The morning bus ride was a blur. I slept from Dunedin to
Cromwell, our lunch stop. Cromwell is a town just north of Queenstown that is
famous for its fruit. As such, the town central promenade has five statues of
giant fruit - hilarious but very artistic. Subway was the lunch of choice in
this small town. I do not know if the name had anything to do with the person,
I did not bother asking.
Roaring Meg was the first photo pit stop. The story of the
name is that during the gold rush men way outnumbered the women in the area.
Thus, a brothel was established in this area to keep the men “entertained”.
However, the men would go in have a good time and decide to marry one of the
whores. This became such an issue that the brothel owner had to import the
ugliest women he could find to keep his business thriving. Roaring Meg became
well known in the area for her screaming while on the job. The actual look out
point was a view of one of the wealthiest rivers during the gold rush and the
surrounding mountainous area. The story was better than the view.
Kawarau River was the next stop. The Kawarau Bridge is home
to the world’s first bungee jump by AJ Hackett. This bridge has a bungee set up
in the middle. To get you prepared for the jump they wrap a towel around your
ankles, then a strap around your ankles, then strap on top of all of that. The
strap contraption is then attached to the physical bungee rope. Many people
were shaking and a few backed out. Of course, I jumped the 43 m over the river.
My choices for jumping on this bridge were either a swan dive or a superman
dive. I chose a swan dive for its grace and simplicity. It is terrifying to
have to put your toes onto the edge of the platform knowing your going to fall.
I let out a small scream on the way down as I was dunked to my elbows in the
river. The point where I finally was put into the boat was a moment of “oh
thank god”. The experience is exhilarating and the biggest adrenaline rush I
have yet to experience.
After everyone who
wanted to jump had, the tour headed slightly down the river to where we went
jet boating. The drivers are crazy and have the best tourism based job in my
opinion. You drive in boats down this canyon, do 360s, and come close to caves
all done at high speeds. Did I mention that the max depth of water was one foot
and the minimum depth of water was five centimeters?
After all of this adrenaline rush, we finally had reached
Queenstown - our home for the next three nights. Dinner was at the Skyline
Restaurant. This restaurant sits 300 m above Queenstown with a splendid view of
the city. A gondola takes you up and down to the main area. The menu was an unbelievable buffet. My
stomach is so full that I think I might have issues sleeping.
Tomorrow is an interesting day – sky diving, the world’s
highest bungee jump, and an ice bar.
Wish me luck.
AFN
No comments:
Post a Comment