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Published: February 9th 2011
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Tuesday 7th December 2010 (Wanaka – Queenstown) Starting the day at Puzzling world, it was lucky we weren’t hung over, as this place messes with your head. We started in a 3D maze in which you had to reach all 4 corners, but with various staircases adding to the dilemma we gave up after 3 corners, concerned we might run out of time and miss out on everything inside. We really loved the illusion rooms with one where you can make yourself look like a midget, or giant by standing at opposite corners of a room, and lots of things that appeared to roll uphill as the room was on such a slope!
Stopping next at Kawarau bridge bungy, the 1st commercial site set up by AJ Hackett in 1988, only 1 person was booked to go, but after we’d watched a video about the whole adrenalin pumping bungy phenomenon, about 8 people ended up jumping (probably encouraged when they were offered the jump at a reduced price if they’d booked another AJ Hackett jump).
Next stop Queenstown... and Richard, having been talked into doing a canyon swing by half the bus, was bricking it. After a quick
group photo in a pyramid with our driver Kane we headed off to check-in at the Nomad with minutes to spare. Bags dumped we rushed over to the Shotover shop for our canyon swing appointment. The staff were wind up merchants right from the off, just to help Richard’s nerves! After a short minibus journey showing us example swings we were turfed out and made our towards the canyon site.
After suiting up in our harnesses there was no going back, the 1st jump we opted for a tandem cut away (the tamest on the “Aaaarrrgggghh scale”). They played with us, holding us out over the edge and asked us if we wanted to go on a count of 5 or 3, at which point they pulled the release cord and without warning we were falling through the air at 150km/h, our stomachs still 60 meters above!
We both loved it, it was such a fantastic adrenalin rush but it went way too fast, so we signed ourselves up for a 2nd jump (much to everyone’s surprise – they couldn’t believe Richard was going to subject himself to the fear again). This time we chose backwards, which was
one of the scariest styles according to the staff. We were still doing a tandem jump, as Richard wasn’t ready to do it alone, but it was also nice to experience it together.
Going backwards was so much better, we had to step off the ledge ourselves, but when it seemed like it might take a while, the staff held on to us and told us to just lean back a little, to get used to it, before letting us go – again! Falling this time was a unique experience where we saw the platform getting smaller and felt the cliffs closing in around us, it felt like we could take in a lot more of our surroundings. Joanne probably could have kept going all day, but unfortunately they were fully booked so we were out of luck. We bought a copy of our photos & DVD and some t-shirts to remember the day.
Next to the Black water rafting, this was by far one of our favourite experiences in NZ – who would have thought it?!?
Group pizza meal was supposed to be like the final supper – but it felt more like a free for
all with the unruly British lads stealing every last piece, leaving many people underfed, and fed up! We left the bar for drinks in the girls’ room and then back to World Bar drinking Jaeger Bombs with Kane.
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