Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Funyaking
A full day out today, starting with a drive up to Glenorchy at the end of the Dart River. Beautiful morning drive up the side of Lake Wakatipu. There are some sections of that drive that I'd love to do again on two wheels (actually, that applies to a lot of NZ).
On arriving, we changed into wetsuits, bootees, fleeces, spray jackets and life jackets. Phew! Then we set off up the river in a jet boat. You have to do jet boating in Queenstown, apparently, and this is one of the longer runs. We did a couple of 360 spins, just for our driver to show off, and then set off up the river at high speed. It's amazing being able to hurtle up the river in so little water (the rivers are only a few inches deep in places), but I can't decide whether the clamour of a big-block Chevy V8 behind you detracts from the wonder of the wilderness or whether it's just all enormously grinworthy. After a brief interlude of sitting on the bank when our boat broke down (needle valve stuck, fuel everywhere), we got into the replacement boat and had to go flat out to catch up with the others. Shame.
By the time we caught them, the rest of our party had already inflated the Funyaks, inflatable Canadian-style canoes :-) so all that remained was a bewildering safety talk and paddling instructions, a wee stop and we were off, paddling down the river. Max and Erin went with the guide, leaving Sarah and me to share a boat. The concentration required to steer and pick a course meant that it was difficult to appreciate the wonderful surroundings - the turquoise waters, the snow-capped mountains nestling in the clouds, the fabulous views down the wide valley, that kind of thing. We pootled, with the occasional pause for running aground, to our lunch stop. Before lunch we paddled around a lovely little canyon, bouncing off the walls in our feeble attempts to manoeuvre in a tight space. Well, I was steering, what d'you expect?
After lunch we paddled further downstream over some more exciting (but still pretty tame) waves and bumpy bits to be picked up by the bus and driven back.
All in all, it was a good, but perhaps not a great day out. It was fun, but perhaps not entirely our kind of thing, and much too expensive for what it was. We did dither over booking it, and perhaps next time we'll stick with our gut instincts.
On arriving, we changed into wetsuits, bootees, fleeces, spray jackets and life jackets. Phew! Then we set off up the river in a jet boat. You have to do jet boating in Queenstown, apparently, and this is one of the longer runs. We did a couple of 360 spins, just for our driver to show off, and then set off up the river at high speed. It's amazing being able to hurtle up the river in so little water (the rivers are only a few inches deep in places), but I can't decide whether the clamour of a big-block Chevy V8 behind you detracts from the wonder of the wilderness or whether it's just all enormously grinworthy. After a brief interlude of sitting on the bank when our boat broke down (needle valve stuck, fuel everywhere), we got into the replacement boat and had to go flat out to catch up with the others. Shame.
By the time we caught them, the rest of our party had already inflated the Funyaks, inflatable Canadian-style canoes :-) so all that remained was a bewildering safety talk and paddling instructions, a wee stop and we were off, paddling down the river. Max and Erin went with the guide, leaving Sarah and me to share a boat. The concentration required to steer and pick a course meant that it was difficult to appreciate the wonderful surroundings - the turquoise waters, the snow-capped mountains nestling in the clouds, the fabulous views down the wide valley, that kind of thing. We pootled, with the occasional pause for running aground, to our lunch stop. Before lunch we paddled around a lovely little canyon, bouncing off the walls in our feeble attempts to manoeuvre in a tight space. Well, I was steering, what d'you expect?After lunch we paddled further downstream over some more exciting (but still pretty tame) waves and bumpy bits to be picked up by the bus and driven back.
All in all, it was a good, but perhaps not a great day out. It was fun, but perhaps not entirely our kind of thing, and much too expensive for what it was. We did dither over booking it, and perhaps next time we'll stick with our gut instincts.
// posted by Chrisl @ 10:39 PM 
