Skippers Canyon

One thing that you consistently see as you travel New Zealand, is adverts for Jet Boating. Since we are on the final leg of the trip, we thought we would give in, and finally book up for one. We chose to go out to the Skippers Canyon, a famous Gold Mining site with a nice narrow, steep gorge. They picked us up in a 4 wheel drive mini-bus, and to get into the gorge, we went down an old horse track road, hand built by the gold miners over a hundred years ago......and never been updated since! It was so narrow, and pretty scary, Stuart told me to take my seatbelt off so we could jump if necessary! He has a good way with making you feel calm lol The road is one of only two in New Zealand that are off-limits to hire vehicles, and not covered by insurance, but the views were great.

We also came across some newly weds having their wedding photos taken. She must have been freezing.

When filming Lord of the Rings, they used the Skippers Canyon for the gates of Mordor (and a few other scenes that he told me about but I can't remember). They used Queenstown residents as extras in the movie, our guide had been dressed as an Orc a few times, and some other crazy characters, which sounded cool.

On arrival in the canyon we finally got in the jet boat. When you see the depth of the shallow water you think, no way, we can't be going up in that, but we did. It was so much fun. It's like being in a roller coaster mixed with a log flume. The driver gets so close to the sides of the canyon, squeezing through the tiniest spaces, weaving in and out of rocks, and we even did some 360o spins. Didn't think it was possible in such a tight space....but it is, accompanied by some screams!!

I'm glad we finally went jet boating, it is a really good laugh, and a lot warmer than the alternative.....white water rafting!