Days Fourteen to Seventeen - January 15-18 - QUEENSTOWN, BABY!

Queenstown is the "Adventure Capital of the World", and I'm not gonna lie, with the amount of extreme activities that you can do there - it sure lives up to it's reputation! We stayed at Nomads in Queenstown - one of the only hostels that provides breakfast and supper, which was nice actually. Sparrow met us at the hostel and started his travels with us from there. Good to see Burdman down here in NZ, just another addition to our NZ family. 

 Two of the most extreme things I've done in NZ were in Queenstown: bungy jumping and the Canyon Swing.  On January 15th we journeyed to the Kawarau River Bridge to bungy at AJ Hackett. Now this guy AJ Hackett is, to put it lightly, a lunatic. This is the man who invented bungy jumping by, quite literally, attaching an elastic rope to his legs and jumping off stuff. It all started back in the late 80's when hair was wild, fashion was brightly colored, and - I'm assuming - there were some crazy drugs around.  But seriously - AJ Hackett is a crazy dude. Originally he and his crew would jump off of bridges and cliffs around NZ including the Auckland Harbour bridge. Eventually that got old and they ventured overseas, and AJ jumped from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. 

The Kawarau Bridge is the "World's Home of Bungy" - literally. This bridge is the first commercial bungy jumping location in history. And it is also the place where Jackie, Morgan and I made history and also jumped off of this bridge!  I'm not going to lie - bungy didn't seem too scary for me at first. I knew that it was safe and that thousands of people had done it at AJ Hackett with zero fatalities.  But when I got onto that bridge and stood in line to get harnessed up to jump with waist and leg harnesses - my brain sure didn't think it was a great idea, my phobia of heights kicked in and I was scared shitless.

We all waited in line on the bridge to move onto the jumping platform, and my heart was racing.  Morgan jumped right before me and Jackie was a couple spots behind me, along with some other fellow crazy people from Kiwi Experience.  Watching Morgan jump was insane, at first she was on the ledge standing with her toes on the edge, and then POOF she was gone! And then it was actually my turn. All harnessed up, I was helped to hop to the edge of the platform by, coincidentally, a fellow Canadian from Edmonton who worked for AJ Hackett.

I was so flipping scared I almost didn't let go, but he told me I wouldn't die, and eventually I got enough courage to let myself fall off. The bungy is insane! Such a weird feeling that I can't really explain. I'm definitely glad I did it.  At the viewing platform I got to watch Jackie jump - and that girl is a true adrenaline junkie! Her jump was so awesome - she jumped way off the platform and threw her arms out like a pro. Definitely got some great pics of that crazy girl! 

The other extreme thing we did in Queenstown was the Shotover Canyon Swing. This swing is the World's highest cliff jump: the cliff is 109 meters high, the free fall is 60 meters, and the swing is 200 meters. Sure doesn't sound like a lot, but if you are about to fall off that cliff it's flipping big. Jackie, Sparrow, Phil, Morgan and I got weighed up, checked in and met our jump guide - Logan - at the office in Queenstown. Jackie, Sparrow and I wore our "Keep Calm and Chive On" shirts for the jump - and they were a HUGE hit with the Canyon Swing guys! We were the first people to do the swing wearing these shirts! 

Getting on with this insane story, we headed down on to the swing platform, where we were all geared up in full body harnesses. The Canyon Swing is pretty cool, because there are hundreds of different ways you can do it. Backwards, forwards, upside down, pin drop, starfish, superman, flips... and the list goes on and on! Jackie jumped first, and she chose to jump off the plat form forward. Morgan went next, followed by me. We both chose to do The Chair: which is where you get seat belted into a chair, and lean backwards into the fall.

The guys at Canyon Swing are super fun, and are great at getting you freaked out right before the swing. You sit on the chair with your back to the ledge, and they get you to lean back on your chair with your feet off the ground. You are connected to the swing cable on your chest, and as you lean backwards, they hold on to the cable for a "dry run" - meaning you lean back and then they pull you back in. They did about 3 dry runs with Morgan before letting her go - just screwing with her head and getting her pretty scared, which was funny to watch. When it came to my turn, I was expecting that as well. I was freaking out a bit about how high the cliff was, but the guys just told me to keep calm and chive on, and I felt a bit better.  However after I pushed myself back and got my feet off the ground, he pulled me back in and I thought I was safe for a bit - and then he let me go! I did a couple flips on the way down on the chair, watching the rocks and trees fly by me as I plummeted 60 m towards the ground at 150 km/hour and then moving into a swing across the canyon. Definitely one of the most awesome feelings ever - almost as good as skydiving! 

The rest of our time in Queenstown was a blast - great bars, great scenery and of course one of the most tasty burger places in the world: Ferg Burger. I may have enjoyed one of these after the bar one night. These burgers are MASSIVE (probably about the size of a one pound Fuddrucker's burger for your Saskatchewan folk), and they are also extremely delicious gourmet with all sorts of toppings or meats - you can get beef, pork, chicken, lamb, venison, fish, falafel or tofo. Definitely a must have when you come to Queenstown, although the lines do get quite long, even at 3 am. 

We also experienced the Below Zero Ice Bar in Queenstown, which is a straightforward concept - a bar made of ice where they give you boots, gloves and a parka, and you stand around and drink in -8 degrees Celsius! It was pretty damn cool (ha ha!) and it sure reminded me of home! 

The last day we were in Queenstown, we took a day trip out to Milford Sound- which is easily the most beautiful place I have seen in my life. Milford Sound is really a fjord, created by glaciers thousands of years ago. The sound is lined with gigantic mountains that rise straight up out of the Tasman Sea. If you google Mitre Peak, you will most likely recognize it if you have ever seen pictures of NZ. It is the highest peak in the sound, and the most photographed mountain in New Zealand.  Milford Sound is not easily described, as everything is so massive - the waterfalls, mountains, cliffs and length of the sound. If I can get pictures to post on my blog, I will put some up. Definitely a must see for anyone traveling to this gorgeous country.