Boxing Day- we got up feeling a little ropey, due celebrating Xmas night with a couple we met - unknown to us was also his birthday. After breakfast we headed for the shotover river, and decided to go on a jet boat. What an experience! It was fantastic, we were powered by twin Detroit Diesel engines, that had been turbo charged, 700 horse power and was capable of 50 knots - it flew!! The driver took us incredibly close to rocks, trees and the canyon walls at very...

Monday - we left lake Wanaka first thing. Eric got his hair cut for Xmas at the local barber in town and we headed to Queenstown over the crown pass, which is the highest road in New Zealand - budget Bertha struggled but made it ok. En route there were masses of wild lupins along the river - beautiful. We made it over the pass and headed into Arrowtown first of all, an old gold mining town which still looked like an old frontier town - and had great homemade pies...