Friday, October 12, 2012

Great Kiwi Road Trip: Day 10 - Skipper's Canyon and Kawarau River



Today we were fortunate to have a better weather than yesterday, and able to join the Skipper Canyon Jet boating tour. The tour itself included a 45 minutes driving journey to the Skipper canyon, the point where we would have the jet boat experience. What we didn’t expect was, the road to reach the canyon is known as the most dangerous roads in the NZ. It is so steep, narrow and dangerous that only a specially trained driver and licensed tour bus or 4 wheel drive is allowed to access the road. It was still cloudy and raining a little that time when we were on the road trip, apparently, half of the passengers on the minivan were terrified by the road condition. Those sitting next to the window had the chance to look down the valley as the road is made in the middle of a sheer cliff face. The road condition is quite bumpy in certain part, and I believe, that is always a 50% chance that the whole vehicle would bump into valley if the driver doesn’t focus much. Behind the risky road, the views of the Skipper canyon are amazingly stunning.  (Click here for more information about the history and condition of Skipper road).

The unsealed, dangerous, ages old road path to Skipper's river

Jet boat was the only adventure game we dared to play in Queenstown. After geared up with our waterproof jacket, hat, gloves and sunglasses, we hopped on the jet boat.  The 80km/hr jet took us through a dramatic and narrow canyon channel of Shotover river.  We would suddenly went sideway and so close to the sheer canyon walls for several times. The most excited part was when the driver showed a signal then a 360 degree spin turned by the boat. The whole trip took us 30 min, but it was quite a fun experience and we get to have a closer look of the beauty of Shotover river and its canyons.   
 




The day ended with our short visit to the Kawarau River AJ Hackett bungy jump and the Queenstown’s skyline. Queenstown is definitely a high touristy place because of the beautiful scenery it gives. At the hill overlooking the Lake Wakatipu and the Queenstown, it is so beautiful that we hope the clock can stop at that moment, spare more time for us to put these scenery into our memory forever. 

Kawarau River, AJ Hackett Bungy Jump Site


The purple Christmas trees



Family portrait with the Lake Wakatipu backdrop


21 inch PIZZA

 
The giant burger from the infamous Fergburger



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