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Published: April 8th 2006
Queenstown is the adrenaline capital of New Zealand, and the perfect place for us to have a bit of fun!!
The Shotover Jet-boat is a famous ride that whizzes you through narrow rocky canyons at hurtling break-neck speeds of up to 85km/h, propelled by a rapid stream of water that the jet engine sucks up from the river below. This unique engine enabled us to experience 360 degree spins on the spot, and even a 540! Needless to say the views were amazing and once we get our waterproof camera developed we'll try and upload some photos. Before we took the bus back to Queenstown we popped in to their souvenir shop to find a picture of Rob, the guy who had met us at the airport with the campervan, who it turned out was the General Manager of the whole of Shotover Jet! No wonder he'd said it was a must-do, he could've at least given us a discount!!
As we got off the bus and we were crossing the road back to our campervan, I spotted a familiar face. For the second time on this trip, I randomly bumped into somebody I knew. The first was Hodgy,
back in Iguassu Falls, but if you know him you won't know the next guy. Paul Kenward, in my year at the Harvey, has moved to Queenstown and is chef here, applying for residency!! Bit more of a beard and a few more wrinkles, I hadn't seen him in about 5 years! I have a feeling there'll be a 3rd person for me to accidentally bump into before I come home.....
Anyway, next we took the gondola (a cable-car) up to the Skyline, Queenstown's highest peak. There they have a fantastic downhill luge track, where you can ride a steerable piece of plastic on wheels down to the bottom at more break-neck speeds. This was even better and a definite must for anyone who ever comes here!
Finally, still buzzing from the thrill of the luge, we were going to head home, when Eleni turned to me and said
Shall we go paragliding?
So we did!
We climbed to the top of the local peak, the men we'd be jumping with (as they were of course, tandem jumps) carrying our parachutes. Then we put on the gear, scarcely believing what we were about to do! Before I'd even
got myself in the right frame of mind, my guy put the pack on me, strapped us together, and said:
Here you go. Now run off that cliff.
So I did!
What a view. Queenstown is at the edge of Lake Wakatipu, an enormous body of water that is surrounded on all sides by majestic mountains, and we were gently floating above it. The whole thing was a bit surreal, knowing that those are people down there, and it's only a sheet of material and some strings that are holding me up! But it was so calm and amazing, and a perfect location to do it. The guy even took some photos as we were flying, before performing a few aerobatics, where he'd spin the parachute round, making us feel like we were on a rollercoaster! We landed several minutes later on a nearby field, rounding off a fantastic day!
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Maman
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Aventures, sensations, souvenirs !
"Paragliding " absolument impressionnant ! Et c'est Eleni qui a voulu avoir le frisson des hauteurs ? Cela t'a plu aussi, Eric, j'imagine bien. Tant de sensations et d'aventures ! les photos sont toujours aussi superbes. Elles seront d'incroyables souvenirs lorsque vous serez de retour. La vie en camping-car doit effectivement te rappeler nos vacances en caravane en France et en Europe. Bonne continuation, les petits, et surtout amusez-vous bien ! Grosses bises, xxxxxx!