Day 18 - Queenstown, New Zealand

March 3rd – Queenstown, NZ – 3:30 PM We started out this morning on with a combo excursion of the Shotover Jet Boat and the Shotover River Rafting Trip. The jet boat was amazing and very cold -it was about 50 degrees outside and the boat reaches up to 150 km/h – needless to say we couldn’t feel our faces they were so numb when it was over! The guy looked as if he was going to drive the boat into the sides of the mountains – crazy! Nathan and I both give it about a 7 out of 10. We then headed to the river rafting. I loved this – the Shotover River has class 3 & 4 river rapids and the water is about 20 degrees (Fahrenheit). The sights were amazing coming down the river and our guide was great – he gave us a lot of history on the river as well. The Shotoever River was part of the NZ gold frenzy that started in the late 1800s and only ended in 1992. You can still see a lot of the shacks the miners slept in as well as some of the tools they used and then just left on the sides of the river when they either went bankrupt, died, or found their gold and left. Nathan and I gave this about a 7 out of 10 as well. But if you like to river raft it was worth it – even if just for the views! We did both activities with the “Shotover” Company – the red boats – you won’t miss it if you come here. Here are some pictures of this morning! We came back - bought some wine and cheese and sat on the beach across from our hotel to have some great views with our “lunch”. (Mom this was our view when I called you for your birthday!)

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We are now just sitting in an internet café – we will write tomorrow about our trip to Milford Sound!