Queenstown & The Jet Boat

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About 9:30, Saturday morning, Jan 7, 2006 we set out for the first leg of our tour of New Zealand’s south island. Our seven hour driving trip took us from Christchurch to Queenstown, further south and about halfway across the south island. We take the main highway which is two-lane paved road with no shoulders and has numerous one lane bridges. The farms have sheep, deer, antelope and cows. As we get deeper inland we encounter terrain much like the Okanagan with massive lakes, dams and later vineyards, fruit orchards and vegetable farming. Queenstown is a resort town (population 7,500), like Banff or Whistler on Lake Wakatipu and the Shotover Canyon. It is New Zealand’s self-styled outdoor adventure capital. White water rafting, parasailing, mountain biking, hiking, jetboating, skiing are all available,

At 8:30 the next morning Jan, Stephen and Jennifer took a 1 hour jet boat tour up across lake Wakatipu and down the Shotover canyon. I got the van organized, checked out and went to meet them at the main dock. (See pics)