Three Nights in Bangkok - Part 2

On our final day, we were so tired. Tired of waking up early, tired of heaving our backpack around, tired of walking, tired of the heat, and just tired of being a tourist. It was hard moving around every few days and not ever feeling like we could just relax. We had to take it in take it in take it in and it finally hit us on our very last day.  We decided the best thing to do was to sleep in, enjoy breakfast at the hotel, go do one last round of shopping for souvenirs, and then have an awesome night on the town before our midnight flight. So we booked some tickets to the most famous ladyboy show in town (#10 on our list) and did some last minute shopping. We started at a duty free shop that was next to our hotel. Chaos. We had some coupons that they gave us to use and unfortunately, they didn't work on the one thing we wanted to buy (alcohol) so we were a bit out of luck.  We ended up giving them away then going to a market at a mall to finish to finish off all of our souvenir shopping. I was really wanting to find a rice hat to take home because I skipped out on getting one in Vietnam and Cambodia since I didn't want to carry it. Turns out rice hats are hard to find in Thailand...and I never found one :(

That evening, we started off by checking off #9 on our list of things to do in Bangkok...go to the Sky Bar at Lebua State Tower. Oh my was that a fantastic decision. We took the train down to the pier then walked up the street to the tower. This tower might seem familiar to you if you've seen the Hangover II...which is why Andrew was especially keen to visit it.  We got there at around 5pm...which was too early to go to the well known Sky Bar, so we went to Distil Bar, which was also at the top but had a different view. It was a beautiful bar, and the service was fantastic. They all know we're there just to go to the Sky Bar, but they were really helpful and nice, taking pictures for us and giving us advice on ordering our drink before we go over to the Sky Bar to avoid long lines. The view was spectacular and we were there at the perfect time. The sun was slowly setting and our drinks were divine. I had the hangovertini (amazingggg) and Andrew had some sort of fancy mojito which was delicious.  He wanted to try something else so I took over his mojito and he got some sort of redbull drink that I think was combined with a fine champagne...pretty much the best cocktails we've ever had. Which they should be considering they were about $20-30 each. But just like with the movie we saw, we were paying for the experience...and man was it an unforgettable one.

At around 6pm the Sky Bar opened up and we were one of the first ones in.  Wow what a view.  It was beyond gorgeous and we pretty much had it to ourselves at that moment. It was spectacular! The sun was setting, the cocktails were delicious, and we were saying goodbye to SE Asia. Pretty memorable.  We snapped a few photos, took it all in, and then headed down to go to our show...Calypso Cabaret.  The show is located at Asiatique, this touristy shopping center with restaurants.  We decided to eat there and stopped at a random restaurant that sounded good because we were both starting to get really hungry.  It was called the Why97 Club and Andrew was all funny because he realized our pretty waitress was definitely a man. That was the start of our fun evening haha. When we booked the tickets online, we let them pick our seats so we didn't know where we were sitting. When we arrived, they took us to our seats...at the very front and center of the theater.  Andrew was right aisle front...and totally embarrassed.

The show was fantastic!!! The "ladyboys" were unbelievable. You would never know that they weren't originally a female. The show consisted of many different acts, and there wasn't any nudity.  They lip-sang to a lot of different songs and there was dancing. It was fun! One ladyboy in particular (who pretty much looked like a man in drag) had a particular interest in Andrew. It was hilarious! He had 3 solo's and during the first one, he spotted Andrew.  Not hard considering he was the only man in the front.

 He came over in his first act as a Chiquita banana girl and sat in Andrews lap...oh dear.  Next act he was a geisha and he had his eye on Andrew the whole act - making everyone laugh every time he looked in Andrew's direction.  Then he came back over, sat on his lap, and gave him a BIG kiss! The whole crowd died laughing haha. The final act he was some strange blue something that looked Raggedy Anne like.  He came over again, gave Andrew the look, and Andrew threw up his hands going "no no no!" and the guy laughed, came over, and shook Andrews hand. The whole crowed laughed and cheered and then the show ended. As we were leaving everyone saw the big red kiss mark on his cheek and laughed and laughed saying "you're the guy!". Then we went and had a few pictures with all of the "ladies" and at the very end of the line, was Andrew's gal...she smiled and laughed and we got a great shot of them together. It was the best end to a fantastic trip.

So by the end of our 3 days in Bangkok, we were able to be lazy and still check off 7 of the 10 things on our list (unless you count #6 because we did that in Chiang Mai, then it was 8). We skipped the trip to Ayutthaya because it was a tad expensive and would have taken most of the day to do. We also skipped Nana Plaza because well...I'm just not in to that. No strippers and ping pong shows for me thank you. One regret is that we didn't get to see the big floating market in Bangkok.  It was far from everything and we didn't feel like spending the money at the time...but I think it would have been the perfect spot to go and get the last of our souvenirs.   Other then that - Bangkok, you were awesome. I can't wait to come back and visit again! South East Asia...I will be back.

Side Note:
As some of you may know, this trip was primarily sponsored by friends and family as our "wedding gift" in lieu of traditional gifts.  So I want to take a minute to say thank you to all that sponsored us going on this amazing trip of a lifetime. We really couldn't have done it without you and you helped us create some memories that will last forever. WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Thailand Tastes So Good

We landed in Chiang Mai, Thailand on the evening of the 25th of October. The week was going to be jam-packed with things to see but we were really pooped so we ended up heading straight to our hotel to rest.  The hotel Andrew picked was lovely. It was called the Raming Lodge and it was central to town, had a delicious breakfast buffet, and best of all it had AIR CONDITIONING and a WARM SHOWER! Something we reallllyyyy missed after our time in Cambodia haha.  We only had 2 full days in Chiang Mai so we had to fit a lot in to the time we were there. The first day we decided to go check out the tigers at Tiger Kingdom, climb to the top of Doi Suthep, and check out the markets.  We walked down the streets, got some cash from an atm,  and found ourselves a taxi that we hired for the day for $30. Not bad.

The first stop was our trip to see the tigers, which I'll talk about in my next post.  After that we headed up to a mountain temple called Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep.  The walk leading up was filled with shops and food stands. After that you hit the 309 steps that lead up to the top of the mountain where the temple is.  Once there, you pay a little bit to get in (30 baht or $1) to the actual temple area.  It was an absolutely gorgeous drive up the mountain and an even more beautiful view from the top.  If you go to Chiang Mai, you must see this temple.  Because we were there in the off season, it wasn't really that busy so that made it extra nice. They had you dress in appropriate attire, covering your legs and shoulders, and you take off your shoes and go in to the actual temple. The walk around it was really lovely. There were bells and statues and all of the decor was so intricate. I love all of the mosaics and how everything was shiny and gold. It was such a gorgeous spot. I felt so alive up there.

On the way down we stopped at some of the food vendors. We got our first street food in Thailand at this spot that was basically a hot waffle on a stick with honey or chocolate on it.  Pretty darn good. Then we headed down the mountain again, back to our hotel.  We showered off the sweat from the day and decided to go check out the Sunday night market. They have lots of markets, all the time, but the Sunday Night Walking Market is the one to beat. It was AMAZING!!!! We started off on the east side and got ourselves a delicious mango drink to sip as we perused through the stands.  It was so big that we couldn't get through the whole thing! It was also ridiculously crowded...like, I was feeling claustrophobic crowded...and I've never felt claustrophobic. Andrew wanted to punch me in the face because I started having a panic attack and made us step off to the side to breathe. However, that step aside lead us to the best street at the market...the street with the FOOD!

I cannot believe how much we ate. We had sticky rice with mango, fresh smoothies, egg rolls, meat on a stick, noodles, and so much more. I can't even remember all of the things we tried. It was the best feeling ever until it finally hit our stomachs and we stalled and determined we needed to sit down. We found a bar a few blocks down that wasn't too busy and had a sit and a drink.  After a while we determined we needed to attempt to do one last round at the shops to try to get the last of our souvenirs. After all of like 10 minutes we were DONE with shopping (mentally, not actually done because we still needed to get a bunch more for family members), so we headed to a bar that a friend of ours recommended called Zoe in Yellow.

It was pretty neat, but it was a slow night (or maybe just too early because it was like 9pm) so we sat in the "beer garden" and each had a beer as we people watched.  There were surprisingly a lot more females than males...and they were horribly dancing...it was pretty funny. Unfortunately we were really tired, so after a short while, we determined we needed to go back to the hotel to sleep. So off we went back to the hotel, passing by the hilarious food stands (ex: Tacos Bell and Burgers Queen haha) until we got back to our nice air conditioned room and passed out. Oh how I love air conditioning...

The next day we rode elephants for the first time. It was a day of mixed feelings...but I'm glad we got to do it. I talk more about it in my next post.  Anyway...after the elephant riding we decided to go out for some Khao Soi, one of the dishes that our Thai friend (who was from Chaing Mai) said that we HAD to try. We ended up at a restaurant that was close by called Dash Teak House. It was a really pretty restaurant with great indoor/outdoor seating. They had a live band that was surprisingly really really good and the food was AMAZING! We decided we wanted to try two restaurants that night because we had limited time in Chiang Mai, so we split an appetizer of bacon wrapped shrimp and then the entree, Khao Soi. Oh my was it the best thing I have ever had. So flavorful! So delicious! And when I think of Thailand, I will forever crave this dish. We were kind of bummed we didn't just stick to eating dinner at this restaurant (because it was so good) but we really wanted to try out a different place that seemed to have a good nightlife feel.  So off we went to restaurant #2 and on the way we ran in to the strangest looking dog I have ever seen.  There are LOTS of dogs around SE Asia and they are all small...like mini sized large dogs...its very strange. However, this was the strangest dog I saw on the trip so I feel it was worth noting.  It was spotted with this long black stripe in the shape of a question mark...weird.  Anyway, after taking pictures of the dog, we arrived at the next spot, Loco Elvis, a Mexican restaurant...yes, I said Loco Elvis...haha.

Loco Elvis was a restaurant we had walked by the night before that seemed to be pretty poppin'. They had a great band playing and it was packed full so we decided we should check it out. We sat outside at a table on the sidewalk and ordered some food. Originally we were going to split something but then each wanted something different so Andrew got a burrito and I got a quesadilla (not expecting much).  It was surprisingly really good for not having much cheese. While we were eating we noticed a flier on our table for a Muay Thai match that was happening that night. It was our last night in Chiang Mai, and Andrew was DYING to see a fight, so we figured, why not?! So we asked our waitress about it and she said they would give us a discount on the tickets and get us a tuk-tuk to get there...$30 later we were SOLD. Around 30 minutes later our tuk-tuk arrived. It was one of the most dangerous ride's I've ever been on (second to riding in the back of a truck in Haiti). These contraptions are ridiculous. The cart where you sit is strapped OVER the motorcycle...not connected by a hinge...it's alllllllll one thing. So when you turn...oh dear, hold on. And did I mention they like going fast? Yikes!!

When we got to the fight we were a bit weirded out haha. There were pretty girls everywhere and they lead us to our seats in the middle of this strange area surrounded by lots of bars. A girl ran and got our drinks really quickly and then we waited for a long time for the fight to finally start. We were thinking it would be packed so we got there early. It ended up being almost full, but we definitely had a while to wait. The atmosphere as I mentioned was pretty strange. One of the bars had GORGEOUS transvestites working there. There were kids walking around trying to sell flowers and leis. Girls were basically running to be the first person to take your drink order.  It was odd. The fight started and I thought we had been jipped and we were at a fake fight because they were clearly rehearsed in their fighting, but apparently its tradition to do a dance before a fight, which was what we were seeing. We watched like 6 rounds of fights, all pretty hard core. No one bit off an ear or anything but it was definitely some real fighting! The final fight was an "international fight" between a Frenchman and a Thai fighter...when he came out Andrew decided it was a waste of time because he sucked haha. So we headed out to get another tuk-tuk and go back to the hotel.

Overall - I would say Chiang Mai had the potential to be my favorite place of the trip. There's something about a mountain city that I just love. The food was great, the markets were great, the people were super nice, and it was a beautiful place.  The city was pretty modern and it was relatively cheap. I feel like it would be a great place to live for a while some day. I definitely plan to come back because 2.5 days were not enough.

Angkor Wat?

Before coming to Cambodia I did a little bit of research on the country to see what I was getting myself in to.  I read a few things online, watched some YouTube videos and tried my best to learn a bit of the language.  However, being there, is completely different from reading about it.

When we arrived, we had to apply for our visa. What an easy process that was! In my past job I booked a lot of travel, so I applied for a lot of visas.  The process is always dreadful and takes forever and your visa can get rejected for the tiniest mistakes made on the application. In Cambodia, not so much. We handed them the money, a one page form and our passports, and then paid $2 extra since we didn't bring a photo. Then our passports were passed along a line of about 10 people, stamped at each stop, and then they called our names and we picked them up.  Took about 2 minutes. Wow.

I asked for a pickup from our hotel since we got in late. They were there with a sign and we grabbed our backpacks and headed in to the parking lot. Andrew made a joke saying "are we driving in a tuk-tuk?!"...and he said..."yes". AWESOME! So off we went in our tuk-tuk, through Siem Reap, Cambodia. We stayed at the Wooden Angkor Hotel. It was completely adorable and the staff was amazing. We took our shoes before going inside and they gave us a warm towel to wipe off with. When we got to our room, they had made us an adorable display since it was our honeymoon. So cute!

We decided to spend the next day sleeping in and then going out on the town to explore. We walked all around the town and went to markets, a few shops, and then we were starving so we went for food.  We decided to stop at a Mexican/Khmer restaurant...because Andrew wanted Khmer (Cambodian) food and I wanted Mexican...because who doesn't want to try Mexican food in Cambodia? After that we went to the local convenience store to grab something to drink and some chocolate.  As we were browsing the sweets I noticed some Cadbury chocolate and got very very excited...and then I found it...MY FAVORITE CHOCOLATE FROM NEW ZEALAND! Cadbury Black Forest...YAY! So we bought a few bars and headed back to the hotel to gorge on our chocolate and get a good nights rest.  Even though we had figured out what my stomach problem was (taking my malaria meds wrong), I was still suffering from it and wanted to take it easy to avoid making it any worse.  So we went to bed early to get ourselves rested and ready for our big day at Angkor Archaeological Park.

Angkor was absolutely amazing! We decided to go with a tuk-tuk driver rather than a scheduled tour or a bike rental. It was a quick way to get around yet they gave us enough time to explore at our own pace.  Funny enough, our pace was actually quite fast.  We left in the morning and started touring around 9am.  By the early afternoon we had seen all of the temples in the "small loop".  We started with Angkor Thom with our first stop being Bayon Temple. On the way we saw some funny tourists taking pictures of monkeys...walked by people riding on elephants...seemed like we were in another world. Getting there early was a great idea. There weren't that many people in the park so we got to take our time and take great photos. We wandered through Bayon and Baphuon, through Phimeanakas and then out through Elephant Terrace.  I think my favorite part was the ceiling. It was so amazing!  As we tried to leave, we had to walk through the dreaded vendors.  Goodness it's hard to say no! So many people selling the same things over and over. The worst part was how they enlisted their children to sell things for them. Oh it was heartbreaking. Surprisingly we were able to say no almost the whole way through.

A lot of the temples began to blend together over the two days. They were all a bit similar and we squished so much in to a short time. At that point I decided it would have been helpful to have a guide.  I'm sure there were lots of details that we missed.  However, there were some temples that stood out.  We jetted through Thomanon and Ta Keo, but the next stop was one of my favorites, Ta Prohm.  Most people know it as the spot where Tomb Raider was shot but I definitely see it as the tree temple.  And as all of you probably know...I love trees :) The temple was absolutely amazing. I can't believe how resilient the tree's are! They grow over the largest walls with roots surrounding the temple and touching back in to the ground. So beautiful!

We went quickly through the next temple, Banteay Kdei, took a look off of Sras Srang, got suckered in to buying some drinks from two kids who gave us bracelets, and then went to my favorite temple, Angkor Wat.  I really loved how grand it was. The entrance was gorgeous and the temple inside was huge!  We were able to climb to the top and the view was wonderful.  Unfortunately the pollution in Cambodia makes things a bit hazey, but you could still see throughout the temple which was really awesome.  All around the base of the temple were these carvings that told a story. That was definitely my favorite part.  We walked around the whole thing trying to understand what was going on. It didn't really work out for us, but after going home and googling it, it turns out the carvings were actually Hindu, which was surprising to me because I thought the temple was Buddhist.  It made much more sense after figuring that out though because I knew I saw Vishnu in there...

That night we decided to go out to the night market and try some food we found online.  Unfortunately we couldn't find the restaurant but we did do a bit of shopping.  Andrew found that he was quite the haggler.  It was like he was fighting back after sucking at it in Hoi An haha.  He was amazing! I would just leave him and let him do his thing...they would go back and forth and back and forth "there are lots of other shirts I can buy" (that was his line haha).  After some shopping we went and had dinner at a place on the legendary "Pub Street".  We decided to split some spring rolls and crocodile curry. Tastes like chicken ;) After that we went to the Blue Pumpkin for some ice cream and man was it delicious!!! Oh how I love ice cream shops. Especially ones that sell cinnamon flavored ice cream...

The next day we decided to do the "big loop" of Angkor.  The first stop was Preah Khan, right outside of Angkor Thom, which was our first stop the day before. There was basically no one there. It was so peaceful. The only person we saw was a guy reading when you walked in to the temple. This temple was pretty cool. It had lots of intricate carvings and some more fun tree's growing over the structure. The next temple was Neak Pean, built out on an artificial island. It was so peaceful walking out on the wooden bridge over the lake in to the temple area.  There wasn't a lot of people so it was nice and calm.  Little boys were fishing off the bridge. It was a really nice break from the chaos of the temples and the town.

Ta Som was the next temple and had some really neat carvings scattered around the temple. We also found another really great tree :) The next temple was East Mebon which had some lovely elephants hanging out on each corner. This temple was different from the others we had seen so far. It was a different color and it had a different feel to it.  The temple was very tall and had a wonderful view. We decided that giants with chicken legs (or tiny feet) built the temple because of the huge height of the steps vs. the tiny width of them. This temple was one of Andrew's favorites, so was Pre Rup, a similar temple and our last stop.  Pre Rup was rumored to be a temple where they performed funerals.

At the end of our tour we decided to go out on the town.  We started with lunch at a restaurant we found on Trip Advisor called Genevieve's Restaurant. I was finally feeling up to eating and wanted to celebrate so we went on the hunt for this restaurant that was a bit off the main street.  The food there was so delicious! I ended up ordering some Khmer noodles and Andrew had some sort of bean salad.  Those noodles were the best thing I ate in Cambodia! It could have been that it was my first real meal since my stinking heart burn went away (that I got from taking my malaria pills wrong), but either way, they were FANTASTIC!  Our waiter actually ended up being one of the owners. He was a nice Aussie guy and gave us great recommendations. He was really nice and didn't understand why people had given him such good reviews online. He said he was ranked the number one restaurant in Siem Reap by one Chinese reviewing site so he always had heaps of Chinese customers. He mentioned a restaurant around the corner that is also gets great reviews and said that they get so packed that you have to have a reservation to get in...so naturally we were curious.

 On the way out we popped our heads in to the restaurant called Haven House which was actually the #1 ranked restaurant on Trip Advisor for Siem Reap. We put our names in for a reservation and sent Rebecca a message to see if she would want to join us for dinner.  We headed back to the hotel to rest because it's too hot in Cambodia to do anything in the afternoon.  Around 6 we headed out to meet Rebecca at the restaurant. The restaurant is actually a training restaurant for kids wanting to get in to the food industry. The staff was so attentive (unlike our past experience with Vietnamese and Cambodian staff) and the food was absolutely delicious.  Rebecca even bought a t-shirt. It was great!

After that we decided to go shopping in the night market.  By the end of it we were getting pretty pooped so we decided to try out the fishies.  We walked by them a few times and kept commenting on how we were going to do it but never did...well then we did. They sold us on it by telling us we could have 30 minutes and a beer for $3 haha.  OH MY GOODNESS IT TICKLES!!! I was screaming and hootin and hollerin and causing all the tourists to come by and see what the heck was going on.  It was the oddest experience. I highly suggest trying it.  While in the tank we got a few people to come join us and made friends. Turned out they were from the US so Rebecca and I got to talk about our job and handed them a business card ;)

From there we wandered across the street to a bar that had some interesting music playing.  We went upstairs and they had swinging tables and all kinds of fancy lounge chairs.  Some girls were singing covers of US pop songs on stage.  It was a fantastic spot to people watch.  Some of the strangest people were in that bar...from drunken kids to creepy old men who clearly had bought their dates :S  After a few drinks we gave up on the place and headed downstairs where Andrew worked his haggling skills again and managed to get himself a Beats Pill from $45 to like $17.  He was pretty proud of himself. It was the funniest exchange...I had to get a photo.  Then we went back through Pub Street and had a few beers, and called it a night.  The Cambodian heat sure does make it hard to stay up late. I was in bed by 10pm (sometimes as early as 8pm) every night. What a party pooper.

Adventure Capital of the World

We arrived in Queenstown late afternoon on Wednesday the 19th.  After checking in to our hotel (which was a bit rinky dink but who cares...it was cheap) we decided we were going to walk around Wanaka Lake to town.  The view from the hotel was lovely...sadly a tree blocked my view haha. But it was easy to get out and around it, with a picnic table outside for sitting and taking in the views.  Right below our hotel were bus stops (quite convenient for the rest of the trip) and a little lake path.  Once we got down to the path we noticed a dock.  Andrew was set on jumping in the lake at some point on our trip. I told him he was crazy. He then decided he was going to stick his feet in to the water...that's when he decided he was crazy as well. It was freezing...of course. So after staring at the water and the mountains, watching all the ducks bob up and down...we decided to keep on going in to town.

The walk was a lot longer then we though...4km long...which is about 2.5 miles. But hey, it was beautiful out and we needed to walk after such a long drive! We walked through the Queenstown Botanical Gardens, in to town under a big arch that Rotary had made as a memorial for something...I think a war...anyways...there were lots of people sitting out on the beach area near the water. Listening to music, slacklining between trees...it was a site to see :) 

We went in to the downtown area to have a look around.  First we did a bit of shopping. It's quite hard figuring out what to bring back people...but even harder, to figure out what to get people for Christmas! Andrew and I were under the impression that we did a draw name gift exchange for Christmas here and that that was it...so we each bought for the person we drew and thought nothing else of it...come to find out...you still buy for everyone for Christmas day...the draw names was just for a family lunch. Oops.  So about half our time in Queenstown felt like we were looking for gifts haha.  

After going in a few shops we noticed the movie theater! So we decided to buy tickets for the 7:30 showing of The Hobbit :) Movies sure are expensive here...I think it was $15 or $16 per person? Ridiculous. So we bought the tickets then went and had some dinner at a bar/restaurant right next to the theater.  I was oddly craving pasta.  I think it was because of going past all the wineries that made me think of Italy...

Then we went and saw the movie...I won't spoil anything, but it was fantastic :) So cool to see the scenes shot in places that now looked so familiar :) After the movie we got a cab back to the hotel...most expensive cab ever...$17 for about 2.5 miles of driving.  Stupid. So we decided to learn the bus route for the next day haha.

The next morning (Thursday) we woke up early around 8 to go get some breakfast at the hotel.  They had a rinky dink buffet...but hey...it was included so we ate it. Thursday was the day for the gondola and luge :) So we figured out the buses and headed in to town.  Once in town, we walked over to where the Skyline Gondola starts off.  We headed up the gondola over the tall trees to the top of the mountain.  It was so breathtaking from up there.  There is a restaurant situated on the top of the mountain that has a cafe, restaurant and a gift shop.  On the way up we also passed the bungee jumping.  We decided to give that pass...sketch! 

We went in to the Skyline building to take a look at the views off the mountain side.  It was stunning (as you could imagine from the photos).  We wandered around, snapping photos and then decided to go for the ride on the luge.  The ride to the luge started with a helmet and a chair lift. The helmets sucked. We went up the lift to the top and learned how to operate the little luge thingys. Pretty easy.  Then we went off on our first ride down of 5.  Soooo much fun! It was a bit hard to go fast though...people kept getting in our way and not pullling off to the side. A bit of a pain. But it was still a blast :) 

After the luge it was bout 11am or so.  We decided to go have a custard square in the cafe and then go back down the gondola in to town.  We weren't sure what to do because it was still early and we hadn't really planned anything else...so we decided, lets go see if the Shotover Jet has anything available.  It was a beautiful day...and Saturday, the day we planned to go, was 'supposed to rain' (just like every day is supposed to rain here) so we figured, hey, why not.  

So we found a place that sold tickets to the jet, went in and talked with them...and it turned out they had an open trip just minutes away! So we booked our tickets and off we went to meet the bus and go to the Shotover River :)  Once at the river we suited up in our lifevests and got on the speedboat.  Man that thing had some umph! It can hydroplane in water as low as 5 mm! Insane...and the 360 spins?!?!$@#! I about pee'ed my pants. It was SO MUCH FUN! Basically...you get on this little speedboat with a bunch of people, and this guy takes you up and down this cliffy river...super fast...and makes you think your going to hit all the cliffs.  Then, once your in the open a bit, he takes the boat and does a ninja fast 360 degree spin! You get quite wet.  So awesome and so worth the $130 bucks haha.

So after the boat ride we went and grabbed our free photo (check it out over there) and went back in to town to shop some more for Christmas presents.  We shopped for what felt like ages...got super tired...and decided to take our tired selves back to the hotel for a nap.  

When we woke up we decided to go back in to town to visit the Minus 5 Ice Bar. Probably the coolest bar in the world. Literally ;) Bahaha. Anywho...they supplied us with big furry coats, ugly ugg boots, and gloves and shuffled us in to the big cooler of a bar.  The bar was surrounded by ice...ice block walls, ice sculptures, ice shevling for the drinks...SO COOL! Our entry came with a 'free drink' so I got the peachy something and other and Andrew got a 'Yummy Yeti".  Heehee.

After cooling off, taking lots of pictures, and not being able to feel my fingers anymore, we decided to head on out.  The guy at the counter gave us a little coupon for a buy one get one at the bar next store called the Boiler Room (or something similar) so we went over there to have a drink.  After that, we decided it was getting a bit late, and we had to get up SUPER early the next morning for our Milford Sound trip, so we headed back to the hotel and in to bed. 

Amazing day...and couldn't WAIT for tomorrow :P