March 22 – Dart River Jet-Boat

March 22, 2016 – Queenstown
We had an unusual morning off. Most of us slept in and went to breakfast after 7:30am.
All of us signed up for the Dart River jet-boat ride. We were to meet either downtown at 12:20am or at the hotel at 12:30pm. I opted for downtown and started walking downtown at 9am. At 9:30am Susan caught up with me and we walked into the city center and had a cup of coffee. My plan had been to take a 1 1/2 hour boat ride around the lake but a large tour group was going and I decided to skip it. Susan and I just walked around checking out the stores. At noon we went and got sandwiches to eat on the bus.
The bus ride took 45 minutes. Once there we were told we wouldn’t be back for 3 hours and to please use the facilities. Once that was done we were each given long fleece lined rain jackets and a life vest to wear. We loaded onto a bus and we’re driven to the boats. Each boat had 15 seats – 1 for the driver and 14 for passengers. Luckily we were a group of 14 so we filled a boat. These boats go 55 to 60 MPH and can go through very shallow water. They started out by doing a tight 360° turn spraying us all in the process. Woo – hoo. We all gave the thumbs up and off we went up the river. We had a few photo stops but most of the time we were flying along. During the one hour ride we did at least 6 360’s. When we docked, we were escorted to a bus which drove us to a forest area for a narrated hike. It was very interesting and included a stop at a big chair where it was explained how the Hobbits looked small (big furniture). Back on the bus we headed back to the main building with stops to show us where scenes from Lord of the Rings, X-Men, and Top of the Lake were filmed. The bus back to the hotel gave us the option to be dropped off in town. We split with 7 stopping at the hotel and 7 going into town. Susan and I went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. She walked back while I decided to baby my ankle and took a taxi.
Tomorrow we head to Fox Glacier. We’ll be on the bus all day. We were told that we have a wine tasting stop at 9:30am. Mmmm.