Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Queenstown, New Zealand – April 9, 2012


This morning started off rainy and cloudy – skydiving was cancelled. I was SOL. I was a little disappointed that I could not jump out of a plane at 15,000 feet. However, I do have another things planned for the day.

I had a coffee and a read on the balcony over looking the Remarkable mountain region.  The mountains are called the “Remarkable Mountains”; it is not just a describing term. They are stunning and have a tiny bit of snow at the top already. It is supposed to snow tonight in the mountains and it may make its way into town. Ski hills open the first weekend in June.

Queenstown is New Zealand’s version of Banff. It is a quaint ski town with the summer options of bungee, sky diving, hiking, paragliding, etc. It is as the adventure capital of the world according to the local guides and tourist shops. There is only one main road with two pretty significant roads beside it to the town. Hiking shops, cafes, adventure tourist shops, and a Starbucks are the majority of shops along the roads.  

I had a bungee jumping booking at 12:10 through AJ Hackett to do the “Nevis” jump. You walk to the shop from the hotel, roughly 20 minutes all down hill, to this shop dedicated to checking people in for the bungee jumps. Once you were weighed then signed your life away, you hopped on the Nevis shuttle. The physical jump is 40 minutes outside of Queenstown. The bungee location is in the middle of a canyon 300 m above a river. You have to take a gondola out to the station that has a glass floor. The physical station moves in the wind and when people jump. I had the same crew as yesterday, so they made sure I had an awesome jump. I gave my camera to them and some of the pictures they took are ridiculously hilarious.

The jump boasts a 143m fall with you attached via your feet. It was about a 45 second free fall before the first bounce. I did not scream this time; I enjoyed jumping off way too much. On the second bounce, you had to release your feet by pulling a strap to get you right side up. I managed to get it on the first attempt but sliced my finger. As such, I filled out a waiver stating that a Band-Aid would be the only thing I would need from the company. I was a lot calmer on this jump than the one yesterday.  It is the second largest bungee in the world behind one in South Africa. You take a gondola out to the station where you jump off of. From the point you jump to the ground is only 1,000 feet. The rope line is 143m for a 30 second free fall. With this jump, you have to actually pull a rip cord so that you can be pulled back up to the top upright.

After the jump, I headed into town and saw all that the town had to offer. Mainly the town had tons of tacky tourist shit and some very cute running clothes. I tried to buy adorable pink Nike trainers but they did not have my size.

I walked home uphill to the hotel before the group meets at a place called the Minus Five Ice Bar. Legitimately, it is made of all ice inside – the table, the glasses, and the seats. You are given Ugg boots, a heavy winter jacket and matching pants, and an ugly hat to wear while in the bar. Neat concept in a town that has snow…

Tonight was another early night. I cannot do the entire party thing when I have to be up at 7 am the next day.

AFN

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