Practice Makes Perfect Nonsense
With only a couple days left here in Queenstown, we’re trying to pack in as many exhilarating experiences as possible! And the uber-popular Shotover Jet is uber-exhilarating! It’s probably one of the most advertised adventure sports here, and from a business POV probably one of the most successful. The name comes from the fact that this particular company is the only one permitted to operate in the Shotover River Canyons.
And with good reason, as these canyons are really narrow! You can barely fit one of these boats through the rock walls…
…let alone two or more.
The trip starts in Queenstown where a bus takes you 10 minutes up the road and over the river…
Then you grab a smock to keep you dry and life jacket to keep you… well, alive I guess.
And then you pile into the 500 horsepower boat. These custom designed boats can travel at speeds of up to 85kmph in as little as 10 centimeters of water! Not only that, but with the twin-engines thrusting 800 liters of water a second out the back, these boats can whip around in a full 360 degrees! And whip we did! Whipping through the canyon at break neck speeds just inches from the rock walls.
And when we’d reach a clearing, the captain would give the hand signal for a 360, so you hold on tight and WOOOSH! He spins the boat in one full rotation. Sometimes it actually felt like the captain was trying to scare the crap out of us! Sheesh! The nerve of the guy! He would steer the boat directly at a giant rock and then just seconds before impact he’d whip the steering wheel and the boat would drift sideways past the obstacle, missing it only by a matter if centimeters! The guy was clearly insane! But at least he was trained to be insane! Only 10 people on the entire planet are licensed to be this insane. Each pilot has to go through a minimum of 120 hours of insanity training before taking any customers. It’s just so much more comforting knowing you’re putting your life in the hands of a highly trained insane person!
I took a video of the experience, but don’t currently have the bandwidth to upload it, so here’s another persons video so you can get the full experience of the insanity:
I’m nauseous…
— Jason's mom
January 19, 2009 11:41 pm.