Rain rain you can stay

Blog Post 11

Aahhh, glorious hotel bed (sorry Duke).  We slept in and had a leisurely  morning, yeah right, that was right up until I convinced Damon that the Shotover Jet Boats were listed as a "must do" and we had to schedule that in before we left Queenstown.  So, we ran to breakfast, gobbled quickly, and then sped over to our next adventure.

The jet boats are crazy - they put about 14 people in a boat - you sit like a roller coaster - 4 across - with a handlebar to hang onto.  Then they whip up and down a river gorge in these specially designed boats getting you super close to the canyon walls, doing 360 degree turns and basically giving you an exhilarating 25 minute ride.  With no time to stop and watch the video, we jetted (ha ha) off to our next activity - a four hour drive to Milford Sound.

You may think that all of these long drives are awful and boring, but the reality is that they seem to fly by.  Partly because the scenery is generally awesome, partly because Damon has to concentrate driving on the twisty turnys (while I still clutch my armrests), but mostly because we started listening to "The Martian" - book on tape.  A great book about a guy who gets stuck by himself on Mars (obviously fiction), but a really good read (or listen).

The scenery on the way to the Fiords is crazy - from rain forest to open grassy plains to gorge-like mountains.  It rains something like 200+ days per year in these parts, so needless to say, the weather was not great - on the positive side, it is the rain that makes the Fiords so spectacular.  Imagine black granite rock walls covered in dark green trees with waterfalls coming through everywhere - literally hundreds of them.  A jaw dropping site.

We were the last Milford Sound boat out - we did that on purpose so our views were not blocked by other tour boats. We steamed through the Fiord out to the ocean and back over about two hours,  The views are truly amazing with those canyon walls and waterfall after waterfall after waterfall.  We also got up close and personal with a bunch of baby seals that lounge around on the rocks.

After the boat tour, we found a campsite in one of the big grassy areas, made dinner, listened to more book, and crashed.  Weather was rough overnight - crazy wind gusts and rain, but the Duke kept us safe, sound and dry.

Tomorrow we go on our overnight cruise through Doubtful Sound - another Fiord,  a cave tour of glow worms, and then it is back to Christchurch for our final stop before heading to Australia.  Hard to believe our time in NZ is winding down.  Of course, there is still the Sydney Bridge climb for our final hurrah!us hotel bed (sorry Duke).  We slept in and had a leisurely  morning, yeah right, that was right up until I convinced Damon that the Shotover Jet Boats were listed as a "must do" and we had to schedule that in before we left Queenstown.  So, we ran to breakfast, gobbled quickly, and then sped over to our next adventure.

The jet boats are crazy - they put about 14 people in a boat - you sit like a roller coaster - 4 across - with a handlebar to hang onto.  Then they whip up and down a river gorge in these specially designed boats getting you super close to the canyon walls, doing 360 degree turns and basically giving you an exhilarating 25 minute ride.  With no time to stop and watch the video, we jetted (ha ha) off to our next activity - a four hour drive to Milford Sound.

You may think that all of these long drives are awful and boring, but the reality is that they seem to fly by.  Partly because the scenery is generally awesome, partly because Damon has to concentrate driving on the twisty turnys (while I still clutch my armrests), but mostly because we started listening to "The Martian" - book on tape.  A great book about a guy who gets stuck by himself on Mars (obviously fiction), but a really good read (or listen).

The scenery on the way to the Fiords is crazy - from rain forest to open grassy plains to gorge-like mountains.  It rains something like 200+ days per year in these parts, so needless to say, the weather was not great - on the positive side, it is the rain that makes the Fiords so spectacular.  Imagine black granite rock walls covered in dark green trees with waterfalls coming through everywhere - literally hundreds of them.  A jaw dropping site.

We were the last Milford Sound boat out - we did that on purpose so our views were not blocked by other tour boats.  We steamed through the Fiord out to the ocean and back over about two hours,  The views are truly amazing with those canyon walls and waterfall after waterfall after waterfall.  We also got up close and personal with a bunch of baby seals that lounge around on the rocks.

After the boat tour, we found a campsite in one of the big grassy areas, made dinner, listened to more book, and crashed.  Weather was rough overnight - crazy wind gusts and rain, but the Duke kept us safe, sound and dry.

Tomorrow we go on our overnight cruise through Doubtful Sound - another Fiord,  a cave tour of glow worms, and then it is back to Christchurch for our final stop before heading to Australia.  Hard to believe our time in NZ is winding down.  Of course, there is still the Sydney Bridge climb for our final hurrah!