Day 18 NZ - 18/1/2011

I’ve been having loads of weird and quite vivid dreams for a few nights now and last night was no exception. A text from Jess woke me at 6.38am (it had taken a while to come through) and then another dream that we’d slept in to 9.15 and I’d missed my jet boat ride woke me at 7.20. Thankfully it was just a dream! After packing up, we headed up to Arthur Point – a few k’s from Q – and waited until 9.30am. Mandy – the chief photographer – was on the shore as we set off – I had the front seat to myself (except for the driver thankfully). It was a fantastic experience and it’s amazing how maneuverable the boats are. It was like he aimed for the gorge walls and literally missed them by cm’s. Very exciting. Look closely in the photo's - I am the sunglassed dude in the front seat. They then tried to sell me $59 worth of photo’s and video’s of me and my various facial expressions. Tempting but we had all Mandy’s photo’s. Well worth the $119!

After refueling, food shopping and emptying everything we set off along the Alpine Scenic Drive to Wanaka. It was very steep and provided unbelievable views – again! I would love to drive it again but in the other direction so that’s something for next time.

View from the Gates of Haast Bridge

Alpine drive from Queenstown

We arrived at Wanaka at about 1.30pm – much earlier than we’d expected and it had started to rain with the forecast of heavy rain to come. Decisions to be made! We had lunch (more peanut butter) and looked around the shops for a little while then decided to keep moving into the Mount Aspiring NP where we planned to stop in a rest area somewhere for the night. The 2 sides to situations presented itself again. This time, the rain - not so good -  provided lots of water for the various waterfalls we passed - very good. We stopped at Fantail Falls, Gates of Haast, and Thunder Creek Falls, all of which were spectacular – the Gates of Haast most so.

It’s now 6.15pm and I am sitting in the van with Mandy beside me, keeping out of the rain and away from the sand flies, typing away and waiting for another yummy dinner. As we have got a bit further today we have more time tomorrow to check out the rest of this NP and then the glaciers.