Queenstown (QT) adventures - (Elliott's View)

Hi bloggers,

We arrived in QT sometime in the afternoon. After sorting out our accommodation, some food and the car; we went off for a walk in to the town centre to decide which adrenaline activities we would be partaking in. After some careful thought we decided on a bungee jump for myself and a sky dive for Simone. Well I say this, but Simone was thinking about it and trying to avoid the adrenaline rush that would occur. The next day we woke up and made our way to the gondola. We took a scenic ride up the gondola with stunning views of QT and the remarkables (a mountain range that runs along side the Qt area). Amazing! Got up to the top and strapped on our helmets ready for some luging. It was brilliant entertainment at an affordable price. We got 5 rides each down the 1km track, getting some serious speeds up at times and nearly taking off when going over steep hills too fast. Absolute classic time. When we got back to the hostel Simone decided that we should book my bungee jump for the next day. So i did, then I made sure that Simone booked her sky dive also for the next day. Ha! No escaping now, otherwise we would lose a load of money if she pulled out. That evening we just chilled with 2 scottish girls we met chatting about traveling, good camping spots in NZ and amongst other stuff. Below is the view from the gondola:

The next day we both had to wake up early to get down to the bungee centre for my jump off the nevis bungee site. After setting off around 8am we arrived at the bungee site at around 845am. We all piled out of the minibus and got strapped up with a harness to go to the pod which looked out over the ravine. Whether jumping or not you had to get an harness to go watch the jumpers. After a short trip across to the pod, the heaviest of the group got strapped up and ready for the 134m (440feet) plunge into the valley below. There were maybe 6 other people umping before I got a chance to poo my pants. It all happened pretty fast, I was strapped up and all ready before I knew it. A final wave to the on-board camerawoman (Simone) and I was away from the platform hurtling toward the ground (8 seconds possibly so not the best value for money). But what a rush, total rush - brilliant feeling, flying towards the hard valley floor and then bouncing around all over place afterwards. After the jump the thought crossed my mind, about how I am going to find a bigger and better rush than the 2nd biggest jump in the world. It was pretty obvious where I should head next time (South Africa for the biggest 226m jump). Yikes! Below is the size of the jump and then the second and third photos are taken from the DVD of me jumping:

Later that afternoon we walked down to the sky dive centre in town. I think Simone was pretty nervous but I knew she would be fine. Simone was filling out the disclaimer and she asked e whether I was sure I didn't want to join her in the sky dive experience. I thought about it for maybe 3 seconds then came up with the reply of ' yeah alright, sounds like a good crack, lets do it together'. I've always wanted to do a sky dive and why not do it in the of one the best places to jump in the world? We arrived at the airfield both feeling pretty pumped up. Got a quick briefing and kitted up ready for the jump. Before jumping we both decided to get the photo and DVD package as it was something so special, it was worth the extra dollar for it. Simone, myself and another brit piled into this tiny plane with our tandem instructors and videographers (absolutely crammed in to the max). The plane set off from a really small airstrip, I kept thinking how is the plane going to get off the floor so fast and being full of people wasn't going to help either. But sure enough we were in the air in no time at all. Climbing to 15000feet steadily giving us time to spy the world so far beneath us. The views were just magnificent as you might have imagined. After all we were flying high above some of the most scenic landscapes in the world. It was never going to be a let down (view and enjoyment wise). The time came to leave the plane, we had reached the objective 15000feet. My instructor (Uros - a crazy polish guy) and I made our way over to the door, shuffling on our bums. After reaching the door I could see so far, so high up. Then after a couple of tugs we were out of the plane in no time. No time to be afraid as it all happens so quickly. It felt so strange the first few seconds, I didn't really realise what was going on. But I soon understood the reality and the enjoyment kicked in. The cameraman every now and then would grab me and spin me around, which was absolutely quality. Just such a rush, flying towards the earth for 60secs of free fall, traveling around 200kmh. When the parachute opened it felt a bit of a shame to stop falling so fast but also a relief knowing everything was going to fine. The the flight down was a good 5 mins of time to enjoy the views and take in the past 60 seconds of my life. After a loads of spirals around with the canopy open we came to the ground with a peerfect 10/10 landing. After finishing I ran over to where Simone would be landing moments later, to see how she was. She landed safely and we both left the airfield both totally buzzing. In fact we were both still buzzing all afternoon and evening long. Quality day, I must say!!!

Until next blog dudes, peace out B>)