Advertisement
Published: December 18th 2006
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dogs and cats, sheep, frogs, ravers, club kids, goats, old folk, homeless people, famous people, the cabbage water crew, alien beings and anyone else out there reading this! Dr Popper here!
Welcome to my final New Zealand Blog and my return to the glorious South Island! As much as I loved the North Island, the South is that little bit more special. I was happy to be returning! Welcome back PeterPopper. Thank you please!
My return journey began on the ferry at a very early hour in the morning. I spent most of the journey attempting to sleep in the very cold lounge area. I had already seen the views on the way in so I wasn't missing anything! Arriving in Picton it was lovely and sunny! Nice!
On arrival in Picton on this glorious day, we headed into the Marlborough Valley with its grape vines and steep hills. Marlborough is New Zealand’s premier wine making region so we stopped at a small Vineyard for some wine tasting! Sweet!
Now I’m no wine expert but it tasted quite nice and it was free. If you offer a backpacker free
alcohol they're not going to say no are they! We tried a selection of white's and reds in this quaint little building then headed next door for free liqueur tasting. Pretty good stuff and went down a treat having not eaten all day! The chocolate orange one was lovely! Having scrounged as much free alcohol as we could, we headed on to Nelson via the pie shop of course! A pie a day keeps the doctor away!
Nelson is an attractive little town, complete with its wineries, breweries and some nice old fashioned buildings. It is conveniently located near to the South Island's western coastal region and is the perfect place to plan a trip into the beautiful Abel Tasman national park. The hostel we stayed at was luxury compared to some of the places I’ve stayed in. It was more like a bed and breakfast - a nice little pub with very new backpacker accommodation out the back. Comfortable beds, glistening bathrooms, and clean as a whistle! Love it.
Nelson is also supposed to be the sunshine capital of New Zealand and on this day it was certainly doing itself justice. Perfect weather! After some free beer
tasting at the in-house pub and a cheap roast dinner there was just enough time to give the little town some exploration. It’s a very appealing place - colourful buildings, some nice looking bars and restaurants and a cute little character of its own. Me likes Nelson!
It was then time to get some supplies and pack my bags for tomorrow’s adventure into the Abel Tasman national park....
May I please take this opportunity to introduce you to William. He’s Dutch and pretty entertaining. He kind of reminds me of a Dutch version of Mr Bean! Certainly an interesting character. He's a legend. Anyway, we both wanted to go kayaking in the Abel Tasman National park so we decided to hire a kayak the next day. Some last minute preperations then time for bed for tomorrow Popper and William are going on an adventure! Good Luck!
Up at 6.00am the next morning for the bus ride to Marahau at the southern end of the park. We were then driven to Sandy Bay by the Kayak people where we began our adventure at some time in the morning. And a lovely morning it was! Perfect for a paddle!
They let us loose with one of their two man kayaks and we paddled off into the great blue ocean. The weather was somewhat perfect. A few clouds in the sky but lovely and sunny and very calm sea’s. We started following the coastline round and came to some pretty spectacular secluded beaches where we stopped for lunch. Continuing on, we explored some caves, found more amazing beaches which were pretty much deserted and found a few seals that were playing about. Seals smell though! It’s not good to get too close!
We eventually made it to Te Pukate bay in the afternoon where we ate up the rest of our food supplies before paddling back. We made it quite a long way today and it was quite an effort to paddle back in time as the tide was going out. After ice creams and refreshing drinks we had a quick swim before returning back to Nelson on the bus. Abel Tasman is an extremely beautiful place. Perhaps I will be back one day to paddle the full length of the park or do the 3 day coastal walk. Who knows?
Back in Nelson we headed to
a Chinese before walking up into some hills to see the sun depart over the town! Some great views to be had!
The next day we headed to a rather weird town on the west coast called Westport. It’s a port and it’s on the west coast so they called it Westport. Perfect! I had heard lots of things about west coast people - mainly that they are weird, inbred, strange, twisted beings. I think that’s pretty much correct - Some very strange beings in Westport. A quick but entertaining tour of this weird little nothingness town and a rather tasty Italian style pizza cooked by an Aussie in New Zealand and I had just about exhausted Westport’s activity list. Bring on tomorrow!
Welcome to tomorrow peeps. Our journey started off with a walk along the rugged coastline south of Westport. Lots of big waves, some colourful vegetated cliffs and some smelly seals for good measure! We then continued on down the coast with some really spectacular scenery to be seen. Some of it looked prehistoric, some like lush green rainforest, and lots and lots of rugged coastal scenery with the big blue ocean powering its massive waves
towards the jagged shoreline. A really beautiful coastal road!
Continuing on, we stopped at a place known as 'Punakaiki', famous for its "pancake" rocks and blowholes. The rock formations here are extremely impressive and started forming 30 million years ago when lime-rich particles of sea creatures were deposited on the sea floor and overlaid by weaker layers of soft mud and clay. When the seabed was raised above sea level by earthquakes these impressive coastal cliffs were formed. Over the millions of years the sea and weather has eroded the softer layers to create these rather spectacular pancake style formations. There are also a number of blowholes where the power of the sea causes water to fire up from holes in the cliffs, creating rainbows in the spray! A very enjoyable walk around these natural formations to be had by all! Top stuff! Loving the pancakes today!
As we continued on south we could see the Southern Alps Mountain Range far in the distance. More amazing scenery to be absorbed with my hungry eyes! As the wheels on the bus went round and round... and round... and round, we eventually arrived at a place known as "the poo
pub". This would be our home for the night! This place is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and is owned by a rather strange old man called Les. Having checked out the local lake and beach that looked like it hadn't been walked on in a million years, we had a large steak and venison stew feast along with plenty of alcohol from the weird but wonderful pub. Nothing else to do here apart from the boys to dress up as women, the girls to dress up as rubbish and for everyone to get wasted! Perfect! Good times! Strange but good!
The next day I didn't feel that great but at the same time not that bad... taking everything into consideration! Our first stop - The Bushman's centre! Now there's some pretty random stuff on the west coast and this place was certainly one of them! I am a fan of these weird random places though - they are strangely amusing! Weird is good.
The Bushman's centre is basically there to give you an idea of how these crazy New Zealander's made a living from the countryside before tourism and other stuff came about! Having watched
an extremely funny video of New Zealander's jumping out of helicopters to catch deer, and after watching William being attacked by a pig, and after looking at the selection of stuffed animals, and after looking at the resident possums and eels, we headed to the cafe! I couldn't bring my self to sample a possum pie or anything else off the road kill menu! Their motto - You kill it - We'll cook it! Brilliant! Love the Bushman's centre - a perfect hangover cure!
As we drove into the mountains we arrived at the small village of Franz Josef! A tiny little place that only really exists due to the Franz Josef glacier! It is a nice little place though in a beautiful setting. And what a glorious day it was! After a short walk to view the glacier glistening in the sunshine, we headed to our hostel - The rainforest retreat! Here I met up with some people and we made the most of the lovely weather by sitting in the sun! The next day the weatherman was not quite as kind but at least it wasn't raining. It rains an awful lot here so we were lucky
The Prince Albert Hostel - Nelson
This place has nothing to do with body pearcing!boys and girls!
But anyway, an early start ready for our full day glacier trek! We were kitted up with ice spikes and some clothing and headed to the glacier car park. Here we were split into 4 groups. I opted to go for the fast group that would go up first. I wanted to see as much as possible! A 40 minute walk to the face of the glacier and it was time to put on our ice spikes. Having already done some glacier hiking in Iceland I kind of knew what to expect but was hoping to see some more spectacular formations and caves here!
The formation of the glacier is pretty random with all sorts of weird shapes, walls, gaps, caves, holes, crevasses and other mad things going on! As we climbed up some steps that the guide cut in the ice, we made it up onto the glacier and began exploring. There were a few steep drops and some small bridges to cross over crevasses but nothing overly scary! The next few hours were spent climbing up higher onto the glacier as our guide found and cut a route for us to take. We
found some pretty cool caves to go in, some thin gaps to slide through and some really impressive formations. After half a days climbing we were pretty high. Enjoying it so far! I'm definately a glacier fan. They are cool things!
After a lunch stop, our guide found a new route for us to take. Some pretty spectacular blue ice, more caves and holes to crawl through and generally lots of fun. The Franz Josef glacier is quite a "wet" glacier and there are quite a few streams and pools flowing around the network of paths and tunnels. It's all pretty damn impressive! The journey down was a lot quicker and we made it back in time for some dinner after an extremely enjoyable 8 hour trek. I wasn't really that tired out but then again I did eat an awful lot of chocolate so I still had plenty of energy reserves! Back in the village I went for a curry. Not bad, Not bad! You can't beat a good curry after a day on the ice now can you!!
The next day it rained heavily! Good job we climbed it when we did! We headed further south
Nelson
As the sun goes down. down the east coast stopping at Lake Matheson and some waterfalls on the way! Some cool walks but it was a bit grim on this rainy day! The sand flies were also out in full force! Stupid flying black irritating insects! Grrrrrrrrr!
We arrived at our next destination in the late afternoon - Wanaka. Similar to Queenstown, Wanaka is situated next a beautiful lake with the same name, and is surrounded by mountains and spectacular countryside scenery. It is a lot quieter and less touristy than Queenstown and the perfect place to spend a relaxing few days. We checked into Hotel Wanaka which offered hotel rooms at backpacker prices, and I headed out to the department of conservation office to see if there were any good walks in the area and to check out the weather for the coming days. Good news! That evening the sky was spectacular! Really amazing! Wanaka is such a beautiful place!
Having had a lie in the next day to recover from the previous days activities, I headed out on a walk beside Lake Wanaka. The weather was glorious, the scenery was perfect and the music in my ears was immense. Thank you
god for inventing the iPod! It was then time to head to the bar with William for dinner and beer in the sun. Loving this place!
The next day we decided to attempt to climb Mount Roy. We set out at around 11.00am and headed to the supermarket for food and drink supplies. We then began a walk known as "Waterfall Creek" around Lake Wanaka. The sun was shining and the water in the lake was so calm and crystal clear it was unbelievable. Some of the views on this walk were out of this world! They reminded me of the pictures and images I had seen of New Zealand in magazines before leaving! When we reached Waterfall Creek we had to continue further on up the road to find the start of the Mount Roy track. It was a lot further away than we expected and it took us a good couple of hours to get there. Already pretty hot we began the climb. It was a very difficult steep climb all the way up, especially with the heat of the sun. Definitely the most challenging walk I've done! I really had to push myself to keep going
but the views certainly helped! As we climbed the zig zag track through the golden tussocks and sheep populated fields, the views of Lake Wanaka and the surrounding mountains just got better and better!
Eventually after many breaks and after about 4 hours of climbing we reached the ridge and the summit at 1585 metres. At the top there were sweeping views across the inlets and islands of Lake Wanaka and up to the peaks of Mount Aspiring and its national park. Really amazing 360 degree views from up here! Definitely worth the challenging climb! Having had some lunch at the top we began the decent. A lot easier than the climb but sore on the knees! With the low sun and shadows there were more dazzling views to be had on the way home!
On the way back I headed into the cool lake to sooth my legs and feet. By the time we made it back to Wanaka it was 9.00pm! We worked out that the total return distance was at least 25km, a lot of which was up steep hills. I was pretty exhausted and having had a takeaway and sorted my stuff out, I
headed to the land of nod! Goodnight peeps!
The next day it was time to leave the beautiful Wanaka. On the way out we headed to another one of those random places - Puzzling World. A maze that left me pretty frustrated, some cool holograms and some illusion rooms that left me feeling slightly sick! And then it was time for my return to the adventure capital - Queenstown!
Now, I mentioned in my previous blogs that I had some unfinished business in Queenstown! That unfinished business basically involves jumping off a bridge with a giant elastic band attached to my feet! I didn't quite have the courage or the time to do a bungy jump the last time I was in Queenstown and the thought of the thing scares me shitless, but now I am back I have no excuse! Queenstown is the international home of bungy and there are a number of different jump sites to choose from.
I thought that if I’m going to bungy I might as well do it properly and do the highest one, and if I’m going to do the highest one I might as well do all three. So
Punakaiki - Pancake rocks
Amazing rock formations here! for some reason I had the idea of signing up for all three Queenstown bungy's and doing what is known as the Thrilogy!
On the way into Queenstown our bus stopped at the Kawarau Bridge Bungy site which is about 30mins away from the town. This is the location of the original and worlds first commercial bungee jump set up by AJ Hackett in 1988! A 43-metre Bungy Jump over the Kawarau River with the added option of touching the water as you reach the bottom of your jump!
For most of the journey from Wanaka I was starting to get nervous. The adrenaline was in full flow and my mind was fixated on the jump! As we got closer we played the Rocky soundtrack to get ourselves motivated! Loving it! And then, after an interesting and very nervous journey we arrived at the site. We went into the modern building by the side of the bridge where we did a "secrets of bungee" tour! First we watched this video about how bungee came about...
The idea for bungee jumping came from the "land divers" of Pentecost Island in Vanuatu. These crazy tribal young men jump from
tall wooden platforms with vines tied to their ankles as a test of courage and to celebrate fertility. Absolute mentalists! The videos from this were insane! Apparently some people from an organisation called "The Dangerous Sports Club", who had something to do with Oxford University were the first to do a modern day bungee back in the 1970's, but it was the New Zealander AJ Hackett and his friend who set up the first commercial bungee site here at Kawarau bridge! Amazing videos of their first experimental jumps and Hackett’s jump off the Eiffel tower to be seen!
After looking at some harnesses and finding out how bungy cords were made it was time to sign up! Having paid for my trilogy and being weighed for the jump there was no turning back! It was time to face my death!
At 43 metres the Kawarau Bridge isn't one of the highest but its still pretty damn high when your stood there at the top! Having watched a few people jump I made my way out onto the bridge pretty damn scared. The guy put a waist harness on me which is only really a backup harness and I
took my place in the queue. It was soon my turn! The method they use to tie you to the bungy cord here is the same they’ve been using since it started. They basically wrap a towel around your ankles and then tie a cord around that which is then attached to the bungy cord. Easy as Pie! I hope it works!
They asked me if I wanted to go in the water at the bottom. I said yes of course. As they take your weight, they can pretty much judge exactly how much of you will go in the water by altering the length of the cord. I made my way out on to the little platform ready for my jump. My body was now running purely on adrenaline. I was excited, scared, and trying not to look down - but it was hard not to. It’s a pretty cool site at the Kawarau Bridge - there's a massive viewing platform next to the bridge where everyone from the bus was stood watching.
And then the guy counted down. I knew that I had to go to first time - I didn't want to hang about up
there! The worst bit is when you’re stood up there on that ledge about to jump! Scary times!
Three... Two.. One... Bungy! I leaped out into the air with my arms out and started to freefall. Amazing feeling! Shortly after, as I saw the river coming towards me, the top half of my body was dunked in the river! A split second later and I'm being launched back out of the water by this giant elastic band they call a bungee cord. Wow! Then there were the after bounces as I’m hanging there upside down attached by my feet. It's a great feeling! It really is! Completely different to I expected! They then lowered the bungee cord towards the river where there were two guys waiting for me in a dingy boat. Get in!
Did I enjoy my first bungee jump? Yes I loved it! It's pretty damn scary and you are working yourself up to it the whole day, but if you weren't scared and the adrenaline wasn't pumping through you it wouldn’t be half the fun. The hardest bit is jumping off, but once you are airborne it’s amazing!
Out of our bus of about
Franz Josef Glacier
Taken from the lookout 45 people there were 32 that jumped. This Swedish girl called Sophia did something that scared the shit out of me - and her! As she went to jump she kind of tried to stop, did a kind of somersault, the bungee cord got caught up and she went down in a curled up ball, holding on to the cord as she went! It was scary shit! I thought she was going to be badly injured but she was ok. Mental jump anyway! As we broke the record for most jumpers off a bus we were to get lots of free alcohol on our arrival in Queenstown! Perfect!
We continued on our journey, all pretty hyper and buzzing from what we had just done! We arrived in Queenstown and checked into our hostel. I headed straight to Fergburger for an amazingly tasty burger and then got ready to go out! Tonight would be a big one!
We first headed to a bar where we were given teapots full of cocktail and mixers to drink from shot glasses. Then onto another bar where there was more drinking fun! It was pretty cool - I saw loads and loads of
Franz Josef Glacier Trek
View as we climbed on to the glacier for the first time. people there that I had met on my journey all in one place! Brilliant! Plenty more alcohol, some dancing, some craziness and lots of fun! On to another bar where we had a free keg of beer waiting. Perfect! More of the same until some late hour when I eventually made it to bed. Not my best nights sleep but I was able to have a long lie in the next day! Nice!
And then, when I awoke at 12.00 noon and decided to eventually get up, I realised what was ahead of me - New Zealand’s highest bungee jump. The 134 metre Nevis High wire! The Ultimate Challenge. Nothing has scared me more than the thought of this but gradually over the period of 6 weeks I had persuaded myself that I should do it! I don't know how!
As soon as I got up, the Nevis was going through my head. The adrenaline was already flowing. I was pretty nervous to say the least! After a shower and some scran I headed down to the bungy office where I met the others. After another weighing session, signing my life away and after lots of waiting around
with video's to make us even more scared it was time to go! Everyone looked pretty damn scared - most were shitting it! I know I was!
We boarded the small bus ready for the 45 minute journey to the remote location of the almighty Nevis High Wire! As pumping trance music blasted from the stereo we started the journey. I was now pretty terrified but buzzing my tits off at the same time! The bus pulled off the main road and we headed onto a dirt track. After some scary climbs over some dodgy mountain tracks we arrived at the site and saw the Nevis for the first time! "Holy Shit!"
The Nevis High Wire is not like any other bungy jump as it is not from a bridge or a platform. What they like to refer to as "a piece of engineering genius", the jump is from a small gondola suspended over the Nevis Canyon by 380 metre steel cables which span the remote and extremely high Nevis gorge! After another weighing session and being given a backup harness it was time to go!
The whole thing has clearly been designed to increase your fear
factor as much as possible. We first had to reach the gondola jump pod in a tiny little open air cable car with a grated floor so that you can see down below. There were about 20 of us doing it and we headed out in this tiny little cable car in small groups. This cable car trip was scary enough. As the wind blew the thing swayed and as we looked down we could see the distance we were about to jump. I didn't feel safe at all! As we got nearer to the pod I saw the first person jump! "Shit!" Why have I signed up for this???
When we reached the gondola jump pod in the middle of the gorge, the door opened and we entered! Again, clearly designed to make you more scared, the pod has a glass floor section so that you can look down and see people falling towards the river below. For me this was to be the biggest personal challenge! Inside I was terrified! Definately the most scared and nervous I've ever been in my entire life!
They do the jumps in weight order with the heaviest first so I
had to wait for all the heavier people to do there jumps before it was my turn. These were very scary times! Lots and lots of time to get scared, to contemplate what your going to do and to see the pain people are going through! There was one girl in the corner in tears, another one with her face in her hands, a guy that looked like he was going to feint, a crazy German guy who had just jumped and was shouting some crazy stuff to motivate people and others who didn't really know what they were doing! I had a mixture of stuff going through my brain - nerves, excitement, amusement, worry, and plenty and plenty of fear! I can safely say I was shitting it!
Eventually after a long wait it was time for trumpton. After putting big straps around your ankles they sit you in this crazy dentist style chair with leg rests where they attach the bungee cord to your feet. As you are sat there hypnotic dance music plays from the gondola sound system. I'm not sure whether this is supposed to psyche you up, make you more scared or what. I
Franz Josef Glacier Trek
An orderly line please! kind of liked it. The guy asked me if I had any last words. I didn't. I said good luck - I'm not sure whether I was wishing myself good luck or what? What's it got to do with luck anyway! Nothing! It's basically whether you have the guts to jump off the thing!
I had sufficiently psyched myself up and was ready to jump. The guy helped me shuffle out onto the little platform and put me in position. I can't really describe what was now going through my head or the way I was feeling. It’s a tough one. It's important on the Nevis that you dive out forward to avoid a nasty jump so I was trying to concentrate on that! A quick look at the camera and the guy was counting down... I tried to focus on the mountains in front of me and not look down. Three... Two... One... Bungy! I jumped out into the air in front of me arms out! A 134 metre, eight second freefall before the bungee cord kicked in! Amazing! Now that was a good rush!
The feeling of falling was immense! I felt like I was flying,
even though I could see the river coming towards me at high speed! As soon as I was falling I was absolutely loving it. Again, not the stomach dropping feeling I expected but a strangely euphoric and peaceful feeling as you are flying through the air. With this amount of freefall time you actually have time to enjoy the experience, think about stuff and feel triumphant that you have succeeded in jumping off this crazy contraption. This is when you realise why it was worth all the fear and anticipation. The feeling is completely different to a skydive - with bungee jumping you get an amazing ground rush! It's a special feeling!
And then the bungee cord kicks in. It does not jerk your body at all, but is a very smooth feeling. Again lots more fun as you bounce back towards where you just came from. At the top of the second bounce you reach up and pull a little cord which flips you into the sitting position. For a moment you think you are going to fall out of the harness but it’s all good. You are safe!
You are then just hanging there in the
middle of this massive gorge dangling from a suspended cable car by a nylon bungee cord made from the same stuff that stops your pants from falling down! Plenty of time to appreciate what you have just done and the distance you have just fallen as they crank you up back into the gondola. Brilliant! What a rush! I was feeling pretty euphoric after the jump! Back in the open air cable car for another ride back to the safety of terra ferma and for a bus journey back to Queenstown. Perfectemondo! What an experience!
As you can probably imagine I was buzzing for the rest of the day and night! After another amazing Fergburger, (I'm working my way through the menu), we headed out to some bars in Queenstown and got absolutely wasted! A pretty late night! Amazing...
Guess what I did the next day? Time to complete my bungy trilogy! After a long lye in I eventually got up to realise that the weather was perfect. Perfectly bungee tastic. The 47 metre ledge urban bungy is not to be underestimated. It is situated 400 metres above Queenstown at the top of the sky gondola station. The
AJ Hackett crew have built a ledge that sticks out from the side of the mountain overlooking Queenstown, its lake, and the beautiful mountains. It therefore has the perception of being a lot higher than the jump distance actually is! Having done the Nevis the previous day I didn't think that I would be scared but I was! Feeling slightly dizzy looking over the edge I met up with some people who I jumped the Nevis with and we signed in!
The ledge bungy is slightly different to the others in that you are strapped up with a body harness so that the bungee cord attaches to your waist. There is also a platform that allows you to run off, and you can pretty much jump off in any way you choose. Harry stood on the edge whilst someone kicked him off, this other guy did some sort of nose dive and I attempted to do some forward somersaults.
As those oh so familiar words pounded in my ears I took a nice run up and leaped off the ledge! I managed to get a couple of freestyle forward flips in before the bungee cord caught my arm
and stopped me in full motion. It was pretty damn fun and the views from up there were pretty spectacular! I managed to sustain a few slight bungy cord burns to the arms and shoulder but I guess that comes with the territory! Top stuff! Loved it!
**Check out my three bungy videos if you like. I've got some photos as well but I’m waiting for the AJ Hackett crew to upload them so I’ll have to add them later. Enjoy! I certainly did!
Back down in lower level Queenstown it was time for me to enjoy the lake and make my long awaited return to Winnie's. I've spent a lot of time thinking about it and Winnie's could possibly be the best pizza I've had in 6 months of travel. I just needed one more to confirm my theory. This time I went for the Morrocan lamb pizza. It was really really good. They have a really interesting menu. I think I need to come back sometime and have everything off it before I can decide! And whilst I'm on the subject of food I can safely say that Fergburger make the best burgers I've tasted in
6 months. Queenstown has some damn good food on offer! I love it!
I've spent most of my final days in Queenstown pushing myself to my absolute limit with my bungy leaps. I left the most challenging and exhilarating things until last. A f*#K!@g scary few days but I've been pretty damn high on adrenaline the whole time so it’s been an amazing experience. A great way to finish my time here! I couldn't come to the bungy capital of the world and not do one could I?
The next day I flew from Queenstown to Auckland. New Zealand is pretty spectacular from the air as well! One nights sleep in a hotel by the airport before I will be leaving these wonderful lands!
Well I guess that’s it from me for now. My next stop is Fiji! Let’s hope this Military Coo doesn't cause me any problems!
Over and Out from me - Pete Rocks, and Over and Out from the amazing country of New Zealand.
I will miss this place!
Goodbye peeps
PeterPopper ;-)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.074s; Tpl: 0.023s; cc: 12; qc: 20; dbt: 0.0353s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
lucie
non-member comment
hey you mania!c
Just logged onto this and saw your bungee's me and my mum were watching it...oh mygood you are insane doing that kind of jump! take care and see you soon..make sure there are no crocs in that water..they could bite your head off!! x lucie