Queenstown & Middle Earth

I'm still amazed at the beauty! Our hotel room looks out over the Wakatipu Lake.

We started our day with a tour about town and then a stop and personal tour of the Queenstown fire station. They took us for a firetruck ride around the town. It was awesome, especially when we passed the people from our tour group. 😉

We then went on a jetboat tour of the Dart River. It is a river flowing from the glaciers and melting snow caps. It flows into the Wakatipu (or Whakatipu) Lake. It is very rocky and shallow, but the boats are made for that! They can run in as little as 6 inches of water. They took us on a trip into MIDDLE EARTH (where many scenes from the movies were filmed).

We then ventured on our own and took a trip up the gondola to the top, about 450 meters. Breathtaking views.

We are capping off our evening with a high-end local butchery restaurant.
The skies are finally clear, so we will try to spot the southern cross tonight!!Read more