A few high thin clouds greeted us when we awoke and had breakfast in the motel room. We have started to buy cereal milk and bread as most rooms have a small fridge and simple cooking facilities. While the cooked breakfasts have been good we are getting a bit bored with always eating in restaurants. A simple breakfast suits us just fine most days now. I set up the laptop and caught up with most of the blob and uploaded more pictures from the camera. The Internet connections on the South Island have been spotty at the hotels and there was no wifi connection at Hurley’s. We packed up and headed into Queenstown and located an Internet café and I uploaded the latest data from the laptop. While there I spoke to a young Canadian guy and his girlfriend who was from Edmonton. They have been traveling for about a year in the South Pacific. They worked in OZ for about 9 months and plan on spending 3 to 4 months in NZ. They have about the same money they started with as they move from one job to the next to pay the bills and see the sights. I spent about 45 minutes in the Internet café and that cost about $10 and got a slow connection compared to home. Noticing it was 10:45 I quickly packed up the computer and rushed back to the car to meet Mary and walked over to the jet boat bus meeting spot. I must admit that the tourist operators in NZ do it right. They absolutely understand what service is and try to make your experience the best that it can be. The guides are well trained and are clearly selected to be funny and engaging. About 18 of us boarded a bus and the driver chatted us up and showed us a 12 minute DVD that explained all the safety issues for the jet boat and gave a sales pitch for the gift shop, photographs of yourselves in the boat, interactive cd’s and DVD’s and ½ price second trip on the river if you desired to go again. We arrived at the Shotover River location and piled out of the bus and were given splash jackets and life preservers to put on. The jet boats roared around the docking area all be driven by 20 something males with testosterone levels in the stratosphere. Gleaming teeth and huge smiles while they explained the safety issues and telling us that they haven’t lost anyone today! Fifteen people loaded into the boat and the engine rumbled under us as our driver Mike once again explained that we must keep our arms and hands inside the boat as they occasionally ht the canyon walls and that we must remain seated at all times (I wanted to travel standing up balanced on the bow and yell I’m the king of the world!) and when he put his hand in the air and made a circle it was a signal for us to hold on to the grab bar as we were about to do a 360 degree turn! We blasted out of the docking area going upstream for about 100 meters did a 180 turn and blew by the dock area going about 80 kms. The river is about 6 inches in places and you can see the rocks. The jet boats can navigate in about 3 to 4 inches of water if necessary. We went downstream for about 7 kilometers and passed between canyon walls that we literally inches from the boat. I had a very cool seat on the outside and quickly understood the rule about keeping your arms inside the boat. We did about 4 or 5 360’s all at full speed of about 80 kms. The boats are highly maneuverable and can literally spin around with a skillful driver at very high speed. You get soaked of course as they set up the spin so that large amounts of spray cover the boat. The ride lasts about 25 minutes and is worth every penny of the $100 each cost. Back on terra firma and we handed back to life jackets and splash gear and passed through the gift shop and said a pleasant no to the $50 photograph special offer we were back on a bus to town that runs every 15 minutes from 8 am until dark 365 days a year (except Christmas). We stopped in at a supermarket to pick up some last minute items for the Milford Track, as we were not sure what would be available in Te Anau when we arrived. We loaded into the car and found the right road and drove out of town to stop at a little picnic sight for some cheese and wine while gazing at the lake with a backdrop of mountains. Back into the car for the 2 hours drive to Te Anau and found our lodge for the night. They have parking arrangements so that you can leave your car while walking the numerous multi-day tracks in the area. We went into town and had a flat white and decided to but some pasta and sauce to cook up ourselves tonight and the thought of ordering another meal was not that appealing. A bottle of Pinot Noir a plate of pasta and bread rolls was a perfect way to end the day and peek our anticipation for the beginning of the Milford Track hike tomorrow. That’s all for now we will be in contact in 4 days after the hike is completed.
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