The best day yet!

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The last two days I have really felt on holidays! New Zealand is one picture-perfect-postcard-vista after another, but yesterday we drove from Queenstown to Glenorchy and it was incredible veiws the whole way. The road follows the lake mostly and also winds around ranges and we could see an old steamer making it's way up the lake. Why were we going to Glenorchy you might ask? Was it to go to it's one cafe? Or it's one pub? Or it's two possum fur/fashion stores? No! It was to go jet boating and funyaking. We had not really thought about it much and rocked up to the departure point wearing all our normal clothes with no beanies or anything... how we thought we were going to go rafting who knows! They had obviously dealt with idiots like us before and kitted us out with a wetsuit and 2 fleeces booties, a life jacket and a spray jacket each. By midday we were boiling but we appreciated it on the jet boat. it was incredible coasting along the river in 10 centermeters of ice blue water. We then hopped out and inflated our funyaks (inflatable kayaks) and started heading back down the river. At lunchtime we stopped and went for a short walk into a forest area where we took funyaks into one of the most beutiful places I have ever seen. We paddled into a canyon that had been entirely carved by a small glacial stream. The canyon went for a few meters above us and ten meters below. The water was a clear ice blue and we could see right to the bottom. When we came through the other side we saw the small waterfall that flowed into it and through to the trees and forest again. The rocks were all covered in soft green moss. Simply stunning. We spent the rest of the afternoon paddling back down the river. I DID ALL THE WORK! We thought Captain Kirk was working in the back and it was only when other funyakers passed and asked if he was asleep that we realised the truth. My sister heidi and I rewarded his "efforts" with our best rendition of the Moulin Rouge soundtrack... it also worked to keep him awake. After the tour we headed into Queenstown and booked into the minus 5 bar for 6 o'clock. i would recommend this to everyone. It is a fantastic place and I will load all our photos as soon as I get a cd burnt. The whole place is carved out of ice! The seat are covered with deer hide and we were all dressed in huge jackets (we looked like giant slugs in them) and had gloves and hoods. We each had a cocktail (included in our cover charge of $25NZ) and they were really scrummy too. We then headed to Winnies and had the best pizza i have ever had. They are gourmet and they don't skimp on the toppings. Great atmosphere too. We drove home for a couple more rounds in Wanaka then headed off to bed. It was the best day yet! Thanks Hedi for organising it all!

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