Today was Queenstown Adventure Day. We had a bit of extra sleep this morning since we didn’t have to meet our first adventure guides until 8 a.m. With the long days and open air, even a half hour extra is a bonus.
The first activity of the day was a Nomads Safari Gold Seeker Movie and Metal Discovery Tour. Although very heavily weighted to the scenes from The Lord of the Rings movies, the tour provided views of other movies also. The first stop was to view The Remarkables Mountain range. Jenny, leader of the jeeps, explained the numerous movies that had been filmed with this backdrop. Among them were Mission Impossible 6 - Fallout, The Willow, Wolverine, and Vertical Limits.
The roads were a bit icy and it was unsure whether we would be able to tackle one part of the journey without chains, but we did. Passing by vineyard of pinot noir grapes, and climbing to the heights provided views of rock formations where some of the LOTR was shot.
Near Cardrona the tree tunnel and stream were also featured in LOTR.
Then it was to Arrowtown for a restroom break. What fancy toilets here: they play music, tell you that you only have twelve minutes to occupy one, and then won’t flush until you wash your hands. Great innovation.
Then the jeeps became water vehicles as they bounced in and out of the Arrow River, one of the two gold bearing rivers in the area. Pictures were hard to come by on this part of the tour since the jarring was incredible.
A stop where Jenny instructed the group on panning for gold and the other drivers served up some hot beverages and biscuits for morning tea.
It was on to Coronet Peak for some dramatic views looking down to Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu.
From there, one of the drivers decided to check out the road to Skippers Canyon to see if it were open. It was and upward we went on one of the most dangerous roads in the world. The rock formations were massive and the road narrow and curvy.
Back at the hotel time for a group photo for the Shultz, Alexander, and Thornber jeep. Earle and I were in another one and no one took a picture of that group.
We went back to the room and watched a bit of the Pirates game before heading out to find an ATM in Queenstown. What a great display of hitting they put on and pulled off a win against the Astros.
At 1:45 we met in the lobby for a short walk to the Shotover River Jet Boat center where we boarded a shuttle bus to the Shotover River, another of the gold bearing rivers of the area. Donning slickers and life vests we assembled for a group picture and boarded the jet boat. This 30 minute ride was probably the most exciting thing I have ever done in my life. I can’t wait to see the video.
Back at the hotel around 4 and did a bit of writing for the blog until we met Lois, Gerald, Barbara, and Charles for a 10 minute stroll to dinner at Pog Mahoney’s Irish Pub. Some Irish beer and Irish stew for me and Gerald, while Earle had Guiness and steak pie, Lois and Charles corned beef. Barbara a stone girlled fillet, and Sharon bread and apple crumble.
Another wonderful day in New Zealand!
Back to the hotel to organize for a morning departure.
No comments:
Post a Comment