Helmet: check. Life jacket: check. Sweaty palms: check. HANG ON!
The ride was ridiculously fast (85mph in 10" of water) with stunts that allowed the boat to graze the protruding rocky sides of the river within inches.
Note that there is no way these boats would ever be allowed to run commercially (or not) in the US as they do here in NZ!
After the jet boat ride we headed to Chard Farm Winery for probably some of the best Pinot Noir and winery experience we've had so far (or maybe the fact that we survived the morning's activities made us appreciate life a little more!). After a tasting and purchasing a case of wine to be shipped back home, we headed back down the narrow trail only to see on the left a little bridge from which NZ's famous bungee activities were in course:
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click to enlargeNext stop, the Gibbston Valley Winery for lunch and peek at the neighboring 'cheesery' .. yum!
Fat and happy, we headed back to Queenstown for a ride up the amazingly fast Skyline Gondola - up 1,500 feet at a 37 degree incline! There were gorgeous views all the way up of Lake Wanaka and The Remarkables mountains as the backdrop. Truly unbelievable. Once at the top we strapped on helmets and took in a couple of luge rides - so much fun! The luge track goes right around the edge of the mountain, and those little things get going pretty fast - after 2 rides we were tempted to do a 3rd, but decided to head back down the mountain for dinner...
The final ride down was just as spectacular.
The day ended with an amazing dinner at the Bathhouse Restaurant, lake-side with a sunset.
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1 comment:
It's going to be hard to top this trip. Your adventures sound like you planned the perfect journey.
xo Dy
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