EXTREME SPORTS, THE FIRST HOSTEL, A SUPER-JUG AND THE THERMAL HOT POOLS

(I already wrote most of this then closed the browser! So I'm writing it again, highly annoying but duty calls)

The day started promptly at 7am, just enough time for a sausage butty and a shower then Off-ski it was.

$60 dollars of gas and then boost it was to Hamner Springs, about an hour and a half later I reached Thrillseeker Adventures, about 10 minutes from Hanmer Springs village. After using le toilette I booked and paid for my day's activities. A cool $440, this included: Rafting, Bungy Jumping, Jet-Boating and Quad Biking.

My first activity was water rafting with middle aged couple Frederick and Katherine from south Auckland. A nice gentle starter for the upcoming bungy jump eek, we travelled about 12km down the river, the river was pretty powerful and did the majority of the work. The instructor was very knowledgeable about the surrounding area and the different characteristics of the river. I was just too busy taking in the surroundings and the sweet, sweet songs of nature and the birdy-pie's.

We did well in reaching 12km because we were running slightly ahead of time with our super power rowing skills. A jet boat then came and picked us up and we charged back to base at a quick average of 80kmph. Already being wet it was bloody cold and I got my shiver on and my hands turned blue! Getting back in my dry clothes was luxury. Although the walk back up the hill from the jetty was tiresome and effort!

Not long after getting dressed I was straight off to my Bungy jump, wooooooooo. After ascending the stairs to the bridge I was metres from where I would be jumping in the next five minutes. I was strapped up with about 6 different wires and clipped each different which way to my harness to ensure my safety. These wires were then attached to a chord which attached to the main bungy line; which I can only describe as 100s of elastic bands woven together. So what I'd been told was right! I would be jumping off a bridge with a massive rubber band attached to my legs; aha it wasn't actually put around my ankles so all you suckers are half wrong!

My Bungy rope was attached and after a short briefing I shuffled my way to the edge. Even though the bridge was only around 35metres; which is considered a small distance in terms of Bungy, I was still about to Defy Death and trust my life in 100s of rubber bands and a bunch of straps and caribeanas. I think moments before the jump some pretty words were exchanged through the air! 3,2,1 - BUNGEEEEEEY! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo, s*** me I had jsut jumped off a bridge! Boooooooooooing Ba Booooooing, after a minute or two of recoils I was lowered into the jet boat and brought back to reality.

I can tell you I've never felt so exhilarated in my life! I literally pegged it back up the monstrosity of a slope and back up to base. The biggest grin on my face and feeling like the biggest man in the world, after some mutual encouragement for my fellow jumper I opted for a big tasty burger, titled: The canyon burger. Well deserved and well earned, those moments of free-fall were brilliant and I am now ready for the big mother-Trucker in Queenstown.

I then got talking to the Irish feller Ronan and got talking about his travel's, really interesting and it got me really excited for my fun to begin! The time had now come for my go on the Quad bikes!

I was a bit rocky at first and found myself bottom of the pack after driving into a bush! Smooth moves Jimbob. After my crappy start I soon found confidence and got the hang of driving my beasty 250cc Quad, let's just say I got a little too confident. I was throttling down a narrow pass sided with tree's, next thing I know boom I'm over the bars and my bikes facing backwards, I tried desperately to spin my bike around before the instructor caught up but no luck. The crash had taken its toll on the front bumper bar; it was completely mangled inwards, Oops! I was ok but it saw my knackers' a bit sore for a little while. Fortunately the Quad's steering wasn't affected and I able to continue with the rest of the ride. My track history with crashing into things is just getting better and better, maybe it's the New Zealand air!

Time for the fourth and final activity Jet Boating, I wasn't all that bothered about this one because I had already done it on the way back from rafting but nevertheless it was good fun. Also I was sat next to these two tasty Australian Girls; they thought I was from Newcastle - JOKERS. They were fit so I suppose I can let them off. So that was it my day's activities were up and it was now going on 5pm, a long day and I was exhausted.

After a 10 minute drive to Hamner Springs I booked myself into my first hostel, Kakapo Lodge. $23 for a 4 bed share, I was hoping I would meet some beautiful girls but all I did meet was five Swedish boys in the TV lounge. All booked in for the night I saw about getting myself some evening grub, I settled for a nearby bar called Montheith's. I ordered spicy wedge's and a Super-Jug of lager, the bar-man advised me that a super-jug would be bad for me and was around four and a half pints, he obviously doesn't know me - it was very good for me!

The wedges were huge and came with bacon and cheese topping and a side of sweet chilli sauce, I can tell you I really struggled to eat them and they were just a bar stack! I finished my Super-jug and made my way up to the bar, arrogantly I said 'this jug's only 4 pints' it made me chuckle inside, barman was probably like, 'what a twat.'

So action packed day = tired + addition of Super Jug = Bed-time, slightly untrue to word I went to the TV lounge and watch some random Xmas movie with the guy from flubber in it, which I only caught the end of. I then managed about 20 minutes of the matrix and then decided it actually was time for beddybies. I was in a bedroom designed to sleep four but I was the only person in there, pretty lonely but it was a Wednesday in a random ass town. The room was clean and the bed was comfy, sorted!

Next day my obscured body clock got me up at 6am, although I was in bed for around 9 due to tiredness and general boredom in the hostel.I got washed and dressed, drove around in search of food and opted for the local bakery, which seemed to be the only thing open at such an early time. I got three croissants at $5.70 and chomped them bad-boy's down my gut. I then took a few photos of the surrounding scenery and took a drive up to the waterfall trail which I had spotted on the little travel map I had picked up.

The trail was actually a walking trail, which I didn't do I just drove up to the car park and then drove back, I really couldn't be bothered, although I drove around slowly and it passed the time. I then drove back up to the thermal pools and waited for a further hour and a half. 10am came and I entered the thermal pools, don't worry john I got you a selection of pictures of the gas chamber, I'll get them emailed to you from an internet cafe in the near future, got to be careful with the upload allowance at my Dad's. Hopefully there what you wanted I got a fair few for you to choose one and an additional image of what the lady told me was a bore, some piping structure and a pressure gauge or thermostat.

The pools themselves were lovely, I only stayed for an hour but I definitely felt revitalised with earthy minerals upon my exit. I did partially leave because I was cut-short at times with the short's I was wearing, they had a tendency to allow drifting and were in need of constant hold down maintenance, that's what you get for borrowing your Dad'shorts!

Well that's me done and caught up for the last two days activities and conundrums, I hope you get as much enjoyment out of reading this as I did doing these things! Re-writing the first bit was not fun but essential to my blogs future career! Anyway that's all for now you cheeky mongrels.

Keep Reading & Stay tuned!

Ps: the pictures will be up sometime soon when I can get down to an internet cafe, also make sure you check out previous photo albums and tell me what you think!

Cheers!

James