Day 2-New Zealand-"GONDOLA, JET BOAT"

We started out the day (Tues, Jan 12th) by climbing aboard the Christchurch gondola where it lifts you gently 1500' to the top of the Port Hills for 360 degree views across the cityscape of Christchurch. You could clearly see the Canterbury plains to the southern alps.


The wind was really blowing so our gondola was a rockin but it was worth the view at the top. After coming down from the gondola we decided to grab a bite to eat in town. Not to authentic but we decided to grab a sandwich at subway. It tasted great. Sometimes you just need some good old fashion American fast food.

We were ready for our tour. So we met our tour bus at the hotel. We traveled deep into the foothills of the Southern Alps and experienced the spectacular scenery of the Waimakariri River canyon.


The jet boats go up to 55 MPH and 360 degree circles. This was the highlight of the entire trip. Our group filled 4 boats where we were screaming, laughing and having the time of our lives. Here is the before shot. Notice we are nice and dry.

Ohh yea the 360 degree spins are a true adrenalin rush.







Michelle Loader and I are soaking wet as you can see. We were in the back seat and yes you could say it was the "Splash Zone"

Here is the after shot. Wet but worth every minute and of course the wind quickly dried us.

Well Fred had to find out from our driver all about the boat engine. He also found out that our driver is a champion jet boat racer. WOW- no wonder it was a thrill ride.

So we made our way back into town. We decided we better get some dinner. As we were waking around the city checking out the restaurants we ran into Karren and Marty Morris, then Noreen Petty, and Briannea and there spouses. As we were all checking out the menu outside this cute restaurant we noticed it was not too busy so we were a little scared to dine there. HOWEVER, there was this table for eight that was very cool. It had a fire in the middle of the table. Since we were all a little cold we thought that table would be really fun and we could warm our hands as we ate. Actually we could have roasted marshmallows if we would have had them. So Karen marched right in and told the waiter that we wanted that table. They hurried and cleaned it for us. Way to show your leadership Karen. OMG dinner was so fun. We all laughed so hard. I don't have a photo of the table but maybe Noreen does so I will post it once I get it. I was actually to cold to pull my camera out.