Queenstown makes a great base. The wild stuff is over the hill.
A bit over an hour's drive over the Crown Range, one of New Zealand's most scenic roads, gets you to Wānaka. From there we take you somewhere the Queenstown brochures don't go: 60km up the braided Matukituki River, deep into Mount Aspiring National Park, to the base of Tititea / Mt Aspiring itself. We hold the sole Department of Conservation concession for this stretch of river, so no other jet boat can bring you here.
How the day works
Leave Queenstown by 8am and you'll make our 9:45am departure comfortably. Check-in is 10 minutes before departure at the Wānaka i-SITE, 99 Ardmore Street, right on the lakefront. The trip itself is a half day: the jet boat run up the valley, an easy hour-long guided walk through ancient beech forest — leisurely, and fine for all ages, and the river home. You'll be back in Wānaka early afternoon with time for a lakefront lunch, a look around town, and an easy cruise back over the Crown Range before dinner. Rather not rush the morning? There's a 12:45pm departure too.
$339 per adult, ages 4 and up, and more than 400 five-star reviews from the people who've done it. We run rain or shine — the valley turns properly dramatic in the mist — and if we ever have to cancel for safety, you're rebooked or refunded in full.
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