Luge, jet boat and hiking the Routeburn Track

Saturday, March 11, 2017
Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand
Sat Mar 11 and Sun Mar 12
-long day of packing the day before but felt pretty ready for the trip . Kids were not that helpful but at least they stayed out of the way for the most part. 
-up at 5am to catch the 6:10 to Honolulu. Plenty of extra time to get on the 9:30 flight to Auckland but it was great to not be stressed or watching the clock. Gave us time to grab breakfast and brush teeth. 
-hopped on onboard the 787 Dreamliner and was very pleasantly surprised by the Economy Plus. Wider seats and more legroom and 2x3x2 configuration made it very pleasant. Excellent call by Laura to upgrade a bit. Napped and watched shows and the 8.5 hour flight went by pretty quickly. They fed us lots of food. 
-2 hour layover in Auckland went quickly because as before it took a long time to clear customs plus a long walk from the international terminal to the domestic. No biggie and was nice to stretch our legs. 
-a bit groggy on the 1.75 hour flight to Queenstown as the early morning and the getting late night was catching up with us. Queenstown airport was small and easy to pick up our car. 
-a quick and cautious drive to our apartment 15 minutes away . Brush teeth and then to bed for some badly needed sleep. Now where did Sunday the 12th disappear to?!?

Mon Mar 13
-we woke up around 8 and we were all hungry. The receptionist recommended Halo around the corner for breakfast and Lonely Planet concurred. We had an excellent breakfast to fill our empty stomachs. 
-the weather had been raining but it looked like it was clearing. The boys walked home from breakfast alone which gave Laura and I time to pop into an info center. The very helpful Georgia gave us great info about the hike and jet boat that we were considering. She also confirmed that the weather was scheduled to improve greatly on Tuesday and Wednesday. We also stopped at a grocery store for critical supplies like ginger cookies, milk and cereal. A good outing
-we got home and organized the troops to head out to the gondola and luge. With occasional rain and an uncertain destination we decided to drive. Parking was a pain but we found a place and bought tickets and boarded the gondola and headed up the hill
-the rain let up and we got on a chairlift to take us to the top where the luge began. The wind made it crisp but we had the right gear to stay warm. 
-we had the usual 2 minute Kiwi safety brief and soon were racing down the hill cackling the whole way. We enjoyed the scenic route and the. Graduated to the advanced route with airborne hill drops and banked curves. It was a hoot. 
-I opted to sit out after 3 runs and man the camera. I got some good shots. Sadly my video attempt got muffed on the boys and Laura's final run. Luckily the boys wanted to do one more run so we manned the camera and got some video. Success all the way around.
-we headed to an Indian restaurant that we had spotted and made it just in time for a late lunch. It was yum not we were hungry and ate happily. 
-we returned to our swanky apartment and the boys rambunctiously but a fort and played. I was still a big weary from the packing and travel days and took a nice one hour nap. 
-upon waking, Laura n I motivated for a walk around the lake . The rambunctious boys were being a pain and showed little interest so we headed out alone. We gabbed a yummy shwerma and ate it by the lake. It was a pleasant walk and a relatively warm and sunny day. 
-the boys were still energetic so happily Finn decided to go to the gym and we finally got everyone settled down for our first good full night of rest. 

Tue Mar 14
-we woke up relatively late n hungry so the crew wanted to go to Halo again for breakfast. The independent boys sent us ahead on our own so we found a table and ordered. They arrived just as the food came. 
-sadly Finn was unable to listen to a warning from me then Laura and kept stuffing large pieces of pancake into his mouth. We sent him out of the restaurant and he defiantly exclaimed that he was walking home. That was fine with us. 
-we returned to a teenager giving us the silent treatment and exclaiming that he did not want to join us for the day's activities. We briefly shared with him that this decision was a mistake and then left it at that . And then we got organized and left it ourselves. 
-we headed over to the Shotover River Jet which is a favorite memory of mine from 20 years ago. We signed up and had a 40 minute wait but used it to explore the river bank, watch jet boats go literally spinning by and saw rafters landing. We also used the time to be first in line and get advice about where to sit which much to my surprise was at the back corner on the driver's side rather than in front next to the driver. 
-soon we were getting geared up and boarding and grabbed our seats. Soon out of the gate I was splashed during a spin and the wind really chilled my face. It felt like the old days of skiing where I had to try and control my panic and breathing. It was really cold. 
-it was a fun ride and I particularly enjoyed the cackles from Ty who was sitting in front of me next to Laura. He had a huge grin and real seemed to be enjoying himself.
-we zoomed through the canyon and it to a more open section of the river. Our driver Niam made occasional stops to give us information and for me to warm up. 
-soon we were back in the canyon for exhilarating zooms by the canyon wall and then back by the dock for a final spin. We exited with huge grins on our face. Despite my threats of executing the Instant Replay I was happy to head back to the car and warm my face when was stuck in huge smile. Good times and fun to share with Ty. Too bad Finn didn't join but it was his loss
-since we were half way there, we continued on to the old gold town of Arrowtown . It was charming in a touristy way but we were DNS walking through the town in less than 30 minutes. We were glad that we did stayed in Queenstown rather than here. 
-we returned to the apartment and regrouped. Ty really wanted to go to the luge again and since it was only mid afternoon, we obliged. Finn again decided to stay home so the three of us went and bought the family 20 pack and had 7 rides each. We giggled the whole way down and had huge smiles on our faces. 
-My favorite was when I was passing Laura and we bumped carts and each felt like we went up on two wheels. It was quite fun and accompanied by squealing giggles. 
-Laura won the final run down the hill and was declared the 2017 NZ luge champion. But perhaps we will return on our last day before our flight. 
-we walked home and then the vote was a simple dinner of shwerma. Laura and I went out and grabbed them and then we had a pleasant dinner back at the apartment. The day had gone by quickly and it was time for bed. 

Wed Mar 15
-despite my hope for a sort of early start, it took quite awhile to get everyone fed with cereal and packed up for a 7-8 hour hike. We finally got rolling around 10 which coupled with a 1.5 hour drive meant we had to be wary of running out of daylight. 
-the drive to Glenorchy was scenic and the weather was quite fine as they say in NZ. We found a parking spot and divvied up the food and water and at last we were off around 11:30 .
-the first half of the hike was signed to take 1.5-2.5 hours. We walked through the forest along a beautiful clear stream climbing slightly. Happily we hit the next trail junction in 2 hours so we were about on pace
-the next part of the hike was a steep climb to Falls Hut and was signed to take 1.5 hours. The boys galloped up the hill and Laura and I see happy to turn a corner and find ourselves at the hut in about 50 minutes. We were looking good on daylight. 
-the views from the deck of the hut were quite nice. While we enjoyed the vista, we had a nice picnic at the hut among the trampers and refilled our water bottles. Soon we were heading down the trail and made fewer stops. We made it back to the car with 5:50 hiking time and about 7 hours elapsed. 
-we were a little hungry but still had some snacks. We did a quick drive through they small town of Glenorchy and decided to use the remaining daylight to drive back to Queenstown and dine at our yummy Indian place. It was a good call as the windy roads would have been extra treacherous in the dark
-we had a tired but yummy and satisfying dinner and then went home for showers and bed. 

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2025-02-13

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