Shotover Jet Boating

As mentioned in our earlier post, it has been raining and drizzling throughout the day. Rain sure brings a lot of the activities in Queenstown to a halt...the streets have been much quieter today. The parasailing and shotover jet were still up and running today.We decided to do the Shotover this afternoon as we figured we were already wet from the drizzle so why not give it a try.
The Shotover boat has an engine that doesn't hang in the water like a normal boat but operates by pulling air into a small hole in the floor of the boat and shooting it out. This allows it to be able to operate in only a foot of water if need be. We went on an hour long boat ride on Lake Wakatipu and both Kawarau and Shotover Rivers with our driver getting inches from cliffs and trees and whipping a bunch of shitties. It was a ton of fun and we also got to see more of Queenstown's beautiful landscapes. Between water flying in at us from the ride and the rain, we ended up pretty wet despite the parka they gave everyone to wear. After our adrenalin fix we were able to go into a fish-viewing area under the waters of the lake and see the fish up close.

Rain, Rain Go Away

It's late morning here and it's a rainy day in Queenstown. We had a trip to Milford Sound planned today but it is cancelled because they aren't flying any planes today. The trip entailed us flying on a little 9-seater heli and going out to the fjords and cruising up to the Tasman Sea on a large vessel. The forecast for tomorrow we hear doesn't include rain so we are going tomorrow now at 10am. We have 3.5 more days here so we should be okay as  far as getting this into our schedule.
Yesterday was a day of shopping. I expected the style to be very hiker-like in NZ but Queenstown is a more trendy city and the shopping is really good. Prices are very comparable to our prices at home and with a good exchange rate, that makes it even better. We found a store called "Just Jeans"--it was calling my name.
Last night we had a dinner reservation at a restaurant called Gantley's-named after the original guy who built the place in the 1860's during the gold-rush. They sent a taxi to pick us up thank goodness. That was a good thing because the the roads are so confusing...it'd be down to one lane and traffic going one direction would just pull over and let the traffic from the other direction go through. Definetely not something you'd know unless you lived here or have been visiting for awhile. Gantley's was the best food either of us have ever eaten in our lives. It was spendy but we are contemplating going back on Friday. I had a rack of lamb and Luke had Angus beef. Sorry to Dad but it was better than Gongoll Beef. Well, Im sure it was the way it was cooked and all the sauces/spices used:) If they woulda had a "super-size me" option we woulda been all over that.

Well, we are off to grab lunch and try Tui's beer and Speight's beer suggested by two of my friend's who lived here for awhile back in college. We may also try the Shotover Jet Boat ride this afternoon.