Queenstown - adrenalin junky seekers capital

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Queenstown

We’ve now been here a few days - having been out of touch when we were in Fiordland it was somewhat of a shock to find out all the drama at home - so, once again, many, many thanks to you all for sorting out the house and mother for us, I don’t know what would have happened without your help. We try not to dwell too much on what might have been, and what will face us on our return.

It’s Christmas Eve, and feels so strange and un- Christmassy. Going out later to get a few small presents for the boys, but they know their main gift is the trip here, and their chosen activities - more on that in a minute.

On our last day at Te Anau, the weather was much better for our Doubtful Sound trip. This is a long day out, consisting of a short drive down to Manapouri, followed with a 45 minute boat ride over the lake, then a 22 Km coach drive over a narrow gravel road - built for the construction of the power station on Lake Manapouri. For those of our friends who have done the Colca Canyon road in Peru, this road was infinitely better maintained and provided several scenic viewpoints. At the other end we boarded a larger boat for the 3 hour cruise up Doubtful sound to the sea and back. This is remote country on a grand scale; very impressive and with a number of long side arms, some of which we cruised up part way. However nowhere near as many waterfalls as on Milford Sound, and not quite as barren. On the way back, we stopped for a brief tour of the underground power station - a huge operation, but run remotely - only one person on site!

Back to Manapouri, then a 2 hour drive to Queenstown. We found the house where we’re staying for the next 6 days and between us worked out how to gain access. It’s a terraced town house, set up on the hill, with absolutely stunning views. I’m going to get very fit here, as the house consists basically of 4 rooms, one on each floor, so our bedroom /bathroom is at the bottom, with access to outdoor car parking area - Alan’s with a massive bed, on the one above + bathroom, then the kitchen/diner/lounge/balcony ( which has street access ) and finally at the top, a mezzanine level with twin beds which Ralph has installed himself in. Very comfy; all mod cons - a welcome respite from touring for the Christmas period.

On our first day, we worked out a plan of activity, then went out to make the necessary bookings. We decided to return to the Kewauru Bridge, for Alan’s 134 feet high bungy jump. Psyched up this time, Alan signed up and did the deed with impressive lack of hesitation and claimed it was not as terrifying as it looked. However, despite going for the dunking option, he missed the water by a metre or two and stayed dry. After swinging around a bit, he was pulled in to the rescue boat, then had to climb all the steps to the top of the gorge. T shirt and DVD claimed, we set off for a short drive to historic Arrowtown, a pretty little village, which had been a centre for gold mining in the 1870’s, then on to the Shotover jet. This was a real white knuckle ride of about half an hour, in which you zoom along a very narrow river canyon in a jet boat, at terrifying speed only inches from the rocky cliffs, every so often doing a 360 degree spin in the boat. The boys were amazed I’d opted for this, but I thought it would be good fun, and assumed these things are all very safe - and we survived.

Next day Ralph decided to potter in the house and catch up on his washing etc. The rest of us set off early for the lakeside drive to Glenorchy, a tiny village at the head of the lake. Beautiful views on the way, as it was another gorgeous day. Once there, we joined our activity - the Dart River safari. This consisted of a drive up the Dart river valley by coach, a short ‘bush’ walk and then a 75 minute ride upriver then back to Glenorchy in a jet boat. This area is called Paradise, and was the setting for a number of Lord of the Rings scenes - Isengard etc. It really was heavenly - a beautiful valley hemmed in by snowy peaks. The river is very wide and shallow, splitting up into numerous braided channels, so the several jet boats could race each other up the parallel branches. Of course, we did the obligatory spins again, and as the boat goes so fast, I was really glad to have my goretex, fleece hat etc, as it was very cold and ear-ache inducing. At the end, there was a very pleasant lunch in a real sun trap of a café back in the village - a welcome warm up.

We then went back to Queenstown, and as it was such a glorious afternoon, went for a drive to the hill across the bay - Kelvin Heights. This is mainly a deer park, which you can drive around, stopping off at various viewpoints to see the animals - not just deer, but goats, cows, alpaca, even a bison or two - and see a number of even more Lord of the Rings locations. This passed a pleasant couple of hours, then back home for tea on my lovely sunny balcony. I then went for a brief walk to a really scenic viewpoint I’d seen down the road - with lupin foreground to take photos, but as luck would have it, just as I got there, a coach drew up and disgorged a number of noisy Japanese tourists who swarmed across the road, diving over somebody’s private drive and balcony, all frantically vying for the best photo spot in the lupins. So I had to wait a while for P and Q to return before I could have it to myself.

Back to today - Christmas Eve. It was raining when we got up. Today’s activity is Fly by Wire for Alan and Ralph. Sounds manic, We are all going, parents just to watch. We drove for a short distance out of Queenstown up to a narrow valley, across which is strung a wire, from which is suspended this mini rocket contraption. Each person is strapped into this horizontally on their tummy, one at a time, then winched up the hillside to the start point. The rocket then swings like a giant pendulum across the valley, but the pilot has control over speed and direction to make manoeuvres across the valley for the 5 mins flying time that you get - at speeds up to75 mph. Sounded scary, but actually looked good fun - however Eric and I still declined to try it. It stopped raining just as we got there and brightened up, and was a harmless -if expensive - way to spend the morning.

It’s now afternoon - at this point I’m usually frantically doing last minute present wrapping, icing the cake, listening to Carols from Kings . Instead I’m writing this prior to a stroll beside the lake into Queenstown to do get some stocking fillers ( though don’t have any stockings!) for the boys.

Tomorrow we’re having a Christmas dinner with entertainment, luge rides, visit from Santa, bubbly on arrival and 6 course buffet in the restaurant at the Skyline Gondola way above Queenstown. Hope the weather’s good for stunning views.

I'm still not managing to get photos on at this internet place - I'll try to create a gallery and see if that works - otherwise, sorry, still no pics.

Happy Christmas, one and all - we’ll see you in 2007.

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Comments

[Bains]

Happy Christmas!
So enjoyed reading your latest adventures, love the scenery but don't even want to think about bungee jumps etc! - hope you all have a lovely Christmas and see you in the New Year, Love, Bain family

[the wilkes 4]

christmas greetings
hi all, just thought we would wish you a happy christmas just before the day ends.