Between our hotel (near Arrowtown) and the main road to Queenstown, we drove through more beautiful green farmland - sheep and scenery. This could be a nice place to stay a while.
We rode through a couple of large ranches (sheep or cattle stations) and made our way into Mount Aspiring National Park, part of a huge World Heritage Area that includes three other national parks. Overall, New Zealand's 15 national parks make up a huge chunk of the country's land mass.
The paved road became a gravel road and then disappeared into the river. No worries, mate - we just drove up the river bed until we reached the national park boundary, where we walked through an ancient birch forest, alongside the river. This is one of the areas in which portions of Lord of the Rings were filmed. Some of the birch trees are huge - and one big one was hollow inside.
At the edge of the forest, there was a Maori campsite - a summer home when the tribe came to seek green stone from the river. They lived near the river and built simple shelters made of sticks.
Our boat came to meet us here. We donned life jackets and waterproof parkas and off we went spinning up the river - until the water was almost too shallow for the boat. These boats need only 4-5 inches of water for their 900 HP fuel-injected motors to send them screaming across the surface. They are very fast and highly maneuverable. The 'cowboy' drivers love to make tight turns and 360-degree spins.
The ride was wild - lots of turns and spins and splashes. Pictured here is our boat - you get a prize if you can pick us out in our crazy attire.
The scenery was simply spectacular - high mountains all around, some with snow still on top, blue sky, a few fluffy clouds - just picture book perfect.
After a ride of about 30 miles, we made it back to Lake Kawatipu for a few more 360-degree spins and then back to base camp to catch the bus back to Queenstown. We hung around Queenstown for a while, then headed back to our hotel to pack up for another day on the road.
