Two intrepid jet boaters. The ride was better than any amusement park ride.

All the comforts of home towed behind four wheel drive tussock buggie.

Our jet boats.

A view from the stagecoach path.

Today we visited the South Island for the first time and it is a night and day difference from the North Island.    The two biggest differences are that there are very many fewer people there and that the mountains are much bigger.   The people are still very friendly but they also seem more laid back than those in the North.

We only did one shore excursion today and didn’t learn much new but we did have an awful lot of fun.  We went way back in the boonies today and caught a jetboat up a river (which I can’t remember its name).   We passed by other regular boaters and kayakers like they were standing still and the boat driver did a number of 360 degree turns in the middle of the river when he wasn’t jumping over rapids or hugging the cliffs along river’s edge.  The only thing missing from this ride was Maggie the huntaway dog in the other boat.  When Maggie is not herding sheep of cattle, she likes to ride the jetboats.

After about 20 minutes of excitement on the waters, we met some very strange 4 wheel drive buggies for a trip up and across an old 1840’s stagecoach path which then led to some goldmines on the west coast.  It was so steep that the driver told us that in sections the passengers on the stagecoach had to get out and walk behind the horses and the wagon until the crested some hill and they could all jump in again.   We didn’t get out and walk but in many places we did not want to look over the edges as there was not much of a shoulder and certainly no guardrails.  Along the way we saw a lot of black bark beeches which looked almost like the branches had been in a fire – but they had not.  But it was all worthwhile when we go to the top of the pass at about 3000 feet.  Unbelievable views from the summit!

We did learn that the sheep industry on the South Island is winding down and that there are now only 30 million sheep here as opposed to a peak of 70 million in the mid-1940’s.   I think we saw every one of the 30 million to day.

We saw a little bit of damage left over from the 2 devastating earthquakes centered on Christchurch, which was hit the worst.  Our guide said that it will take about 20 years for the city to rebuild after the last quake in 2011.

We also saw a lot of trees blown down by heavy winds that hit the Canterbury Plains only a few weeks ago.  The guide said they had straight winds of 100 mph.  He said he wondered how the trees fell but the sheep didn’t blow away

Tomorrow we go in search of the rarest penguin in the world – the yellow eyed penguin.