Skippers & the Shotover River, Queenstown

Adventure tourism playground Skippers and the Shotover River has the well-deserved reputation as being the place to go in New Zealand if you're looking for thrills such as bungee jumping, rafting and jet boating. But there is more to the area than this. It is also one steeped in fascinating tales of panning, digging and devising hair-brained schemes for extracting gold from the reluctant riverbeds, of early settlement and farmers wresting a living from the challenging terrain and of the developers, explorers and the families, and the many loners, who moved in, built the communities and made the area home. Join intrepid author Gerald Cunningham as he explores this justifiably famed area: bike the trails, tramp the rough tracks and enjoy the myriad stories he has unearthed as well as the beautiful photographs he has taken along the way. A fitting companion to his well-received guide to the Taieri Gorge Railway, published in 2011.