Just outside Queenstown, we stopped to see AJ Hackett's Bungy Jumping off the Victoria Bridge-the first and original commercial outfit. What a place! We watched several people go off, including an older guy celebrating his 50th anniversary. Very scary, but you pay $375 to be almost killed. No thanks...
Queenstown is amazing. It sits at an elbow of an enormous lake, with mountains and rivers galore surrounding it. They have invented every kind of adventure under the sun. After walking the town a bit, Terry and Jim decided to go on an adventure to Glenorchy while Craig and Suzanne remained to sample the treats in town.
The Vittitoes took the gondola to the top of the local high hill for a great view, then took a roller skating bobsled down a run. Then Craig did a parasail and had a fantastic time.
Terry and Jim had heard the 1 hour each way to Glenorchy was a must see, so they drove up one of the arms of the lake on a crazy winding road that got more pretty as you went. Glenorchy was where they filmed much of Lord of the Rings. It's a tiny village on the end of Lake Wakatipu where the Dart River flows into it. Spectacular!
We stopped at a jet boat tour place, but had missed the last boat. The girl there gave us tips on where to drive and hike. Off we went on an adventure up a dirt road, through the forest where LOTR was filmed, forded creeks, drove through herds of cows on the road, and were blown away by the views of the snow capped mountains, Diamond Lake, and the river. We kept going past our hike at Diamond because we were having such a good time, finally turning around near the end of the road to grab a beer in Glenorchy before returning to Queenstown to rendezvous with the Vittitoes. Perfect weather and a great day.
We found the Vittitoes and grabbed a bite before Terry drove the 2 1/2 hours to Te Anau, the town at the top of the Milford Highway where are staying. Tomorrow we take that road (which is supposed to be amazing) down to Milford Sound where we will do an overnight boat trip.
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