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Published: November 25th 2007
Bungy 1
Can you spot me? It's harder than a Where's Wally!!Kia Ora!
Just watched the video of my bungy I've attached to the blog and feel ever so slightly queasy!
Can't believe this is my last blog from New Zealand, the time's just zoomed by!
In the morning in Wanaka, Heather and I spent a couple of lazy hours strolling down by the beautiful lake while the others went to Puzzlingworld. We then all met up and headed south towards Queenstown, passing round the edge of Lake Dunstan.
Our first stop was at the Kawarau Gorge which is famous for its bridge which was the first commercially operated bungy site in the world. Loads of the bus decided to give the 43 metres bungy a go but since I'd done the 50 metre one in Thailand last Christmas I had decided to save my money for the big one - the Nevis, which at 134 metres is the highest bungy in Australasia and the second highest in the world - gulp!
It was great fun watching the others go for it though, especially Flah who was wearing his full punk outfit from the poo pub party the other night! After the guys had jumped we got
Bungy 2
The point where everything became very real and I began to absolutely brick it! back on the bus and made the 20 min trip down into Queenstown - yeehah!
Queenstown is nestled on the shores of Lake Wakatipu facing The Remarkables mountain range. It was the site of the largest gold rush in the country. Today it has an international reputation as the adventure capital of the world. It has a population of about 20,000 and over the past 20 years the region has boomed as people from all over the world have gravitated to it. And from the second you arrive you can see why. Apart from the beautiful scenery which, once again, is breathtaking, Queenstown has a buzzing atmosphere that instantly lifts you. I can't imagine anyone disliking it! So I was pretty happy I had five nights here so I'd get the chance to check it out properly and to have a damn good party which shouldn't prove too hard since there's over 100 pubs in the town!
Once we'd checked into the hostel a gang of us made a beeline for the much anticipated Fergburger that we'd been hearing about all over New Zealand. I can't describe just how good these burgers were, heaven! Flah tackled the monster
Bungy 3
Even if the bungy cord hadn't worked I knew my fairy wings would save me! burger known as 'The Big Al' (!) which was near enough the size of his head! Then him and Liam went up to do the Ledge bungy and since you have to get weighed before jumping he discovered he'd put on a kilo from when he did the bridge bungy a couple of hours earlier - that really was a beast of a burger! Sharon loved hers so much she even bought a fergburger t-shirt and we are all now members of the fergburger appreciation society on facebook!
After stuffing myself I headed to the internet cafe - only to walk bang smack into Oli Oli Oli, another veteran of the groovy grape trip in Oz! I couldn't believe it and think I nearly gave a few people a heart attack with my screams of delight! We hadn't expected our paths to cross at all in NZ since we were travelling in different directions so it was a complete surprise to see him - I couldn't have been more excited! We made plans to meet up that night and I headed off to get ready as high as a kite!
The night was a stonker! We seshed it
Queenstown 1
Look who it is!!! Me n Oli Oli Oli out in Queenstown together up in Altitude before heading to the World Bar for some teapot shots. Sharon's and Liam's dance offs entertained us for most of the night while the band playing in Altitude earned a devoted fan in Jimmy - I thought he was going to through his boxers at them at one point!
As usual I didn't know when to call it a night and ended up on the sesh with Mar and the bar staff from the World Bar, great craic! I was still pretty drunk when I woke up the following morning and Becca had to endure a full 20 mins of me gibbering rubbish to her before my brain kicked into gear and I remembered that that was the day I was testing my nerve to the max and taking on the Nevis! Even though I'd quite happily jumped out of a plane 15,000 feet up a week and a half earlier, I was absolutely bricking it about the 134 metre bungy. I did have my secret weapon to help protect me though - my fairy wings! If it wasn't for them, the fact that I was still drunk and my stubborn determination no to be outdone
by Ant, Dicky and Dave (other groovy grapers who'd already done the jump) I probably would've quite happily backed out.
Instead I found myself on a wee bus motoring up some scarily dangerous roads towards the canyon where the jump is at. Once I was all weighed in (I was NOT impressed that they had to write my weight on my hand - is nothing sacred anymore?!) I took the cable car out to the pod suspended over the canyon from where I was going to do the jump. I'm told that was scary enough but I was steadfastly not looking down (the mistake I'd made before my jump in Thailand which still gives me a sick feeling when I think about it!) so I didn't take much of that in. In the pod they had Rage Against the Machine blasting out which helped psych everyone up and after the first few had jumped and come back up again (again I didn't watch any of the jumps, I just didn't want to see what was ahead of me!) it was my turn. Although I'd been reasonably ok up until that point, once I had all the gear attached and
Queenstown 3
Liam's apparently not in the mood for a smooch! was being waddled to the tiny platform I began to cack it properly. The guy helping me, Sam, was brilliant though and calmed me right down. With some final advice from Liam ("flap your wings!") I was counted down and jumped. Once I was actually off the platform I loved it! The eight and a half second freefall was amazing and once I'd bounced and knew I was going to live I really began enjoying myself and taking in what was around me. What an adrenalin rush, incredible! I was bloomin' relieved to get back on that platform though! The guy asked if I wanted to go again and I was so tempted but sense kicked in and I turned it down because I couldn't really afford another one - it'd be so easy to go bankrupt in NZ!
We were on a complete high coming back into town and went straight to the hostel to watch everyone's DVDs of their jumps. Liam's is absolute quality - you see him bend his knees to take a huge leap off but then he scunners himself by looking down, loses his nerve and just kind of stumbles off the edge! He
Queenstown 4
All the gang out bowling did another jump though to redeem himself!
After the adrenalin left me I was completely wrecked so headed off to bed. When I emerged a few hours later I met the gang and we headed off for a couple of games of 10 pin bowling - two strikes in a row for Miss Brady, woo hoo! We then had a couple of drinks at the bar as it was Heather's and Sharon's last night with us all and then headed to bed.
I was up early the next day for a trip down to the Milford Sound. But first I said goodby to Sharon who had been a brilliant laugh to travel with, loved her! And also Heather who I was gutted to see go (not to mention her GHDs!). I'd had an absolute ball travelling NZ with her, it just wouldn't have been half as much fun if she'd not been there (see ya in Glasgow hen!).
And then it was back on another bus for the four hour journey to the Milford Sound. I had Becca, Jo and some others from the Kiwi bus to keep me company (Julie, Kate and Taigh) so it was
Queenstown 5
View from the Queenstown gondola a good laugh. Once we were past Te Anu the scenery just blew me away. Even Lord of the Rings doesn't do it justice, it's absolutely spectacular (wish I had a better vocabulary to help describe it!). We even saw two avalanches on the way down, wow!
Once we got to the Milford Sound we jumped on the cruise boat for the two hour trip. Milford Sound is known as the wettest place in New Zealand and one of the wettest in the world. Rainfall can reach 250 mm during a span of 24 hours. The rainfall creates dozens of temporary waterfalls (as well as a number of major, more permanent ones) cascading down the cliff faces, some reaching a thousand metres in length. Smaller falls from such heights may never reach the bottom of the sound, drifting away in the wind. And funnily enough, it isn't actually a sound, which is formed by the sea flooding a river valley, it is a fjord, which is produced by a glacier carving out a valley on the coast then receding, or the sea invading a glacier valley. I love my geeky facts!
On the boat we were once again
in awe of the scenery and huge big dolphins swam beside our boat and we saw penguins and seals - fab! We even got dunked in a waterfall but I had taken shelter inside the boat so escaped unscathed. By the time we got back to Queenstown I was utterly knackered so only managed a couple of hours in the bar before heading to bed.
The next day I relaxed big time! Didn't do much worth talking about, just pottered about in the town and read my book down by the lakeside - a much needed rest! That night I chilled in the bar playing pool and having some goodbye drinks with some of the Kiwi bus that were leaving the next day.
The next day was quite chilled out too. I went up on the gondola with a couple of girls that were staying in my room and had a few drinks in the skyline restaurant that has stunning views overlooking Queenstown. Since it was my last day there I couldn't resist having a fergburger for my tea before meeting up with Tim, a guy who'd been on my bus in the North Island and had now
Queenstown 6
Catching up with Tim on my last night in Queenstown arrived in Queenstown. We had a fair few drinks and caught up on each other's adventures since we'd last seen each other.
And that was that, my Queenstown adventures over! The next day I was back on the bus with a hangover and headed up to Christchurch. I arrived late in the afternoon and after dumping my stuff I headed out to see some sights since I only had that night there. I jumped on the tourist tram so managed to get around most of the city, which is very pretty but lacking in atmosphere. Not somewhere I'd stay for too long I don't think.
Once I got back to the hostel I met up with Liam, Becca and Flah who had arrived a couple of days earlier, and we hit the sesh straight away since it was the last night any of us would be together. Had a great night out if my hazy memory serves me right, a great way to end things with the crew. I was pretty gutted the following day when I had to say goodbye to them and make my way up to Auckland for my last couple of days - I'm
Mount Cook
Aoraki (Mount Cook) - NZ's highest mountain so glad I got to meet them all, we had such a blast together.
And that's about it! I'm in Auckland at the moment and have spent the morning wandering around the museum which has the largest collection of Polynesian exhibits in the world so was pretty interesting. There's also a Christmas parade on in the city today - I feel so sorry for Santa who must just be sweltering in the heat! I've got a good roast dinner to look forward to later on, courtesy of Betty who is kindly putting me up again.
And then I leave Aotearoa, 'the land of the long white cloud', and jump on a plane for 28 hours back to Bonny Scotland - can't wait to see everyone!! Doesn't a year fly by quickly?! xx
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Brenda
non-member comment
wow!!!
You have got some major bungy balls girl!!!! lol. Safe home! B xox