Doing the Queenstown thing!

Well, not the best night's sleep as there was a weird whooshing in pipes sound throughout the night that came exactly every 24.5 seconds (I know, I counted - it was like counting sheep but not as restful).  Beautiful scenery out of the apartment windows in the morning, however, which wasn't a bad backdrop to eating a bowl of Coco Pops for breaky and somewhat soothed us. After eventually getting the girls going we headed over to Arrowtown which is an old gold mining town that has a variety of shops, dining options and pubs. It is also a normal town with residents but full of turn of (last century) buildings so very quaint. After some souveneir shopping we headed into a french cafe and Larry, Kate and Chloe had crepes and Jenny a really yummy and authentic croque monsieur (no Margaret, no coke!).

Our jet boat ride was next so we headed to the Shotover River and waited for our allotted time/boat. We kitted up in life jackets and water proof overcoats together with our ski jackets, beanies, gloves and neck warmers and we were ready for our thrill ride feeling just a little warm and overdressed. It was absolutely awesome on the river and Larry had his Go Pro on a head strap under his beanie so some good video of our experience was taken as well the pictures from the company.  It was FREEZING so all the layers were well worth the effort.  The small amounts of water that splashed onto my face was icy cold.  Apparently the first ride of the morning in winter, the water actually does freeze onto you.  Glad we were doing it early afternoon!

After that incredible experience we decided to head up to Coronet Peak ski field as the road was open without the need to fit snow chains, just had to carry them, so we felt comfortable heading up there.  The weather had also cleared a little so that we didn't have to drive through cloud and there were great views to be had all the way down to Queenstown.  Funny seeing the cars driving along the roads down in the valley - they looked tiny - a bit like looking at a model railway scene.  We trudged up to the snow from one of the lower car parks and threw some snowballs around but as Kate and Chloe were just wearing sneakers (we hadn't planned on snow today!) we didn't venture too far  up the slopes.

Thought we'd get a jump on the skiers traffic when the lifts close at 4pm so we were back down in Queenstown by then and getting some fuel (the empty light came on half way up the mountain!) and some groceries for dinner.  Back to our unit and sat watching the view and all the numerous activities happening on the water - shark boats (that go fully under water and pop up again vertically), jetboats, TSS Earnslaw paddle boat, paragliders, parasailers etc etc until the sun set.  So many ways to spend your money in Queenstown!  We've booked to go to Milford Sound tomorrow as the forecast is for a fine and clear afternoon after morning fog.  Then it's apparently going to snow on Saturday.  Yippee!!