Friday, 1st February
This was supposed to be a day of rest in Queenstown! But as usual it was anything but; Geoff was up early to catch an 8.00am ride in a 4x4 landrover driven by a woman driver!!! (off road) up and over the mountains and down river valleys for 4hours. On the way panning for gold in Arrowtown, the famous gold town. Found gold, but not enough to pay for the holiday, (or Doreen’s shopping expeditions). The drive picked up many of the well known film locations for the film The Lord of the Rings. All in all an exciting and hair raising experience. Meanwhile, Doreen was in town, and guess what, yes she was shopping again, and unbeknown to me bought herself a rock opal necklace. The afternoon it poured with rain for the first time on this trip so we relaxed in the hotel. However, at 5.00pm we were off again to catch a genuine working steamboat, the TSS Earnshaw, for a 40 minute trip across the lake to a sheep farm for a evening meal and another sheep shearing demonstration. This is where Mum met a very large kiwi (see photo). On the way across the lake we spotted some seagulls hitching a lift on the lifeboat (see photo). They seem to have a lot of sheep here in New Zealand, (we are told 24million, which is six times the population of NZ) and I believe England is one of their biggest importers of lamb. On the journey back to Queenstown we were handed a song sheet and everyone had a sing song. The journey was very enjoyable and went very quickly.
Saturday, 2nd February
Another 5.45am alarm call to start our long journey to Franz Joseph, through the picturesque mountains and Lakes Wanaka, Hawrea and Dunstan, and then over the Haast Pass and seeing Thunder Creek Falls. After the falls we stopped on the Haast River for a thrilling 40 minute jet boat ride downriver. After some persuasion Doreen joined the trip and enjoyed every minute of it, even the three 360degree spins. The jetboat was driven very fast by Brian nicknamed Wacky, who gave a commentary on the flora, fauna etc. Brian was obviously very interested in conservation and gave us a lot of information on changes in the environment due to global warming. At the end of the trip Brian invited us all round for a BBQ, provided we bought the beer. It was intended for Geoff to get his helicopter ride this evening but due to bad weather conditions the flights were cancelled. Let’s hope for better weather tomorrow.
This was supposed to be a day of rest in Queenstown! But as usual it was anything but; Geoff was up early to catch an 8.00am ride in a 4x4 landrover driven by a woman driver!!! (off road) up and over the mountains and down river valleys for 4hours. On the way panning for gold in Arrowtown, the famous gold town. Found gold, but not enough to pay for the holiday, (or Doreen’s shopping expeditions). The drive picked up many of the well known film locations for the film The Lord of the Rings. All in all an exciting and hair raising experience. Meanwhile, Doreen was in town, and guess what, yes she was shopping again, and unbeknown to me bought herself a rock opal necklace. The afternoon it poured with rain for the first time on this trip so we relaxed in the hotel. However, at 5.00pm we were off again to catch a genuine working steamboat, the TSS Earnshaw, for a 40 minute trip across the lake to a sheep farm for a evening meal and another sheep shearing demonstration. This is where Mum met a very large kiwi (see photo). On the way across the lake we spotted some seagulls hitching a lift on the lifeboat (see photo). They seem to have a lot of sheep here in New Zealand, (we are told 24million, which is six times the population of NZ) and I believe England is one of their biggest importers of lamb. On the journey back to Queenstown we were handed a song sheet and everyone had a sing song. The journey was very enjoyable and went very quickly.
Saturday, 2nd February
Another 5.45am alarm call to start our long journey to Franz Joseph, through the picturesque mountains and Lakes Wanaka, Hawrea and Dunstan, and then over the Haast Pass and seeing Thunder Creek Falls. After the falls we stopped on the Haast River for a thrilling 40 minute jet boat ride downriver. After some persuasion Doreen joined the trip and enjoyed every minute of it, even the three 360degree spins. The jetboat was driven very fast by Brian nicknamed Wacky, who gave a commentary on the flora, fauna etc. Brian was obviously very interested in conservation and gave us a lot of information on changes in the environment due to global warming. At the end of the trip Brian invited us all round for a BBQ, provided we bought the beer. It was intended for Geoff to get his helicopter ride this evening but due to bad weather conditions the flights were cancelled. Let’s hope for better weather tomorrow.
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