Phil, this one is for you. (Queenstown, Arrowhead)

This morning, I did this (yes, that's me, just press play):



I swore I'd only do it once, and now that I've done it, I want to do it again! There's a fairly inexpensive one in Auckland... ???

After that, I went to Middle Earth again, this time with Nomad Safaris - it was really fun! We started off at the Remarkables Ski Field, and we saw more landscapes that were unreal:

We then head off to the Pillars of the Kings, which is actually the Kawarau River. While it doesn't really look like the movie:


The Fellowship is facing where we were standing. It's such a funky color blue, it was gorgeous:

The other side of this location is actually the bridge jump with AJ Hackett! I didn't even realize this morning...

Then we jumped back in the truck, and we headed to Arrowhead, which is where Isildur and his men are attacked by orcs, right at the beginning of the first movie. Movie:


Today:

We then drove into the Arrow River, on "The Road to Macewood" - we literally drove INTO it, too funny! I've never been in a vehicle like that before, it was really fun! The vents were open in the front seat, and I got soaked from the knees down, but it was all good - my camera came out unscathed, haha! This was the truck in front of us, to give you an idea of what we did:

And this is actually a road that locals drive on everyday to get from point A to point B - they all drive cars like this, but STILL! Pretty amazing!

Arrow River is also home to... "If you want him, come and claim him." Boo Arwyn, yes, but it was still cool! All the filming of that scene happened here, and then another image (Skipper's Canyon) was superimposed behind it. That Peter Jackson - so clever.

I also learned how to "gold mine" at Arrow River! I even have the gold to prove it... Okay, so I only have about 4 flecks of gold, but I sifted for it and everything... From there, we then headed to Skipper's Canyon, which used to be a big mining canyon. Not anymore, but it's still really pretty:

Then it was back to the hostel... the people I was with were nice, but they were oldies again. Only one woman was a fan like me, but everyone was friendly. Oh well. Back at the Hostel, I met a girl from Melbourne, Amanda, and we went back to FergBurger - that place is delicious, and cheap!

After that, we headed to Lick, my new favorite place in New Zealand. Minds out of the gutters, guys - it's a gelato place! And you all know how much I value my frozen treats... This is the "cream" of the crop (ha, get it? cream? ha...) - they have won awards for their gelato! I've found my new love (http://www.nzicecream.org.nz/awards07.htm).

Now it's back to the hostel to pack for my flight to Rotorua tomorrow. I have a feeling I'll be back to Queenstown soon enough, though, to Sky Swing, white water raft, Shotover Jet, and maybe do the Nevis Jump... They also have a ski slope...

Bye Queenstown, you've been absolutely everything I dreamed of and more...