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Published: October 30th 2008
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Ross:
The drive from Tekapo to Queenstown is spectacular, taking you across high plains set amongst the Southern Alps and along the Kawarau River gorge. We stopped for lunch at a spot on the river known as Roaring Meg, a Grade 3+ rapid albeit a bit washed out due to the high water levels. Unbeknownst to us at the time we'd be floating down it the following day.
After the disappointment of the previous bungy attempt on the North Island due to high river levels, we decided to swing by the Kawarau River Bridge bungy site, home of the original A J Hackett bungy set-up, just up the road from Queenie. At only 43m the jump isn't that high compared to some locations but after watching a few people take the plunge, I plucked up the courage and threw myself off without too much drama. I think Pol was a little surprised at my speedy decision but thinking about these things for too long really doesn't help matters. Much to my relief, I survived the ordeal and would definitely do it again given half the chance/funds...
FACT OF THE DAY: The greeny-blue colour of the river and lake
The Kawarau River
Down which we ended up floating on body boards water is due to 'rock flour', clay-sized particles of rock, generated by glacial erosion and suspended within the water.
Polly:
Queenstown has the most expensive campsites in NZ which kind of sucks. The one we stayed at also charged you extra for a shower. The cheek of it! In need of an electric hook-up, we succumbed, then wandered down the hill to find a beer and book an activity for the following day.
We went to one of the many tourist info shops and booked the "Mad Dog River Boarding". The very nice man also gave us a wad of BOGOF vouchers for the "World Bar" so, always happy with a bargain, we headed there. Queenstown is kind of a "cool town", and in our limited wardrobe we felt a little old and sad in the pub. The BOGOF beers & G&Ts were faultless though!
The next morning we joined the Mad Dog group and took a short bus ride to the Kawarau river. We were provided with 5mm wetsuits, booties, flippers and a bodyboard. We then descended the cliff to a calm area of water on the river. Entering the 8 deg C water
was chilling, though by the looks on the men's faces, slightly worse for them. Once we were in our bodies were fine but our hands were freezing, and every time you went under water you got an ice-cream headache. Thankfully, once we started moving we didn't even notice the temperature.
After a 15-minute training session on how to kick, position yourself on the board, and negotiate the rapids, we set off. The rapids went on for about an hour, with periods of floating in between. We were actually really grateful for these slower sections as it uses loads of energy and can become quite tiring.
After the rapids, we were towed in pairs behind a jet ski to the camp down the river. This was pretty fun and everyone got thrown off at the end. We then clambered up a ladder and did a few rock jumps, before having a go at their purpose-built slide. They put a hose of running water down the metal slide and then we all went down on our boards. You pick up some decent speed, and skim out for about 20m into the river. The day was great fun, but could have
been a bit more extreme if the water levels weren't so high.
That night, we thought we'd try sleeping in the street. There weren't any "No Overnight Camping" signs so we thought it'd be OK. We cooked up some grub and had an early night, only to be rudely awakened at 11pm by a very strict gentleman giving us a warning about being illegally parked. He maintained that even though there are no signs, it is stated when you enter the town that no roadside camping is allowed, and we would be charged $400 if we didn't move immediately. Not wanting to be stung for that, we drove to the campsite. Bah humbug!
The next morning I woke up feeling sick as I remembered what I had signed up for. The night before I had booked and paid for the Shotover Canyon Swing. It seemed like a fun idea at the time! After being shown a movie of Jack Osborne, and some other famous people doing it, I only felt worse.
One of the advantages of the Canyon Swing over bungying is that you don't have to jump. It says in the bumf that they can lower
you in the harness and then pull a pin, releasing you automatically. When I told them this they laughed and told me that it wasn't working that day. They then spent the next 10 minutes freaking me out telling me that my harness was loose blah blah blah. Despite feeling sick as hell, determination got the better of me and I ran off the edge - a little prematurely! The feeling was incredible, I have never experienced a rush of adrenaline like it. So much so, that once I'd stopped shaking, I jumped again.
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