3/11/15 Queenstown

We had a free morning so after breakfast, we walked downtown to the grocery store to pick up a few snacks for lunch.  We ate out on our balcony and enjoyed the sunshine.  At 12:30, we were picked up by coach and driven to Glenorkey to board the Dart River jet boats.  They race along the Dart River and can run in only 6 inches of water.  We did a few spins and then had a glorious ride along the river with majestic mountains on both sides of the boat.  Lana was a bit scared at first, but she soon loosened up and I heard her laughing behind me several times although I think she had her eyes shut most of the time. Our driver was wonderful and really gave us a good ride.  We stopped for photos at several places - each more beautiful than the next.  The Dart River is called a braided river as there are many branches flowing across the rocky bottom.  Our driver must make sudden decisions about which braid to follow so sometimes the boat took sharp turns - a lot of fun.  The river changes hugely after a big rain and can fill up the whole valley, but it drains back down to the braids in just 36 hours.  They used to go a bit further down the river, but last January there was an enormous rock slide which went right across the river bed and blocked access to the boats.  It caused the river to dam up and now there is a 2 1/2 mile lake on the other side of the rockfall.  We went halfway back and were picked up by a bus that traveled along the (mostly dry) river bed.  We stopped for a walk through the forest and took turns sitting in a hobbit chair from the movie, which had been moved there.  Much of the local area was used in "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" movies.  It is quite beautiful country.  We got back to town just after 6 and went back to the Ballarat restaurant for fish and chips.  Some of the group went for burgers at Fergburger (famous in Queenstown), but I didn't feel like standing in line for a burger.  We tried to walk off our dinner by walking back up the hill to the hotel, but I don't think we expended enough calories.  Tomorrow we have another long coach ride and we will have new things to see along the way.