Up early today, quick breakfast and trying not to feel nervous as we went to check in for our white water rafting trip on the 4/5 grade Shotover River. With an ominous S for Shotover written on our hands to send us in the right direction we boarded the minibus for the short ride to the rafting centre where we were kitted out with all the necessary gear: wetsuits, jackets and boots, life-jackets and helmets. Back on board the minibus, pulling the trailer with the rafts, for the ride through Skipper's Canyon to the start point on the Shotover River which was one of the richest gold bearing rivers in the world. A nice relaxing ride whilst we gather our thoughts, yes? NO!! This was an unforgettable and at times terrifying journey along the historic Skippers Road along old goldminers trails into Skippers Canyon. It is a twisting, winding and very narrow dirt road with a very, very steep drop to one side and yes, cars do sometimes come the other way! There are some places where the road has fallen away after heavy rains and other places where it looks like it might fall away very soon! If heights are not your thing then you just have to keep breathing deep breaths and hope it will be over soon! Pity we had to leave our cameras back at the rafting centre because there were some fantastic photo opportunities here.

All things must end, and after about 45 minutes of terror we arrived at the launch point for the rafts. That water looks very cold! Not surprising as it is mostly run-off from the melting ice and snow. We were all given a paddle and then listened carefully to the safety briefing which was mostly about how paddles can be very dangerous weapons when waved around indiscriminately. There were enough people for 3 rafts and there were 7 of us and our river guide, Sally, on ours. We travelled from Deep Creek along peaceful waters at first which gave Sally plenty of time to point out the scenery and also to train us in how to respond to all the commands such as Forwards! Backwards! Over RIght! and even Get Down! and Hold On!! which were apparently going to be VERY IMPORTANT very soon. It all began to be just a little alarming and we practised diligently and wonder how we would even hear what she was saying when the water was pounding around us.

As we headed closer to the rapids of the lower Canyon Sally checked all our life jackets again and this was it! We turned a corner and all hell let loose! With adrenalin pumping we paddled our way through Rock Garden shortly followed by The Mother which includes After Shock, Squeeze, Anvil, Toilet, Oh Sh*t and Pinball all following closely one after the other without a break. Wow and double Wow! We did it! Simply Amazing! Spectacular and exhilerating and a real challenge. We were tossed and turned, bumped and bashed but we all worked hard as a team and followed those instructions and we got the raft through and stayed upright. Much better than simply jumping off something!

Some more peaceful water and time to catch our breath before a couple more rapids and then the unforgettable 170 metre Oxenbridge Tunnel before shooting the final Cascade Rapid to finish. It was quite steep and we had been told that there was a 50/50 chance of turning over, but we stayed upright and completed the trip unbeaten after around 2 hours on the river.

What an experience! We were feeling hungry after all that exertion and decided to go for a Fergburger as they are very famous and popular with visitors to Queenstown but to be honest we found them to be nothing special and rather a disappointment.

The weather was still glorious so in the afternoon we took a ride around the lake on the TSS Earnslaw which is an old steamship which has been doing journeys on the lake for a 100 years. It was interesting to watch them shovelling the coal down below and we enjoyed watching the beautiful scenery as we passed by. They even had an old fashioned pianist playing for our entertainment and it was a pleasant, sleepy afternoon.

In the evening we were back in the Eichardt'd Bar enjoying our usual glass of Bolly followed by tapas. Their chowder and their bruschetta are truly delicious!