Arrowtown, Shotover Jetboat Ride and Queenstown - Day 6

Historic Arrowtown

We had so much fun in this cute little town. Todd took the day to go slay some serious trout with a guide and we just explored a bit. This town was like a mini Park City about 100 years ago. Same quaint little stores and mountains surrounding it. Of course, we stopped in at the sweets shop and got our sugar fill for the day. Katie and Joey's eyes were huge when they walked in. They really didn't know where to start. And sweet John just kept repeating, "treats, treats treats!"
Sometimes this town seemed so confusing just because it reminded me of so many little ghost towns my dad would take us to when we were little. And then you would see the double decker bus or phone booth and wonder where in the heck you were!

There was also a little walk along the river where you could pan for gold...we didn't find any. We had a fabulous lunch outside next to a picture perfect cottage complete with a black cat. And finally, we took a tour through the old Chinese mining village. Oh my, those people had a rough living standard. Hard to believe it wasn't too long ago it was being used!




Lucky us, we found this super homely sheep that John has been in love with for months. A little boy from our playgroup had one and John was always trying to steal it from him. I had been looking everywhere in our town and online for one and basically given up. And then, we walk into this random second hand store and there are 5 sitting on a chair. I about lost it I was so excited. My mom couldn't believe I was going to buy this forlorn sheep for my child. But really, he is so homely he's cute. Funny thing is, now she wishes she would have bought one. He really is cute, in his own little way.

Shotover River and Jetboat Ride

I could not believe the color of this river! The aqua blue again the rock with the trees was so beautiful! (This river would actually have been really cool to float in a raft. Some other time though...when the kids are less of a drowning risk.) We debated whether or not to do this because there were mixed reviews about risk and price. (Apparently, someone died in a crash in 2010.) I am so glad we did!!! It was awesome. Definitely one of the kids' and my favorites. Talk about an adrenaline rush. We were literally and inch from the rock walls going so so fast. In between laughing my head off at the kids' reaction I would utter a prayer for us to not crash and die and for my dad's heart to stay in sinus rhythm. It worked! We all survived and had a great time. So, so glad we did this. Joey was cracking me up. He had a white knuckle grip on the handle bars and then he would look up at me and say, "This is so fun mom, but kinda scary." The poor kid kept trying to convince himself it was fun for the first 1o minutes. And then, it was all we heard about for the rest of week!.


Queenstown

Loved this town too! I could have spent a lot more time here. Super touristy, but so many little nooks to explore. We just skimmed the surface. Our hotel was right down on the water and near all the shops. It was so fun to just walk to everything and the weather was beautiful.

Queenstown sunsets. WOW! And, that's no pollution folks. Just a raw all natural sunset.