Adventures down under...

This place is nuts. Our driving misadventures now seem like a distant memory, as they have been replaced with memories of things like jet-boating and parapenting. Queenstown is all about fun, and there are literally hundreds of ways to have some in and around this town.

Jet-boating through the Shotover Canyon was the first choice on our menu, and it didn't disappoint. Not twenty minutes after signing up for the ride were we strapped into a strange-looking speedboat doing upwards of 50 kilometers per hour while heading upstream through the canyon (where, incidentally, we were told it is still possible to pan for gold). The speed is a rush, but is nothing compared to the feeling of narrowly missing canyon walls while madly racing up a river (it looked to us like we missed a few boulders by mere centimeters). To top it off, our guide, who showed no emotion whatsoever during the hair-raising ride, treated us to a series of 360 degree spin-outs in parts of the river which did not even appear wide enough to pass in a canoe. The exhilaration of the ride reduced Tiffany and I to two bumbling idiots as we tried to steady our legs upon departing the boat. "Good fun" Tiffany mumbled to me as we left the boat, to which I intelligently replied, "yes... good fun."

The length of Tiffany's legs again came into play atop the mountain peak from which the Queenstown parapenting operation is run. We had taken the gondola up to the middle of the mountain, a chairlift from there higher, and finally hiked 20 minutes to the peak overlooking the forest and town below. The idea with tandem parapenting is to strap yourself to an experienced parapenter (who in turn has strapped himself to a parachute-like device), and then jump off the side of a mountain. "You go first" I suggested to Tiffany, which she surprisingly agreed to without hesitation. As she started to trot towards the edge of the cliff, it became apparent that the legs of her guide were quite a bit longer than hers, and soon she was lifted off the ground with her legs flailing left and right as they neared take off. As it turns out, eventually they took flight and with myself and my guide following close behind, we spent the next ten minutes floating and twisting over the mountain, a number of lakes and finally Queenstown.

We completed our "trifecta" of adventure fun with an overnight cruise in the Milford Sound region. We decided a few nights ago to skip the famous four-day hike known as the "Milford Track", and instead spend a bit more time in Queenstown, allowing us to not only try some of the wonderful day-hikes around Queenstown, but also spend a night on the "Milford Wanderer" cruise ship, from which we were treated to the sight of seals, dolphins, numerous waterfalls (one of which is three times the height of Niagara Falls) and breathtaking vistas of fjords, mountains and islands. Tiffany and I reckoned that this was the first time we had ever seen a fjord, but we decided that almost as much fun as seeing one is just saying the word "fjord". I guess it doesn't take much to please us. Just before sundown the majority of the 40 or so passengers onboard grabbed a kayak and spent an hour or so on one of the calmer portions of the bay. I chose the relaxing method of kayaking - laying the oar across the front of the kayak and meandering aimlessly wherever the current took me, while Tiffany took the more aggressive tact - paddling circles around me while incessantly mocking my laziness. Either way, both of us enjoyed the cruise immensely and were awed by the pristine beauty of the entire Fjordland National Park.

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