20 Weeks RTW: Friday, Mar. 10 (week 7 / day 47) Oxbow to Mt. Aspiring, NZ

High Adventure Day

Today was awesome. The ultimate extreme & high adventure day. Well, we could've packed more in but we opted out of the helicopter stunt ride. We drove out to the oxbow bend in the Clutha River just southeast of Wanaka to the Oxbow Adventure Company where the owner has built his house & the ultimate adrenaline-junky playground. First we rode down to the riverside to jet boat. This thing is built to ride in water only 3-4 inches deep & can spin a 360 degree turn which we did several times. We reached about 50 mph & jetted right along the trees of the river. In Queenstown, they have these same jet boats & drive them through canyons that seem barley wider than the boats are! Kyra was quite hesitant & chose a middle seat, but she loved it.

We stopped back at the toy hanger to switch gears, now for some serious off-roading in the rock crawler! Avery, Kyra & Cannon went first. They climbed in the jump suits, put on "sunnies" & each got a "buff" or gator to help keep the dust off. After they were strapped in securely, they peeled out of the hanger & zoomed passed us. Again, I wondered if Kyra would come back crying or laughing. She couldn't decide which was better, the boat or the off-roader! We got to see the owner's house when we used the bathroom, wow, what a view!

getting prepped in the big-toy hanger

ready to jet on the river

a selfie break

the ultimate off-roader

Kyra: "do I really have to get in that thing?"

all suited up & looking tough!

Cannon was too cute in the over-sized jump suit

belted in & ready for action

their first turn after peeling out of the hanger

coming down the steep hill

climbing the rock (but not over this one)

crawling over the rocks

Sydney & Carley looking chill before their turn

the Oxbow house

the oxbow bend in the river

Mount Aspiring National Park

We had our picnic lunch in the car as we drove about an hour straight from Oxbow to Mount Aspiring NP on the west side of Lake Wanaka. This was one of the most beautiful hikes we've ever done. The drive up into the valley was reminiscent of the Weber Canyon in Utah. In New Zealand they call trails, "tracks" & to hike is "to tramp." If the track is long enough, it also becomes one of their more famous "great walks" like the Kepler or Routeburn tracks that we sampled earlier this week. This track, the Rob Roy Glacier Track, is a shorter one, about 3 miles one way, but very popular because of it's beauty & proximity to the glacier at the 3rd lookout.

We parked at the end of the road & started up the gravel trail to the swing bridge on the river. The track then dips into the forest & soon comes to the 1st lookout with a view up the valley to the still distant glacier. The 2nd lookout is about 2 miles up with a nicely framed shot of the glacier & a long skinny waterfall from the melting snow. The end of the track opens up onto a rocky hillside with the 3rd lookout & a sweeping view of the glacier with multiple waterfalls. Pics were hard with the sunlight coming right over the top of the snow. There was a German guy tramping barefoot that we chatted with briefly; he commented how we packed light, despite only carrying a camera himself & having no shoes!