Shotover Jet
I took advantage of Shotover Jet's "Locals' Day", which dropped the price from $110 to $10 - a fairly substantial savings. I went with Oriane, a co-worker from Xebidy. We arrived at about 1pm, and were told that the first available opening was at 5:30. Luck for us, this wasn't a problem. We spent about an hour or so just walking around near the river, taking quite a few pictures of the jetboats as they raced by. After that, we spent a bit of time up in Arrowtown, where we did a little tour of the historic Chinese settlement, and then had a coffee and Nutella crepes at the local french restaurant (Bonjour) in town.
We still had a bit of time before our ride, so we explored the other side of the Shotover River a bit, as well. Did a little hike, and found that there happens to be a man-made tunnel that you can raft through (the longest in the world, apparently?). I'll have to see about doing a raft trip, now. We happened to be there at just the right time, so I can say first hand that it looks like a lot of fun.
Eventually, the time came, and we got to do our ride. We checked in, waited a bit, and then put on rain jackets and life vests and hopped in the boat. The drivers make it a bit nerve racking, as they intentionally get much too close to the steep canyon walls and do a number of 360's and other assorted tricks. It is really exciting, and is over much too quickly. The whole thing only lasts maybe 20 minutes? I'm not sure if it would have been worth 110 dollars, but it was well, well worth 10 bucks!
