our trip. We sat and watched the fish while we dried out and got our land legs back. I hadn’t taken my hair brush today – big mistake! I looked like the wild woman of Borneo – a definite bad hair day, but looking at the film Tom took, at least the wind while dragging my hair back also smoothed all my wrinkles out!
Then we went shopping as I described earlier and had an ice-cream while walking along the jetty and lake front. We decided to eat in again tonight, so we bought potatoes for baking and had them with smoked chicken and salad. A glass or two of wine has helped us relax ready for another exciting day tomorrow –NOT as exciting as today PLEASE.
Goodnight everyone
2 comments:
Blimey!! Now we can see the photos we understand what you were up to!! I am keeping all your blogs in a file so that when we visit NZ we can miss some things out - this might be one of them!
I may regret asking this, but are you planning on visiting Bag End? Actually I know it probably doesn't exist any more, but will you be going to any LOTR sites?
Lots of love
Ruth and Kit - we are really appreciating your blogs
Oh my goodness - Mum you are so funny - I have been crying with laughter at this!!
I know, not very sympathetic, but I can so imagine you sitting there, thinking even if you did survive, Dad certainly wouldn't!!
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