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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