Today’s big activity was to go jet boating on the Shotover River, which is just around the corner from Queenstown. Initially, we had some misgivings about this activity. New Zealand is filled with natural beauty, and jet boating seemed somehow a little too artificial. But people said it was great. It’s also very New Zealand. Jet boats were developed in the 1950s by a Kiwi farmer (Bill Hamilton) for navigating the shallow rivers of the South Island.

After we checked in, we saw that they had a wall with picture of celebrities who’ve taken the trip, which included Lord of the Rings legends like Peter Jackson and Ian McKellen (Gandalf) as well as George Lucas. Even AJ Hackett was on their wall looking pretty pumped up. I mean, if AJ thinks it’s fun, it’s got to be good, right? We put on wet-weather gear, got our life jackets, and headed to the boats.

Lydie and Cassie got front-row seats.

So, how did it go? It was incredible.

The boat was blindingly fast, reaching speeds of 55 mph in the straightways. The boat also zipped over concerningly shallow sections of the river, including rapids. It turns out that the boats only need 4 inches of water, and the water was so clear that the river felt shallower than it was. It frequently felt like we were going to scrape the bottom of the river, but we didn’t. Our driver also drove with millimeter precision, passing within inches of the canyon walls, which was impressive given that he later told us that he’d only be driving for a few months. Indeed, it was only his third day of driving for passengers. (It turns out that there was a supervisor in the boat with us, sitting next to Julie in the boat.).

And the setting was incredible. The river winds through a beautiful gorge, similar to the one where bungy jumped. Oh, and the boat could do 360s.

Yeah, so our concerns were stupid. It was fantastic. 10/10. It was a great day, with perfect weather to boot. We ended by getting burgers at a famous local place, Fergburger.

We ate down by the lake, watching the sun set over the mountains. Queenstown is quickly becoming one of our favorite places in the world.

-Will