Bright and early Monday morning we left franz josef heading towards wanaka. The first stop was at lake matheson, with the sun just rising the views were amazing. We decided to do the longer walk all the way around the lake. The reflection of the mountains in the lake was perfect, so we took loads of photos which looked just like postcards! Back on the bus we were on the way to Wanaka. Today we only stopped for 10 mins here and there to take photos of some amazing scenery. The green grass with animals, followed by lakes then snow covered mountains. We went over lots of rivers, all with incredibly clear water. As we travelled down it became noticeably colder and more snow appeared on the ground. The first view of wanaka lake was breathtaking, we found it so unusual to have such a huge lake with snow covered mountains in the background. The town itself was quaint and really cute to wonder around. After a wonder we decided to go to the cinema tonight to watch The Internship staring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. They take part in an internship at google - it was a really funny film and the cinema we watched it in was an old original cinema which was really cute, we had a sofa each!! I found it hard to get to sleep that night knowing that the next day I had a bungee to do!! We were up a bit later this morning as we didn't need to leave until 9am. First stop was at puzzle world which was only 20mins away, we sat in the cafe and made the most of the free games they had for us to play - including an impossible matching sheep game! An hour or so later we were back on the bus heading for the kwararau bridge! The drive through the valley was stunning, really high mountains above us with clear blue water below. When we arrived at the bridge we saw the bungy for the first time. We watched a quick promo video then paid, weighed in and we were ready to jump!! We all went up to the bungy point together- tom, harry, fiona and myself. Harry was strapped in first and after clinging onto the side rail he gave a quick wave then dove off the end. Next up was me, all I really remember is waddling up to the edge, giving the bus a wave then next minute I was off the edge screaming flying through the air! It was an amazing feeling. The guys in a boat at the base pulled me in and unstrapped me. We waited for tom and fiona to jump then all went up to see the group, our photos and videos! We quickly chose which we wanted then were back on the bus and with adrenaline rushing through us we couldn't wait to get to Queenstown. We stopped quickly when we got there, hopped off to take a group photo then Bods gave us a tour of the town and dropped us at our final destination - nomads hostel. After check in harry and I went on a walk around town trying to work out where everything was and find a deal for ski kit hire. We were back at the hostel in time for our first free dinner. That night we went for a drink at a really cute Irish pub, then met our bus in the altitude bar. After a few hours there dancing and watching the lions practice game we moved onto a bar called Winnie's. The next morning Sam, nat and tom went skiing so harry and I had the free breakfast then went up to the gondola area, we walked half way up then saw the cloud was covering most of the mountains so we decided we wouldn't be able to see much so walked back down again. Today was a chill day as harry wasn't feeling very well. We walked out to the peninsula and saw the entire lake surrounded by all the mountains. I then went shopping for a bit but again made sure I was back in time for the free dinner! The plan for the evening was to watch a live musician in red rock bar then watch the state of origin rugby league game and have an early night ready for skydiving in the morning. We grabbed breakfast then went to the skydive shop on the main road to then get the bus to the skydive area. When we got there we unfortunately found out that our skydive had been cancelled due to bad weather, we were disappointed but rearranged for the next day at 2pm. As we now had nothing to do we went back to the hostel with alex and dave, met up with tom, nat, sam, holly and nick, then we all went to play mini golf. It wasn't just any mini golf, it was an amazingly themed indoor 18 hole mini golf course. Each hole had a really funny twist which you had to negotiate in order to get the ball in the hole! We went round in two groups - girls and boys. We had such a laugh and were pretty much going round as one group by the end! My favourite hole was where you had to putt the ball into a gondola terminal then it would go on its own 'chair' up the hill, roll down a ski slalom course and pop out one of three places! Each hole was really fun and you could never guess where it would come out. In the last hole when you putt the ball in the hole it took your ball, then gave you a lollipop! After the scores were announced - holly winning the girls and harry winning the boys - we all went for a late lunch together to a bar/ pub called Searl Lane, $10 lunch deal which was good value as the food was tasty. That night we had a few drinks in the room then met the rest of bus at boiler bar for all of us to pick up our free drinks. That evening consisted of us going to lots of bars in Queenstown and having a fab time! We had such a good night that Friday we were feeling quite fragile. Harry and I ate some food then we were ready and raring for our skydive at 2pm. We had to watch a DVD then get a minibus out of town to the dive site. When we got there we watched a few people land then it
was our turn! we were both pretty nervous, i was more nervous about getting in the plane than jumping out of it!! We put our sexy boiler suits on then were filmed in front of the plane answering questions for the DVD we were buying. I met my skydive expert next and he sorted me out with a harness, hat, gloves and goggles. Before we knew it we were getting on the plane! I was in first and out last. When we were sitting down like crocodiles we were tightly strapped to our experts! The camera guy filming the entire thing! The views from the plane were amazing, over snow covered mountains we climbed up to 15,000 feet! When the time came we put our hats, gloves and goggles on then slid to the edge. The experts were sitting on the edge of the plane meaning we were literally dangling out of the plane, he leant back and we jumped, first in the banana position free falling then into a starfish! I screamed quite a bit and found it difficult to breath to start with. Once he pulled the parachute, my ears went funny, then everything was peaceful. The noise from falling quickly was no more and we were now floating around admiring the view with a few twists and twirls thrown in there! It was stunning and felt completely surreal. We both had smooth landings and high dived our experts before finding each other! Then as we tried to talk about it we realised neither of us could hear very well!! We got changed, took more photos then paid for our DVDs. That evening we watched the skydives (which are hilarious videos), then went back to sort skis and kit out, dropped them in the hostel ready for the next day. Then we got holly, nick and tom for us to all head to the ferg bakery, where we bought some yummy puddings. I had an amazing chocolate and raspberry cake, which they even heated up for me! We were up early saturday to make sandwiches for a speedy lunch lunch on the slopes. We had to get the bus outside the hostel to a ski area called Cardrona. The day was perfect skiing consitions with beautiful blue skies all day and perfect powdery snow. We skied hard all day, covering the entire mountain and only stopping for 30 min lunch 15 min hot choc break. Just before the mountain closed at 4pm we did the last but one run with kerry and anna, then we popped up again and had a speedy run down to get the bus back. We got free monster energy drink on the bus which was needed to keep us awake! When we got back to Queenstown we had a productive evening, booking dunedin, moving rooms in the hostel, dropping ski kit of then our FIRST ferg burger experience!! The ferg burgers were amazing, bigger than any we'd had before. I chose one called Sweet Bambu, which was venison with a sweet plum sauce. It was amazing and filled me up for the whole night. Harry chose one called Mr Big Stuff, one of the bigger burgers with 1/2 pound of meat inside!! That evening we just chilled as both of us were coming down with a cold and we were going to dunedin the next afternoon.