Friday 7th December

Today's trip took us north to Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu. This area is the location for lots of adverts as well as films including Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. The water jet marine engine was invented in1957 by a Kiwi, CWF Hamilton. Jetboats are fast, highly manoeuvrable and can operate in very shallow water. Our boat shot up the Dart River to Paradise, a place named after a duck. We weaved through rocks, missed boulders by millimetres, slid over barely covered gravel and bounced over rapids. Along the way the pilot performed several 360s, spinning the boat in a complete circle. It was exhilarating although cold. The scenery was astonishing with snow tipped mountains and lush wooded foothills as we skimmed along this multi channel braided river. Once back on land we walked through an ubiquitous beech forest. We learned that the NZ beech is nothing like the northern hemisphere beech; in fact the Latin name for it translates as "not a beech". After that it was a short 4 wheel drive coach ride back to Glenorchy and, after lunch, an hour's drive back to the hotel.