NZD13 – Jet Boating in Shotover River Canyon (after another rained-out attempt at skydiving)
The advertisement for the Shotover Jet claims it to be the world’s most exciting jet boat ride. If you don’t know what a jetboat is, according to Wikipedia it is “a boat propelled by a jet of water ejected from the back of the craft”. It was actually invented in New Zealand specifically for the shallow waters. They can go extremely fast and can spin more than 360°.
The ride lasted much longer and was way more exhilarating than we expected. It took place in the Shotover River Canyon, a narrow canyon lined by rocky cliffs. To make the ride extra exciting, the driver repeatedly took us flying towards bends in the river, drifting at the last second to barely brush past the rock face. I couldn’t believe how close to the rocks we got. Imagine a high-speed boat chase in a Bond movie. Yep, it was just like that.
It started to rain halfway through the ride. Even though we were wearing rain ponchos, our heads were soaked both from the spray and the rain. At the speed we were going, the rain felt like hail hitting our faces! Although this is a fun activity for the whole family rain or shine, I’d recommend doing it on a hot, sunny day.
Since we didn’t take our own cameras, we bought the overpriced official photos. Say cheese!
Riesling Tasting at Mount Difficulty Winery
We left Queenstown and headed towards Twizel, our base for exploring Mount Cook the next day. On the way, we stopped at the Mt. Difficulty Winery for a quick tasting and lunch. We are normally red wine drinkers, but we discovered their Target Riesling was pretty darn delicious. We ended up buying two bottles to go. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find it back in Houston.
NZD14 – Hiking Mount Cook & Skiplaning to Tasman Glacier
After having the time of our lives hiking the Franz Josef Glacier, we were both super excited for this second experience in the Tasman Glacier. The ski plane would take passengers through the snow-covered mountains and land on the glacier to allow further exploration.
Hiking Mount Cook
Like all of our plane related activities, the weather posed some challenges. Our originally scheduled morning flight had to be delayed to the afternoon. No problem, we were experts at Plan B by this point and decided to hike the local trails for the morning. The airport is located at the entrance to a valley (Google Satellite Image below). We drove further into the valley to the Aoraki Mount Cook Village, where the trails start.
We chose the Mueller Hut Route, which is a steep mountain climb of 1250m. It takes 3-5hrs one way but of course, we didn’t have that much time. We climbed as high as we could before the fog/clouds(?) cut off the views, then turned around. It was quite a climb on slippery stone steps, but the view was worth the climb even only half way up. We got a glimpse of the Mueller Lake from the mountain, which had a tiny dark turquoise pool in the middle of the lake.
We followed the trail back down to the valley and out to the edge of the lake to check out the little pool. The snowy peaks in the distance were barely visible. The clouds parted for a just a moment and we stole a few quick shots.
Ski Plane Ride to Tasman Glacier
After a quick lunch in the village, we were finally taking off!!! We sat at the very back of the little propeller plane on skis. It was crowded, cold and the seats were uncomfortable. My view was out of the little circular window below the wing.
As we flew higher and further into the mountains, the ride became increasingly bumpy due to the high winds, turbulence and the small size of the plane. The plane would rock side to side, then drop spontaneously for a second or two then re-stabilize. It was like riding a roller coaster way up in the sky! As a pilot in training, Sam reassured me it was normal for small planes to experience turbulence like this. Still, I began to feel motion sick and squeezed Sam’s hand during the entire ride. It was by far the most terrifying plane ride of my life, but the views were indeed pretty. Here was the progression of views outside our windows.
The winds above the glacier were stronger than expected and the pilots decided to abort landing on the glacier for safety reasons. An equally nerve-racking bumpy ride later, we were back on solid ground! Even though we didn’t get to explore the Tasman Glacier, I was glad we returned safe and sound. The fresh air quickly blew away my discomfort and I did a little dance of celebration.
Happy to be alive.
C.
P.S. – Gap Year and Grand Tour
Twizel was an unimpressive little town but we met some interesting young travelers on their gap year from around the world. Apparently, it’s customary for European young people to take a year to travel and experience the world after graduating from university. Perhaps this is a continuation of the “Grand Tour” tradition from the 18th century. This is almost unimaginable for most kids in the US, who leave school with a degree and a hefty student debt. I wish this practice can be introduced in the US and Asia too. I know my worldview and tolerance for differences have been broadened greatly by my year abroad after college. Today’s world can definitely use some more tolerance.
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