Princesses in Queenstown

Wednesday January 13, 2010

We have made it to the West Coast of the South Island, Haast. We have had some great fun getting here. We spent the last 2 nights in Queenstown. Queenstown is the Colorado of the South. It is made for the adventure junkies of the world. Unfortunately, there are only so many activities you can do with young kids. We went straight for the jet boating again. It was a long ride with high speeds, but not as good as the Huka Jet. We missed the big spins and near misses of trees. We still had some fun but we were expecting more. The kids wished they were bigger, as they were mesmerized by the paragliding off the high mountain sides and floating down to the ground. They loved watching them land.

We did the ride up the Gondola and saw the beautiful views of the Remarkables. Up here we had to take the kids back to a Kapa Haka show again. They are always practicing their chest slapping, foot stomping moves, so it was a must. They sat there and enjoyed ever moment once again. Let’s just say, as a more veteran of the kapa haka world, it was a little painful to watch. The groups at Lytton would have put them to shame. Never mind though, it is all about the kids. Right?!!
We slowly made it to Haast today. We stopped off in Arrowtown and stepped back in time to the Gold Rush era. Most of the housing, retail, and offices are the original buildings. They were tiny and full of character. The girls tried their hand in panning for gold in the Arrow River. They tried their best but came away empty handed.

In Wanaka, we went to Puzzling World. Dianne was in her glory. (and so were the kids) Lots of optical illusions and holograms. It was very cool. We had a great time trying to find our way around a maze. We split into teams, Bridget and myself versus Di and Amelia. I picked Bridge because I knew that she would be my dark horse in this endeavour. It was good fun and we found our way around with only a little frustration.

The drive to Haast was amazing. These huge, slightly snow capped mountains shouldering us with beautiful pure lakes and rivers flowing along side. Pictures could not do it justice. I hope that I will be able to make some good comparisons to the Rockies when Amelia and I travel out there in a few months.
As we sit here this evening, we are enjoying the longer sunlight on the West Coast and savouring our last days in this beautiful landscape.

Hoping not to get carried away with the Sand flys!!
Carolyn