Queenstown is famous for being the starting place of the commercial bungy jump and is now a "Mecca" for an thrill seekers. It's also got a gorgeous setting with the town on the lake and surrounding hills and mountains.

The region was originally settled by gold miners working in these surrounding hills. Many of the Regions rivers have carved dramatic and deep gorges perfect for the jet boating, rafting, kayaking and other activities that keep the tourist pouring in. If you are not prepared to throw yourself off something, strap yourself into something and throw yourself off something, get on a bike and throw yourself off something, get in a raft and throw yourself down something or get in a jetboat and power yourself up and down something then there is nothing really to do in Queenstown.

We realised on the way to Queenstown that our few days we had allowed ourselves were not going to be enough and as the weather was not at its best we decided that we were going to have to come back at some point. We had to decide on one adrenaline fuelled thing to do while we were there. Many years ago I had seen a thing on the TV about New Zealand's jetboats and in particular the jetboats on the Shotover river where these 450hp boats scream up and down the river in the canyons at around 70-100kmh and if that's not enough they can turn on a sixpence and follow the canyon walls with about 6 inches to spare between your head and the rockface. Just so happens that the Shotover river is in Queenstown so we had to get on one.

We waited for a gap in the weather and when we finally booked the trip through our campsite (so we got a free photo thrown in) we were told we could get on the 4pm trip if we wanted. It was 3.55pm, so we went straight there, got our waterproofs and life vests, and before we could think too much about it were sitting in the jet boat with six other unfortunates. Fully laden with 12 passengers and a driver the boat tips the scales at just over 3 tonne but can still reach speeds of up to 80km/h. The boat works on the same principle as the jet ski but on a much bigger scale as it sucks in large amounts of water underneath and fires it out the back from two jet nozzles to propel the boat forward. This means that the boat can run with just 50mm of water underneath it and its precise steering and sharp turns means it can run so close to the canyons and any water obstacles.

We hurtled up and down the narrow canyon and further along the river for the next 30 minutes. The driver obviously delighted in keeping us as close to terror as we could take, and it was absolutely brilliant fun. He threw in a couple of 360 degree spins for good measure which had me squealing so that everyone turned and laughed at me, my husband included. Apart from the obvious enjoyment the scenery was beautiful and we were told a little of the mining history in the area to round off the experience so it was more than just a thrill ride, as if that wasn't enough!

Our last day in Queenstown we wandered around the town. We had heard of a place on the lake with an underwater viewing room so we headed there for a look at the lake's inhabitants. In the glass walled underwater room we watched as huge eels fed. For a dollar in a slot machine food pellets were released into the water and massive trout vacuumed them up. The stars of the show were definitely the ducks that dove from the surface down 3,4,5 meters to get to the food. They were amazingly graceful in the water and shimmered silver with the air trapped in their feathers. Reading from the information boards we found that the ducks can hold their breath for up to 45minutes!

Since it was a fairly sunny day we thought it would be nice to take the gondola to the top of the hill overlooking the town. On arriving at the gondola station however we looked at the prices and decided that there was nothing wrong with our legs, and it didn't really look that far. An hours climbing (it really didn't look that far!) took us to the upper station which houses a lookout. As well as this there is a café, restaurant, luge tracks, and "The Ledge Bungy" which is one of the ones that Katie did when she was last in NZ. We didn't stay very long, just enough to take in the view, get our breath back and have a drink. I wasn't looking forward to walking back down and had a theory that nobody would be checking tickets for the return gondola trip. I was right, we jumped on no questions asked and took a free ride down to the town, HA! We drove back towards Wanaka that afternoon too meet with Nick and Sandy.

Nick had heard that one of the bars was organising a "Jelly Wrestling Competition" and although we weren't about to enter we didn't want to miss the spectacle. En route we stopped at the Kawarau Bridge which is the original Bungy site where you can still do the 43 meter jump. I had done this one too and was keen to get Paul interested in trying one for himself. He had a good look, then decided he would do one, but not this day and not this jump. "It's too small" he said, "if I'm going to do it I might as well do the big one". By this he meant the colossal 134 meter Nevis Highwire on his Birthday. Impressive!