One Final Look at Queenstown, NZ

Our last day in Queenstown, NZ. View from the top and a view of a netball court.

Stuff Jin Sun Likes

See if you can pick up on a theme...

It's Doubtful Sound, NZ

We took an overnight trip to the magnificent Doubtful Sound in the fjordlands of New Zealand. Unlike Milford Sound, the Doubtful was much less touristy with our boat being the only one in the whole sound. The small islands were teeming with waterfalls and we saw hundreds. For more pics of this secluded and somewhat eerie natural wonder, click on the title link.






Here's our bunk that we shared with 2 other people.

Queenstown, NZ- The Thrillogy, Part 3

Our final stop of the day was the Canyon Swing- a 60 m drop and swing over a rocky canyon and river. Here are a few funny pics on our way to the big drop- and of course the videos of each of our jumps (Jin Sun's video turned out better - as always).

BTW, the higher number of soiled tightie whities indicates the fear factor. Jeff and I went for 5 undies, which was the max fear factor. According to JSP's heart rate monitor, the Backwards jump got her heart beating 150 beats per minute. She claims that is her jogging heart rate...

Queenstown, NZ- The Thrillogy- Pt 2

Part 2 of the Thrillogy
Jetboating- ripping through narrow canyons on a river surface just a few inches deep in some places at 85 Kmph. The 360 degree turns were the most fun- the thrilling part was coming within inches of the rock canyon walls. Check it out: http://www.shotoverjet.com/queenstown/main/
This was Jeff's favorite part of the day. Our driver's name was Murray.

Queenstown, NZ- The Thrillogy, Pt 1

Our first full day in Queenstown, NZ, the adventure capital of the world, consisted of "The Thrillogy"- RiverSurfing, Shotover Jetboating, and the Canyon Swing.

Part 1: Riversurfing
We suited up and grabbed a boogie board for a ride down the whitewater to surf a rapid. It was some Serious Fun and JinStreme's favorite part of the day.

LOTR: The Trilogy

Loyal readers, this is the moment you have all been waiting for...the reason anyone ever travels down under.


New Zealand- home of Peter Jackson, WETA, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Our first day in Wellington, we went 'on location' to various spots including where Frodo and Sam ran from the Ringwraiths, where Aragorn and King Theoden of Rohan assessed their troops, and the doomed Helms Deep. JSP even got the chance to battle a few Orcs with Bilbo's dagger, Sting.

Wellington or San Francisco?

Does this scene look familiar? Wellington is another city by the bay- just like SF.

Heaps of Sheep and Rugby players

Did you know there are 4 million people in all of New Zealand and 40 million sheep? We captured this embarrassing moment for one of them...

We don't know how many rugby players they have, but we were driving around on a Sunday and stumbled across this high school match.

Onwards to Akaroa and the Banks Peninsula

There wasn't much else to do in Christchurch after about 24 hours... so we rented a car and drove south to the Banks Peninsula. Wineries, dairies, and many, many sheep dotted the countryside between sleepy harbor towns. Jeff even got to drive on the wrong side of the road again.

Kitsch in Christchurch

A slice of Kiwiana in Christchurch-
We visited a relocated house fully decorated with paua shells. No two shells are alike and you can also harvest blue pearls from these mollusks. The couple (Fred and Myrtle) that owned this house got so famous, they were chosen as spokespersons for the local bread company.


http://www.newzealand.org.nz/fred_and_myrtle.htm