Our day began with a bus ride on Skippers Road, named one of the world’s most dangerous roads (glad I didn’t know about that until I got home!). We had great views of Skippers Canyon and the Shotover River below. Our bus driver talked about the gold mining history of this area.
Just enough snow to make a snowball
Lighthouse Rock
Castle Rock
Shotover River
We made our way down to the Shotover River for our jet boat ride. We were outfitted with slickers and life jackets and taught the pilot’s signal warning us of an imminent 360-degreee turn. I managed to get a seat up front next to the pilot. Our ride was fast and furious – and at times bumpy in the shallow places!
I encountered my first Lord of the Rings movie site. This was the location for the “Ford of Bruinen” scene in The Fellowship of the Ring depicting the flooding of the river. The pilot explained that jet boats created the waves in that scene (in the finished film the boats were hidden by CGI effects). I learned that a number of the movie scenes are actually composites of filming at two or more locations.
After our jet boat ride, we went back to the top of the canyon where we waited for our helicopter ride.
Jet boat as seen from a canyon overlook
