Queenstown

The lovely Queenstown, where to begin. The drive there from Te Anau is relatively quick (approx. 2.5 hours) the last stage winding along the lake side road of Wakatipu before coming the town centre is a beautiful drive. We stayed in the Southern Laughter Lounge, another nice spot. The level of backpacker accommodation in NZ is probably the best we´ve come across in terms of cleanliness and general services offered. Better than Australia I would even say.

The adrenaline pumping in the town is infectious. By this stage I was actually keen to get involved. The long and the short of it is James and I signed up to do the Nevis Arc and enquired after more sky-diving opportunities only to have them all cancelled due to high winds. We even got so far as getting to the Nevis Arc, up what was a very dangerous, rocky road to have it all called off. It was very disappointing. We had really psyched ourselves up to do what was probably one of the bravest/most stupid things I would have ever done and then we were told we couldn´t.

James responded by signing up to do a bungy. Ilena joined us in Queenstown the night before and she decided to do ittoo. Myself, Debbie and Niamh went along for moral support. My heart was in my mouth watching them do it. We must have watched about 20 jumps before theirs. I´ve never seen James more terrified. It was the site of the first ever bungy which was the creation of AJ Hackett. It´s off a Kawarau bridge just outside Queenstown. It is 43 metres high over a river gorge.

On the drive back from that we got a call from a paragliding company imaginatively monikered 0800 FLY WITH US whom had cancelled on the girls that morning to say they were back in action and were we still interested. I at that point was eager to do anything adventurous and so off we all sped to have these guys who were parked at the base of Coronet Peak awaiting us.

Coronet Peak peaks at 1650 metres. We took off maybe a couple hundred metres below that. It was a tandem paraglide. Niamh and Debbie went off first and we drove down the road to a field to watch them land. They did so safely and soundly and were very enthusiastic about it so Ilena and I went off in the van with nay a bother! Bit of a funny set up though. In the van was the guy running the show, his wife who was driving, their baby in the front seat and a dog, which took a liking to me but whom which I did not take a liking to!
Anyway en route we picked up a guy from some random house who turned out to be my tandem partner, very reassuring! So arrived at the top of the peak more or less, covered in dog hair I jumped out all of a sudden feeling a little nervous about the take off.

My guy kept telling me ´´just keep runnning Sarah even if you fell we´ve taken off´´ and so I did. It culminated in me running in the air before he told me to stop, very exhilarating! The funny thing was at the top there were two very old women in their flowery frocks oohing and ahhing and taking photos as we prepared for take off. Once airborne I realised how high we were, sitting there with my legs dangling in the wind was a little scary I have to admit. At one point he let me steer but I was more keen to hold to my handles than have any part in the operation of the parachute. As he yapped on and on about the wind direction and the logistics of the whole operation I took in the view of Lake Wakatipu and some of Queenstown and the surrounding countryside. It was great. On a good day he travels from Queenstown to Lake Wanaka like that! The landing was the craziest part, we spiralled down at an alarming rate. It was nauseating and exhilarating at the same time. I pretty much screamed my head off much to his amusement. More running in the air before we reached the ground for a smooth landing. Great fun, I highly recommend it.

The rest of our time in Queenstown was spent in the many bars and restaurants there. Fergburger deserves a mention. James had heard about this place from friends so we checked it out and yes they are the best burgers I´ve ever tasted.

James and I also caught the cable car up one of the mountains for views over Queenstown and Lake Wakitipu. Absolutely spectacular. We also caught up with Aine, an old work colleague of James from AIB. It´s very much a party town and so there were plenty of options both evenings. It´s a great spot in general and not hard to see why it´s such a tourist trap. The whole town is centred around adrenaline pumping activities and beautiful views.

From there it was goodbyes to the girls and a long drive back to Christchurch the night before our flight.

New Zealand is an incredible country. We were there just short of a month, and it was the most varied few weeks I could have imagined. From beaches up north, to glaciers and fiords down south the abundance of things to do is overwhelming. We certainly did the place justice and covered good ground. I´d go back in a heartbeat, we had an amazing time