South Island - New Zealand - Saturday 2nd April

So this morning we awoke to clear skies, packed up and drove in to Queenstown. We walked around the town for a few hours soaking up the vibe and atmosphere of this busy little place. Everywhere you look the views are dead set amazing and I reckon they would only be better in winter with the mountains covered in snow. There was a weekend market on and buskers along the foreshore, people everywhere and activities going on everywhere. What they say about this pace being the adventure capital of the world has to be true. There were paragliders constantly falling for the sky, a gondola heading up the mountain, jet boats leaving port, para sailing in the bay, mountain bikers everywhere and adventure shops line the streets trying to sell bungy jumps, giant swings and white water rafting adventures.

We chose to have a crack on the Shotover Jet boat along the Shotover River. Those of us that have been around a while will remember the NZ adverts of it screaming along the river with that catchy instrumental playing in the background.

Clare was a bit nervous about it but once the ride got underway she loved every second of it. The boats get so bloody close to the rock faces doing anywhere between 70 and 115 kmh that you swear they are going to hit them. You can't take photos on board but you are allowed to wear your GoPro on your head, which of course is what I did. We watched it back last night and the footage is sensational.

After that we booked in to the caravan park in town and set about washing all our dirty laundry and trying to get it dry.

Then we treated ourselves to a night out in Queenstown. We were going to try a famous Fergburger but the line was as they say, out the door and 20 metres up the street, so we settled on Thai. This place is really alive and would be a great spot to spend a week or so as a young person doing every adventure activity you could think of or as an older person, me, just exploring and soaking up the atmosphere.