Blogs from Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 128

After the buzz of doing the bungy jump it wasn’t long before we were planning our next extreme activity. As intended and planned we all were desperate to try our hand at snowboarding, something none of us had ever tried, so we booked ourselves a 3 day package in mountains with a few lessons to help us get started and give us the vital instructions to help our progress with such a short time to learn. We seemed to get a pretty good package for about $485 with daily lessons and progression lessons, snowboarding at a different mountain each day. DAY 1. After picking up our snow gear the day before (also inc. in the package) we were up very early at 7:30 to catch an 8:30am shuttle bus to Coronet Peak, a 25minute drive away. ... read more

Thursday 14th September 2006 We left Wanaka and arrived in Queenstown, and being adventure capital of the world, Mum went paragliding off Coronet Peak, see the video here. Again I was the one left on the ground with the camera! After that we went up the Gondola and had a bit to eat. We then had a go on the Luge, which was great fun. See the video of Mum here. Also see the panoramic view here. Back in town went to the minus five degrees ice bar for a quick drink. Nice sculptures and very good cocktails in ice glasses (good to eat and smash after drinking). It was ok, but the novelty soon wore off for me. Mind you, might have been different if not for the fact that I could only have one ... read more

So tramping... well as I mentioned in a previous blog, this is New Zealand's name for what the rest of us call trekking. It's a verb we tend to use to suggest the walking is hard. Here in NZ it's all conditions, all difficulties and they also use the word for noun formation. A person who enjoys tramping is a "tramper" and the path he follows is known as the "tramp" i.e. I went tramping with my fellow tramper, Laura on a short tramp around a lake. So there are the preliminaries dealt with... Around Queenstown and its local vicinity (given transport of four wheels but only a shortish drive) there are loads of tramps available, ranging from short walks to long multi-day tramps on one of New Zealand's "Great Walks". There are 3 of NZ's ... read more

As promised, the Bungy experience was on the list and now the box has been ticked, twice. I decided to do two bungy jumps in a day, two very different jumps and at a discounted rate! Truth is there were three available and I chose not to do the highest and scariest of the three. "Wimp", I hear you say but you'd be wrong. Actually the biggest and highest is an ankle bungy over a massive and bleak ravine - I chose instead to do the wet, head-dunking Kawarau Bridge bungy and the ubiquitous Quenstown Ledge with the amazing backdrop of the evening's town lights and a beautiful sunset. They were very different but the formula's the same - you jump, you blur, the ground rushes up and as you pray, it begins to slow as ... read more

I write this latest blog feeling quite proud of myself... 1)i think I am doing much better with the regular updates, and 2) I threw myself into a canyon and didn't wimp out! I hope this finds all of you in good health, as ever things in QT are "sweet as"... Since Claudia arrived, I have been trying to be a bit more pro-active with the things to see & do in Queenstown. Where better to start than with one of the extreme sports on offer out here. Along came the Canyon Swing . I was wetting myself days before, whilst Claudia was very la-di-da about it all, saying that she wasn't scared in the slightest. For the record, despite my fears, I got to the edge, and jumped when they said jump... meanwhile when it ... read more