Queenstown, New Zealand

---

We were given a lie in on the morning of our trip to Queenstown as it was only a short drive from Wanaka. En route we stopped off at Puzzling World for an hour and a half which had loads of trippy puzzles, illusions and an outdoor maze. Some of the games were annoying as I just couldn't get my head around them but the rest of the stuff was really good. As we got closer to Queenstown we visited the Kawaran Bungy Bridge which was the first commercially operated Bungy site in the world. A few people from the bus did the Bungy there and were dipped into the river at the bottom of their jump. We decided to do the Nevis Bungy instead as it was the highest Bungy jump in Australasia and the 3rd highest in the world at 134m, so we paid for it ($220 with our Kiwi Experience discount) and booked it for a few days later so we could all go together. After this it was a nice cruise into sunny Queenstown, the lake was a beautiful light blue colour with some darker patches. We drove to the lakefront for a Kiwi Experience group photo which was practically a big pile on. We checked into Nomads Hostel and walked down to the lake and around the town to get our bearings. That night the whole group met at The Find Bar for drinks. We then played a game where we paired up and one person had to run up the bar with a Bungy attached to them, grab a drink and run back to their partner who had to down the drink. I was with Charley and you got time taken off or each item of clothing u took off so I did it completely naked! Charley wanted to run but on the way back she didn't take the lid off so I started to down it then had to take the lid off to down it faster which wasted a bit of time and we didn't win booo! Freeman was with Dodgy Rodgers but instead of putting the cup on her head after she had downed it she forgot and threw the cup across the bar in celebration, wasting seconds that cost them the title. We all went next door to another bar and danced away then Freeman ran upto me and put me on his shoulders but dropped me as he was so drunk and I landed on my head and shoulders, killing my back as well! We all continued partying before heading back to the hostel in the early hours.

We had a lie in the next morning and I woke up with my back in agony from the drop the night before. I had also managed to lose my chinos again, leaving them at a previous hostel, so I went shopping that day and bought two new pairs. The rest of the day we chilled out and then did the bar crawl that evening that me and Freeman had won for cleaning the bus. It wasn't very busy and the 'free drink' in each of the 5 bars was actually just a watered down shot. As we all gathered outside the bar the rep stood up on a wall to announce our next destination but a random lad got him on his shoulders like Freeman did to me the night before and the inevitable happened, he got dropped head first onto the concrete. I ran over to check on him and he had snapped his wrist so it was poking in completely the wrong direction. I took him upstairs to the staff room while the bouncer called an ambulance and then he told me he was alright and to go enjoy my night.

We hit a couple more bars and then had to pay an extra $10 to get into the ice bar but it was really 'cool' in there so it was quite good. After the ice bar we walked to basement bar but there was no one there so we just went to bed.

We woke up quite late the next morning so we wasted the day recovering in the movie room with a $6 Dominos pizza, bargain! We weren't gonna go out that night but the girls invited us to their room for drinking games so we ended up going out. We got busted by the hostel staff and Freeman had a bit of an argument with the lad but he left in the end so we finished our drinks and headed out. We went to the usual bars and it was a decent night as always and another late one.

We got up in the morning and I had some peanut butter on toast with a cup of tea, it was the day of my BUNGY, YEH BOY!!! We headed to the Bungy place, jumped on a mini bus and drove up to the site of the Nevis Bungy. There were a lot of worried faces but I was genuinely just buzzing for it. The road up to the Bungy was pretty steep up a mountain dirt path and got the adrenaline pumping early doors. We got geared up at the shop and my heart started to beat faster. We jumped in the first cable car across to the Bungy as it was suspended across a mountain valley above a river, it was ridiculously high! Freeman and another guy got called up first as they did it in weight order and he did it without hesitation, lad. He came back absolutely buzzing saying how amazing it was. It was then a long wait up there for me as I'm smaller and lighter than a lot of the others. When they finally called my name it hit me and my heart started racing. I felt like I couldn't even open the first gate but managed it and sat in the 'dentist' chair whilst they tied the Bungy to my ankles. A couple of photos, a brave smile, a penguin shuffle and a little arm dance later and I was on the tiny ledge ready to jump. I smiled for another camera and felt like I was going to fall not jump. 3... 2... 1... Jump, I took a Tom Daley leap off the ledge and after a second asked myself why I had just jumped, it was a crazy crazy feeling during the free fall, however once I felt the rope begin to tighten I finally let out a big roar and absolutely loved it. 8 seconds of free fall, something I have never experienced before in my life. I pulled the lever that twisted me the right way up and just looked around the valleys and river trying to take in what had just happened. I was smiling like a Cheshire Cat when they pulled me up and back into where I jumped from. All of the Kiwi crew were cheering which was an amazing feeling, I'm so glad I got to experience it with such a good group of people! I was overwhelmed by it all and still find it hard to put into words. We stayed to watch the final few jumps and then watched some of our group who also did the Nevis Swing, the highest swing in the world. It looked amazing and I was jealous I couldn't do it as well but I had to watch my money. I bought my video and then we all put our t shirts on and headed back to Queenstown to celebrate with a legendary Fergburger looking very cheesy all wearing the same tops. We bought 2L of vodka between me, Freeman, Tim and Gary (it was going to be a messy night) and then went back to the hostel where Freeman finally decided he was fed up looking like a hobo and let me shave his beard! We all pre drank together playing games, listening to music and all just buzzing off how good the day had been. We went to Bar 1874 and all ended up arm wrestling each other which was a good laugh. I had a great night dancing away steaming and just bouncing around the bars loving life.

We were woken around 9am by the fire alarm going off so the hostel got evacuated, not what I needed on a huge hangover. The weather was incredible so after an hour back in bed we got ready and me, Tim and Freeman went luging with Leanne, Tayla, Vicky and Shantelle. Luging is similar to go karting but downhill and without an engine, it was actually really good fun and I beat Tim when he asked to race me, champion! The track was at the top of one of the mountains so the views from the top and in the cable car on the way up were incredible. This place was just made for me. Although we all felt pretty rough from the night before we decided to get some cider and a big group of us went down to the beach to drink, chat and watch the sunset at the lake, it was stunning. Once the sun set it went quite cold so we went back to the hostel and I felt shocking so I got tucked up in bed, however Tim was drunk by this point and it was his last night so he made us all go out. We just went across the road and had a few beers whilst watching everyone on the bucking bronco, hilarious when Tim went on steaming trying to show off by pretending to text on his phone but then they just picked up the pace and he was straight off! Tim also then got kicked out because he couldn't work the soap dispenser due to his drunken state and went to the bar to complain about it, obviously they then realised how smashed he was and kicked him out. He then decided to wait outside sending us both loads of hilarious snap chats. I am going to miss freaky deaky Dutch Tim.

I woke up around 9am the next morning so I went down to reception to say bye to everyone as lots of our crew were leaving that day. It was sad to say bye to what I now classed as my family. That day me, Freeman and a guy called Ben decided to go to the park and play frisbee golf, it was so much better than I expected it to be! I smashed Ben and Freeman as well so it was even better when you're winning. We walked back along the side of the lake and the views were just stunning, they did not lose their appeal for one minute that I was there. It was Shantelle's birthday so we headed to an American restaurant around 5pm and set up loads of balloons and banners for her. She absolutely loved it so it was nice to know we could give her a really nice birthday whilst she was on the other side of the world. The food wasn't great but it filled a hole. We all pre drank again that night and just hit up the usual bars. Freeman was giving Tayla a piggy bag and started running but fell over so he cut his hand quite bad, daft lad! We all headed back together, had a bit of banter in the room and finally went to bed fairly late.

The next day we had no plans at all so we stayed in bed for quite a while, 6 nights of solid drinking had tired us out. When we finally got up the weather was nice to we got a Dominos pizza and ate it at a little green garden square that has a stream running through and is a nice place to chill out in the sun. We watched a couple of films and I caught up on some of my diary, there was no chance I was going out again that night!

Queenstown lived up to its reputation as the adventure capital of the world and it's beauty will always make me smile when I look back at the pictures. It is currently my favourite place in the world. I could happily move there but it was time to get on the road again and head to Lake Tekapo.

---