Thursday, January 8, 2015

NZ adventures with Emma and Kortney - Part 2 Queenstown

We spent the first day in Queenstown just chilling out and enjoying the view from our friends house we were staying at and shopping for supplies. We did brave a short dip in chilly Lake Wakatipu in the late afternoon.


Emma braving the cold waters of Lake Wakatipu

The next day we headed in to Queenstown and while Aaron was visiting the doctor to get his man flu checked out the girls went shopping! We then headed up the Gondola and had lunch overlooking Queenstown and Aaron and the girls spent the afternoon racing down on the luge.

Emma and Kortney in the gondola

Emma and Kortney heading up to go luging

Aaron and Kortney whizzing past!

View down over Queenstown from the top of the gondola

The next day Aaron and I went up to Lake Alta for a morning walk and then in the afternoon we took the kayak out on the lake.
Emma in Sprite... 

Looking back from the lake towards the house (middle one in the top row)

Wednesday we took a jet boat ride from Queenstown down the Kawerau River - with the driver throwing in multiple 360 degree turns along the way - making sure that we all got a little wet! Our friend Rebecca arrived in the afternoon to catch up with us for a few days.
Kortney, Emma, Helen and Aaron in the jet boat still dry at the start!

Thursday was our final day in Queenstown and Aaron and Rebecca booked a shuttle to go mountain biking over towards Coronet Peak and Skippers Canyon. Kortney, Emma and I headed up towards Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu to go for a horse trek along the Dart River. This is the area where Lord of the Rings, Prince Caspian and a number of other movies have been filmed. In the morning the clouds were low - but they burnt off and lifted to reveal the spectacular scenery. The riding was good and we even attempted a couple of trotting sessions along the way, and had to cross a couple of braids of the river.

Emma, riding a horse called Ben, and Kortney, riding Yankee, along the Dart River

Kortney on Yankee

After 2 hours riding along the river our legs were like jelly - so we drove out had lunch and did a short walk at the start of the Routeburn Track to stretch out the legs and enjoy the beautiful beech forests and mountain scenery.

Emma walking through the beautiful beech tree forest

Emma and Kortney with the clear Routeburn River

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