Rocking the boat with the royals! Kate Middleton and Prince William continued their tour in New Zealand on Sunday, April 13, with a fun-filled ride on a Shotover Jet, which touts itself as the “world’s most exciting jet boat ride.” Clearly, from their expressions during the outing, the Duke and Duchess certainly seemed to enjoy the action-packed, adventurous water excursion.
After arriving and changing into waterproof coats and life jackets, the couple then made their way down a ramp into one of the 15-seater boats. The Duchess arrived with her hair down and pulled her tresses into a perfect ponytail. The pair waved for souvenir pics and greeted hundreds of tourists who had gathered downstream after their adrenaline-pumping water ride. The royal couple returned 20 minutes later, slightly damp but clearly exhilarated.
“They were both grinning,” one observer told Us Weekly. “William said to Kate ‘that was so much fun!’ and they were giggling as they came back to shore. Both a bit wobbly legged I think.”
The operations manager for Shotover Jet, Wayne Paton, took the Duke and Duchess out on the river. Paton, 43, told reporters, “They loved it, the Prince wanted me to go closer to the canyon walls. He said, ‘You can go closer than that.'”
Along with Prince William’s thrill-seeking quips, Paton said, “There were some screams but not from them. It didn’t seem to phase him at all he was right into it and so was the Duchess.”
Local schoolteacher Joelle Healey, who took her students to greet the Duke and Duchess, told reporters that Kate was a big fan of the Shotover Jet. “The Duchess was talking to me about the boat ride, she said she loved it, and would recommend it to anyone,” Healey said.
