SV Panta Rhei Retirement Trip

Queenstown is the thrill capital of the world. They do everything dangerous here! And they do it again and again. It's amazing but you can choose to stop your heart about 20 different ways every morning. So today's post is about the Jet Boat way.

Jet boats are amazing, purpose built and purpose operated vessels. They drive them down NARROW granite canyons (frequently sideways!) and very close to the rocks (a few inches at most) and at very high speeds. My first reaction was that it was terrifying, not thrilling. They are powerful. The Shotover boats had 600 hp and they operated them full throttle or nothing. Of course it was kids doing the driving! No one our age would drive them "properly". You've got to believe you are invincible. The second jet boat ride (Dart River) was up a tangled web of a river in water that was frequently only inches deep. We hit bottom several times (briefly). The boats are aluminum so they are pretty tough. Surprizingly, the seats are comfortable for me. The seats are staggered in height so everyone gets a good forward view. The path through the river is not always apparent and the boat is moving FAST so choices need to be made when the river is not completely in view. It is a credit to the operators that we don't end up in a dead end. They survey the river every day I think to establish the path. It changes because of things like logs and sweepers that occlude previously good paths. The boats have to go fast so that they draw a minimum amount of water. On many turns the front of the boat was hanging over gravel while the back of the boat found sufficient water to drive the jet. They did this with logs, too. Geez. The Dart River ride was much longer than the Shotover ride. We went about 45 km up a winding river. Note that we went up. I think we gained about 1500 feet of vertical during the ride. Now imagine going back down the river. You are going full boat speed PLUS the speed of the water (which is probably 15 - 20 knots in places). The turns that appeared impossibly sharp become sharper still. Double wow for the passengers. The most amazing thing is that they do this repeatedly. They move a lot of people. I think they have more than half a dozen boats working at a time. The coordinate where they are in the river by radio and private boats aren't allowed because of the traffic hazard. Turns are frequently blind and the river is impossibly narrow. Well, actually the success of the venture suggests that they are in fact ALMOST but not quite impossibly narrow. Credit to the drivers is due. Also, credit to the operators of these concessions who have done their homework. This is the sort of thing that happens successfully in a place like NZ where the infrastructure is well conceived and maintained. No wonder we like it here!

If you look at the second row in the photo you will see Larry, Karen, Barbara, and Jim. We are seated right next to the AED!