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I feel i should explain more about the canyon swing, so this blog starts from yesterday morning. I woke up, after a very late night, to be met by perfect clear skies, in the most beautiful setting of the trip i think. Queenstown is set by a lake, with a lot of it built on the base slopes of the surrounding mountains, and its just gorgeous. I finally got out of bed around ten, and once the usual rituals had been done, i set out for an explore of the town. I headed straight to the harbour, and walked around that, whilst gazing out across the giant lake. From the end of the harbour you connect immediately to the gardens, more like a big park set on a bit of land that sticks out, so you can do a great big loop of the park, mostly surrounded by the lake which is very nice. The walk then took me into the middle of queenstown, where i zig zagged between rows of shops and small boutiques, and i stopped off in a nice little art gallery, with some good stuff on show. I also bought a pair of cheap gloves, did i
mention it was cold?!
My exploration finished around half 12, so i headed back to the hoste, made some lunch and chatted to the boys for a bit. They all headed out for various activites so i killed some time sorting some stuff out in my room. At half 1, iheaded to check in for my canyon swing, and the waited whilst watching videos of the swing. At this point, the nervous laughter kicked in. I was joined by four others, and we hopped into a minibus and headed to the swing itself about 15mins out of town. Once there, we had to walk a 300m track along the edge of the canyon to get to the swing. Here, we were all harnessed up and then told a bit about it. "Who is going first?"....me apparently! I opted for a pin drop first jump. You stand legs together, hands clasped behind your back and looking straight down. You then have to hop off. Yeah, exactly, just hop off! The guys played with my head a bit, and actually stopped me going, even though i was ready, grr. Then as i was about to go, he pushed me!! What a
feeling! Free falling 60m, my body wasnt sure what was happening. However, once the swing bit kicked in, it was awesome!! So much fun! Obviously i did it again! This time i went for the elvis cutaway. You hang, lying down, arching your back to look at the cliff behind and down. Then when THEY are ready, they cut you loose. This one was even better, but only as i knew what to expect on the free fall. I still thinkg about it now, and i can remember that feeling so well!
Last night, we all headed to the bar, as it was karaoke night. I didnt sing, in fact none of our group did, but i did watch the first session of the cricket before going to bed. Turns out they won, happy days!
Today was an early start, for the long drive to Milford sound. I had to get up early than most, as i had decided to stay over for a night in Te Anau, so i had to check out and put my big bag in storage. Needless to say, i wasnt the only person still half asleep on the bus. Manged to all
get seats to ourselves, so we all had a nap to our first stop at Te Anau where we got food, i had a muffin. From here it was another couple of horus to Milford sound, though we made various stops along the way to admire the amazing views. Stopped at Mirror lakes, Knobs Flat, Chasm Walk, and Homer Tunnel. Seriously, i know i have talked about views and stuff in previous blogs but today wins. The mountains and valleys were amazing, such big sheer sides at times, plus the snow really added to it.
Eventually got to Milford sound, and hopped straight onto the ferry and tucked in to our buffet lunch. Wasnt best food ever in terms of quality, but i still ate A LOT! Having eaten, we all hit the deck to take in the breath-taking surroundings. Its hard to explain the place really without pictures, but incredible. Very Lord of thee rings. At one point we drove right up to the base of a waterfall which was cool, we all got ecovered in spray! The last stop of the day was at the underwater observatory. A floating structure, where you walk down 4storeys to windows
into the water. Not the most impressive fish ever, but still very impresive!
Right, time is up so i must rush finishing. Got dropped off in Te Anau on the way home, all on my own, but quite cool to be off the beaten track a bit, and have a more chilled out hostel. People doing jigsaws, reading etc. Then tomorrow is a day of walking! Argh, 10seconds, sorry, bye!
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