Doubtful Sound to Queenstown

Rainy, cold but pretty

Rain = waterfalls.   No rain = no waterfalls.     It's that easy.

The three stabilizer sails were on hydraulic roller furlers....just push a button and they rolled up.

Suzi getting ready to get into her harness for her tandem paraglide trip.

It couldn't have been a more beautiful day to soar with the birds !!!

A shot off the top of the gondola down to Queenstown.

This is part of the luge track that we ran twice, way too much fun for only once down.

We did have a great trip to Doubtful Sound, thoroughly enjoying the crew and the people we met, even though the weather sucked. The food was fabulous, our foursome bunkroom turned out to be just for us, and we did have a delightful afternoon kayaking along the pristine shore of the sound. The drizzling rain brought many waterfalls, and a bit of magical mystery to our tour, but the warm sunshine would have shown us the incredible rich colors I know do exist. As we came back to Manapouri, a huge rainbow appeared over the lake, and the sunshine and clear blue skies welcomed us back. 


We gave two young friends we had met on the cruise, Ben and Brittany, a ride back to their home in Queentown, along with another wonderful girl from the US, Hannah, who was heading that way as well. Pretty fun giving rides when we can. We found another Top 10 Holiday Park to call home for these last two nights and definitely got our fill of fun time in Queenstown, the Disneyland city of New Zealand.  We spent the whole time today spending money and enjoying crazy extreme rides. The weather has been spectacular, and the energy here is high. I hiked this morning up the mountain in town, while David took the gondola up and then we rode our very first luges; what fun they are! Next, we walked into town, got a bite to eat and took a very loud jet boat from the town dock, along the shore of the lake, and up the Kawarau and Shotover Rivers, skimming in 6 inches of water and doing 360's quite often. We giggled a lot and definitely this was way beyond anything peaceful we had ever done. We ended the day with a trip up to Coronet Peak and both did a parasail. What an exhilirating chance to fly across magnificent countryside with Queenstown in the far distance. PHEW!  


We are back in our cozy ktichen/lounge near our parked van and just had a lovely visit with Hannah, wishing her well on her extended journey before she heads back home to Wisconsin. We are not sure which direction we will go tomorrow. We have been invited by a dairy farmer to come stay for a few days north of Dunedin and do some cow-punching on a nearby ranch, but we need to check on that possibility tomorrow. Our other option is to head up to Wanaka and over to the West Coast for a bit, but the weather is turning cold again tomorrow, and we are not sure we are ready for more cold weather. We are quite the wooses lately.  Yes, New Zealand is expensive, but it certainly is beautiful and thank goodness we are camping most of the time, making our own meals, and adventuring mostly on our own. We will be happy to be away from this tourist town, but we did have a wonderful time making the most of it today.  We are certainly lucky to be here.  Love to all,  Suzi and David