Jet Boating on New Zealand's Shotover River

Shotover River, New Zealand

Jet Boat
Location:  Shotover River, South Island, New Zealand

North of Queenstown, on New Zealand's South Island, is the Shotover River.   The Shotovover is a fast-flowing river famous these days for water sports such as white-water rafting and jet boat rides.   In earlier days, the Shotover was known as a rich source of gold, and we understand there was quite a gold-mining boom in the area in the 19th century.

Yes, the water really is that pale turquoise color.  The source of the river is in the island's Southern Alps, and the color of the water (we were told) is due to minerals and tiny ice crystals in the water from the melting glaciers that feed the river.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great shot! Awesome color to that water too. I'll bet that's a fun ride to take.

kml said...

Beautiful water - it must be quite cold with the ice crystals in it.

BNS said...

@ 2Sweet - Thank you. It might be fun. I don't know, though, because I only took photos!

@ Kathy - I'm certain it's very cold, but I thought the color was appealing.

Bobbie

Gerald (SK14) said...

that is something we avoided in NZ - did go elsewhere in a jetboat though.