Queenstown, New Zealand January 31st- February 3rd

I returned from the Hollyford Track with two legs full of itchy sand fly bites and a strong desire for a long night's sleep, yet Queenstown provided too much excitement to be concerned with either of those petty issues.  After a short night's sleep, we were up by 7 am for a planned trip to white water raft the Shotover River.  Our bodies were dragging as we stepped aboard the shuttle bus towards city center to meet our Family Adventures van.  Somebody must have been listening to the kids desperate pleas as the white water rafting trip had been cancelled due to high water levels.  We returned anxious for a day of lounging at our villa overlooking Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables Mountain Range (coolest mountain range name EVER!).  After an afternoon full of pure laziness, the adults went grocery shopping for home cooked meals and an abundance of wine bottles to enjoy for the next few nights.  As we unloaded bag after bag of groceries, Sam wandered outside.  Within seconds a scream came from the backyard "WOW!! Uncle Mike and Aunt Cathy are here!!". I rushed outside to greet my dad and stepmom; so thrilled that they had come to Queenstown to spend the next 3 days with us! We sat around and talked for hours- our only break in conversation being the moment it took to open a new bottle of red wine.  A little after midnight we called it a night, as the action began the following morning bright and early.

After devouring the Heritage Hotel breakfast buffet, our Dart River Safari picked up our expanded family crew for a half day excursion.  With numerous scenic stops along the way, including the location of numerous Lord of the Rings scenes and the mountain vista for the Coors Light bottle, we twisted and turned our way into the New Zealand bush for a quick walk.  Our guide described numerous aspects of the beautiful beech forest, but my eyes were focused on only one thing ahead --the JET BOAT.  Originally designed for the shallow rivers of New Zealand, the jet boat can not only travel through inches of water, but in full speed can  perform 360 degree turns and easily manuever tight turns.  In true New Zealand fashion, they have turned jet boating into quite the adrenaline sport and has taken off globally as a result.  We tightened our lifejackets, only after graciously accepting protective water gear, and told our driver Shayle that we wanted lots of actions.  Ingeniously designed with heated handrails, everyone became white knuckled once we made our first turn! "How did we fit through there?" "Ahhhhhhhhh!" "That was SO much fun, let's do it again!" were just a few of the commentary lines coming from our family boat!  In addition to the tremendous excitement, we stopped numerous times to take in the stunning views of the mountains, braided river and glaciers surrounding us.  After countless 360 turns, the only thing that lured us off the boat was the thought of a delicious lunch in Glenorchy and the driver's ears needed a break! After a scrumptious lunch, we sadly said goodbye to the Dart River and headed back to Queenstown.  The adults opted for an afternoon of  local New Zealand Mac's beer at the Pub and shopping adventures along Shotover Street!  A fabulous day was only topped by a wonderful evening of sitting around the table looking at Kirley family photos that my dad had brought along.

Hannah lured me into another adrenaline activity for the following morning, so another early morning as we headed down to breakfast at 7.  After a quick glance at the brochure, I agreed to be Hannah's canyoning partner, not quite sure what I had gotten myself into.  Probably a good thing, as the next 4 hours may have been the scariest thing I have ever done in my entire life.  After a short drive from the hotel, we were dropped off in the middle of a parking lot with only helmets and wet suits in sight! With five minutes to get dressed, I changed into 10 mm of wet suit, booties, a safety helmet, buoyancy jacket and a harness.  The gentlest part of the morning came in our five minute bush walk into a scenic lakeside reserve.  I knew the staff was a tad bit nutty as they led us into chest high glacial water for our safety briefing!  Little did I know this was only the beginning of the insanity.  Our guide Andrew led us in a rock climb to the top of the Queenstown canyon where a zipline was waiting for us.  Being a fellow American (Andrew was from Oklahoma), he volunteered me to be the first to zipline the forty meters across the canyon.  Never one to shy away, I grabbed on with two hands, latched a safety and off I went! By the second zipline (50 meters this time) I was able to look down to truly take in the stunning views.  The four ziplines were just getting us ready for the real excitement.  Andrew warned us that due the rain, the ledges were quite slippery, but we had to test that as we needed to abseil/repel down to the bottom of the canyon.

"Katie, have you repelled before?," the guide asked.  "Only on a rock wall" I responded.  Apparently that was all he needed to hear and within seconds I was strapped up to lead be the first to repel down the 20 meter  (60 feet) canyon wall.  "Oh and there's not a guide down there yet.  You are going to have to do all the safeties and latches yourself!".  Definitely not the words to hear as I turned around and took my first step down the wall.  Luckily I survived and was ready for the next adventure.  We reached the water at the bottom and began rock scrambling and sliding head first through the current to reach our first waterfall.  The true adrenaline came when we reached the 8 meter (24 feet) gushing waterfall.  What was our way down you may ask? Jumping! Yes, I stood on the ledge of the rock face and plunged myself into the 8 meter waterfall. What a thrill! More jumps came along--including a 6 meter butt jump, a 10 meter standing ledge jump and a 2 meter backwards jump into the canyon water.  We even ziplined ourselves across to the middle of the canyon to only release our safety to plunge ourselves into the water!Even the swim slides provided excitement, as our guides yelled for us to turn on our sides so we could squeeze through the rocks!  After a full three hours in the canyon, we finally reached the finish.  My body was utterly exhausted, but I could not wipe the smile off my face! For three days my body would be paying for this adventure, but I would do it all over again. What a morning!!

After an adrenaline filled morning from both parties (the rest of the crew went luging!), an afternoon winery lunch was certainly in order.  Amisfield Winery, just oustide of Queenstown, provided the perfect setting, yummy lobster risotto and flights of pinot noir.  After our four hour lunch, we returned home to spend our last night in Queenstown! Sad to say goodbye, to both Queenstown and my dad and Cathy, we were off the next morning to Waiheke Island.

**Although I would like to take credit for it, I took the canyoning jumping photo from their website, not my photography work :) **