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Glenorchy: The "Gateway to Paradise"

Bordered by a World Heritage Area the frontier village of Glenorchy sits at the northern tip of Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by mountains, glacier fed rivers and beech forest.

The approach to Glenorchy is a magnificent 48 kilometre drive offering breathtaking views of Lake Wakatipu, hanging valleys and sheer mountains. 20 kilometres further on is Paradise itself, a farming settlement where the road turns into a four-wheel drive track and finally a walking path heading for the hills.

Day 2, Sunday: after a fantastic breakfast reminiscent of an Irish one, we headed to Glenorchy to go jet boating down the Dart River. While we waited to go on our river journey, we walked around the Glenorchy Lagoon. This beautiful walk became a favorite and we came back again on our last day.

Jet boating on the Dart river was exhilarating and took us to areas where that we would not have seen by car or by foot in the time we had available to us. Jet boats are a New Zealand invention. A farmer had trouble surveying his land and livestock due to shallow rivers on his property. He created a "jet boat" that would travel in just a few inches of water. They work like jet skis with a pipe out the back and no propeller. The result is you can quickly go over shallow rivers and can spin 360 degrees to a stop. It was a lot of fun.