ADVENTURE
Just add
WATER
Words and Images by TIM WARRINGTON
“It’s my first jet boat ride,” I yell over the throb of the engines, as two 350 Mercruiser V8’s roar to life beneath my feet. And suddenly this morning’s all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet seems like not such a good idea. “Dude, you picked the best,” comes the return cry from the driver’s seat. I’m on the Shotover Jet Boat in New Zealand’s adventure capital, Queenstown, on the South Island. They call it ‘The World’s Most Exciting Jet Boat Ride’. I’m about to find out why. The first thing you notice when you climb aboard, apart from the awed silence and fear-tinged glances, is there are no restraints. There are no seat belts and there are no over-the-shoulder braces as you might find on a rollercoaster. All that’s stopping you from spinning into oblivion is a metal bar, which you grip with every ounce of strength. I begin the ride caressing the bar tentatively, as the boat floats gently backwards from the dock, but seconds later, and for the rest of the ride, it’s white-knuckle-hang-on-for-dear-life all the way. The Shotover is an assault on the senses: the speed; the screams of excitement; the G-forces that glue you to your seat and then seconds later the spinning that tosses you like salad. When I watch the video of my ride later, my face seems frozen in fear or is it disbelief – confused how we didn’t collide with that rock face or that halfsubmerged log, or simply become airborne because we’re just going that fast. But all the curiosity is dashed away when the boat spins 360 or more and a wash of bracing river water slaps you in the face and back to reality. Then you’re off again, racing back up the canyon, reaching speeds in excess of 90km/h. This is what real adventure is made of: on a knife edge, balancing precariously between massive safety precautions and an insane amount of training and crazy adrenalin pumping madness. And it’s awesome.
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FIJITIME