November 18th – Queenstown
What an adrenaline seeking junkie’s dream! So I can’t categorize myself as such yet but for those who are Queenstown is the place. With different types of bungy jumping, canyon swinging, jetboating, powerboating, paragliding, parapenting, gondola rides, rapid surfing, canyoning, ziplining, just to name a few.
After a nice stroll around town (mostly with the older folk as all the young ins were out at there adventures), it was time to do what I had intended to do yesterday………….. bungy jump! So off I went to the Bungy jump centre & on to the bus back to the Kawarau bridge that our Magic bust stopped at yesterday. This old rickety bridge with cable car setup was picturesque with the blue waters of the Kawarau river swirling below. I must say of the 7 of us on this shuttle out, it is interesting to spot the one. You know the one that just isn’t going to go through with it. Well it certainly is not & was not me . Nope it was this cute younger girl, whose friend who not even come watch as she was too petrified herself, always a good sign. After forking over the money & getting weighed (to then have your wt in kg written on your hand for everyone to see & until you could get to the nearest tap afterwards to wash it off) it was up to get harnessed in. As you can see from the pictures, I loved it! Just getting ready I thought was fun. ‘The one’ who was suppose to jump after me, let’s just bump her up the cue as she is starting to freak herself right out. Not only could she barely put the harness on, she was terrified to go near the guys to get your ankles wrapped (obviously a clear requirement of the process) before jumping. Let me tell ya, Derek & Rambo (yep, can’t make that name up either) the guys doing the jumping setting you up were amazing & unbelievably patient with this girl. Talking her through it, trying to get her just to stand up for photos……. She wasn’t having it…. But she also wasn’t getting out of the way either. Seriously 15-20 minutes, & I was pretty sure she was on the verge of tears & she hadn’t moved an inch. Somehow…. Not sure how….. I wasn’t worked up at all & was quite honestly laughing in the background. Just get off the bridge at this point, sweetie….. you are not going to go, sorry.
Anyways then it was my turn… Derek & Rambo got me all sorted & wrapped the required blue towel, yep everyday blue bath towel around my calves & ankles and looped & knotted as I am sure they do hundreds of times a day. I discovered that Derek & Rambo are both from Brantford, Ontario, Canada & we had a discussion (which you can hear on the DVD) of me explaining that I am from New Liskeard (which of course they had never heard of). But then they said don’t worry we have tied you in the maple leaf, some special knot & started laughin….. haha….. what does that mean? I don’t want any special treatment here, boys. Just what you normally do is great. Then I penguin waddled my way to the edge, which I would like to point out is still quite high at 43m above the water. Posing for great, crazy photos & 4 ….3…2…1…. & yep, I actually jumped, straight legged, arms up & a rather good looking dive I might add……& then the screaming Another rebound & more screaming… oh & some twisting. SOOOOO much fun! Again I can see how people become sooooo addicted to these activities. Walked away with a great big smile, photos, DVDs & a Tshirt to prove it
Speaking of, when I was signing up for my bungy jump which seemed the most tame adventure of all, compared with the Ledge Bungy/swing which requires going up the Gondola & feeling like one was jumping out onto Queenstown or Nevis, the 300m arc drop, there was a guy in front of me that was easily spending over $1000 on himself doing all the different jumps along with a canyoning & river jet combo. Crazy.
For the rest of the day in Queenstown, I walked around part of Lake Wakatipu & up through the Queenstown Gardens. Stopping on a park bench to watch the powerboat jets leave the wharf, I had a great view of the lake, the gondola up the mountain & of the constant paragliders & parachuters filling the skies above Queenstown. A seriously great day
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