On arrival to Queenstown, we checked into Nomads Hostel, our home for the next six nights. Soon after arriving, we bumped into one of Dave's uni mates, Ben Laycock and together our attentions soon turned to the evening's entertainment. Following a quick explore of the town, we found an off-license where we were able to stock up on the cheapest drink of the region, three litre boxes of Vodkat Juice Mix, before heading back to the hostel for a few drinking games. 'Cowboys' was the pinnacle of these games, culminating in fits of laughter, questionable singing and Nick's almost inaudibly deep shouts of 'hoe down' (one of the many cowboy cries that were needed to succeed in the game). After the antics in the hostel, we stumbled out to find a suitable watering hole, to quench our seemingly endless thirst. Three establishments in particular which served our needs were Altitude, Buffalo and World Bars, the latter of which is famous for its alcoholic teapots. These three venues would be visited regularly throughout our time in Queenstown and it was Altitude and World Bars that hosted us for our first night.

Somewhere in the depths of the previous evening, we had agreed on a fry-up for the morning. As Dave and James caught up on some much needed beauty sleep, pretty boys Ant, Will and Ben went off to buy the ingredients. The result of their trip was a fry up of mammoth proportions, that even Dave and James struggled to finish, but did. After our feast, we decided to participate in one of Queenstown's more affordable activities, luging. This involves speeding down a prefabricated track on what was essentially a plastic go cart with the engine missing. En route, James popped into the AJ Hackett shop, where, despite his efforts the previous day at Kawara Bridge, finally managed to swap his Nevis Arc to join Ant in doing a Nevis Bungy the following day.

Having added two more to our wolf pack, Ant, Dave, James, Will, Ben, Laycock and his travelling mate James headed up the Queenstown cable car to the top of the luging track. At the top, we were treated to a great view of Lake Wakatipu, hemmed in by the Remarkables mountain range. With the track no more than three carts wide, a seven person race was always going to be interesting and with potentially fatal consequences. After just one race, a clear pattern began to emerge, with Ben leading the field and Ant, James 2, Laycock and Will fighting for the minor medals. Despite their significant weight advantage over many of the other competitors, Dave and James’ heavy steering hindered them as they battled to avoid the wooden spoon. As we worked our way through our six allotted races, the competition became fierce as everyone attempted to win their own personal battles. This was highlighted when Dave, in his desperation to avoid last place having already lost ground at the back of the field after just five metres and with the leader a mere dot on the horizon, decided that braking was no longer a viable option. With the finish line approaching and the tail of Ant´s cart sticking out around the corner, Dave saw a glimmer of hope to avoid adding another wooden spoon to his collection. With steely determination and no regard for personal safety, Dave gunned it around the impossibly tight corner, forgetting the basic laws of physics, the result of which saw Dave's cart cannon into the curb, propelling him into the air and onto a soft grassy bank where he lay at rest, utterly spent.

After our quality races, we got ready for another night out that started off with riding a Bucking Bronco in Cowboys, the only bar we visited apart from the regular trio. This was always likely to be a hit as it gave out free hats and more importantly, served one litre beers.

Following minimal sleep, we arose in time to catch out 7am bus to Milford Sound. Our drive took us through Te Anau and into the Fiordland National Park where we stopped briefly to look at another impressive reflective lake and waterfall, before heading onto the port to begin our boat tour. Shortly after boarding, we were treated to a large buffet lunch as we made our way through the magnificent Milford Sound surroundings. We cruised around for an hour or so, after which we went to a thoroughly uninspiring underwater observatory. Our return journey to shore took us past some large waterfalls providing us with some more great photos. Despite enjoying our trip, we left slightly disappointed as the weather had remained overcast all day. Upon our late return to Nomads, we made a valiant attempt to get an early night which proved futile as we were dragged out by the remainder of our Kiwi bus.

As the sun began its ascent on 12th April, James and Ant awoke in the knowledge that they would soon be throwing themselves off the third highest bungy station in the world later that day. En route, to the Nevis Bungy, the atmosphere in the minibus was notably subdued. Having signed up for this bungy based on only videos and photos, the scale of the task facing them only began to sink in as they approached the sizeable Nevis River Valley. With weight taken and harnesses donned, Ant and James made their way via cable car across the valley to the bungy platform. For James, there was no time to contemplate his immediate future as his name was the first to be called. A short 30 second briefing was all that stood in his way of the impending freefall. Briefing complete in a blur, James waddled towards the edge of the platform where his exclamation of "this is ridiculous", aptly summed up his situation. As the bungy master started his countdown, James began bobbing on his toes in anticipation of springing high into the air before his large descent. What followed was a malfunction of James' nervous system, whereby the signal from his brain for his body to jump, somehow translated into a belly flop motion with no self propulsion in sight. Luckily, there was enough gravity present to do the work for him as he plunged the 135 metres down including eight seconds of freefall, slowed only by his flailing arms as his lame attempt to fly miraculously failed. Ant then had to wait an agonising 10 minutes before his name was called. After the same short briefing, he too waddled to the edge and on the jump masters call of "3, 2, 1, see ya", made the same jump but with a textbook swallow dive. James and Ant both agreed that bungy was one of the most reckless, stupid and scary things they had done. Despite this though, the adrenaline rush was incredible and something not to be forgotten.

Following their near death experience, Ant and James returned to meet Dave in the tranquil surroundings of the hostel internet café. Dave and Ant then decided to go to the world famous Fergburger restaurant for a light snack. Whilst you might have noticed that food has been a recurring theme throughout these blogs, Fergburger deserves a special mention. With a choice of over 20 burgers with names ranging from a Cockadoodle Oink to a Bun Laden, with fillings ranging from deer to falafel, these monstrous meals were simply the best burgers we have ever had. The restaurant would also play host to Dave´s finest hour just two days later.

After yet another night out, the following day ended up being another late start. Since we had had a full on previous few days, it was decided we would chill out for the afternoon. James didn’t feel that he was getting value for money from Nomads, so decided to utilise his bed for the maximum amount of time. Meanwhile Ant and Dave decided to make the most of the good weather and headed out to play the golf substitute of the holiday, Frisbee golf. This game consists of throwing a plastic Frisbee across park and woodland to reach each of the 18 holes (metal cages) anywhere from 50 to 150 yards away in either a par of 3 or 4. As easy as it may sound, Frisbee golf requires good technique and equipment, neither of which we had at our disposal. The game as a contest was over soon after it began as Ant inexplicably threw a 10 on the par 3 4th, as both the trees and the nearby lake came into play.

With the evening drawing in, Ant and Dave met James at the hostel and went in search of a cheap and cheerful bite to eat for dinner, before another planned night off. Whilst walking down one of the main streets, we were offered a small taster outside Winnies’s gourmet pizza parlour. After regrettably accepting the sample, we collectively agreed defeat and headed inside despite the extortionate prices. After the pointless discussion of whether to get a medium or a large pizza, Ant and Dave chose their pizzas before James shocked the whole restaurant by declining food. Five nights out in a Queenstown had clearly taken its toll. James was ill. With 2 full stomachs and one turning stomach, our planned night out came to pass at last.

James and Dave took the chance of a hangoverless morning to continue sleeping, whilst Ant took the chance to do one last adrenaline filled activity in Queenstown, the Shotover Jet. Ant took the short journey on the shuttle bus to the launch site of the jet at the heart of the Shotover Canyon. The jet, powered by two V6 turbo engines, is designed to operate in just 10cm of water. Upon boarding, Ant somehow managed to pick one of the few seats that was wet and was given a short briefing. Soon after, the driver started the engines up and roared away from the jetty. The ride took us through the spectacular and narrow Shotover Canyon at speeds of up to 80kph, just inches away from the protruding rocks and canyon walls. Once in relatively open waters the driver also took the opportunity to showboat and treat us to several 360 degree spins. Despite the ride only lasting 30 minutes, it was great fun and a good way to round off the stay in Queenstown.

Ant then met up with Dave and James in the hostel and we all got ready for our final night in Queenstown. After yet another night of drunken debauchery and having lost James for the night as he pursued Flossy, Dave and Ant took the opportunity for one final Fergburger. This was the evening that Dave the boy became Dave the man. When approaching the infamous establishment, Dave had every intention of purchasing another basic Fergburger and looked set to have a comfortable and quiet end to the night. However, he did not count on Ant playing devil’s advocate and proposing a food eating challenge of epic proportions. With stomach still full of New Zealand´s finest lager, this was to be one of Dave´s biggest tests. What stood in his was a burger known as “The Big Al”. This burger consisted of; “a double serving of prime New Zealand beef (half lb), lashings of bacon, a whole lotta cheese, 2 eggs, beetroot, lettuce, tomato , red onion, relish and a big wad of aioli”. To make the challenge more manageable, Dave opted to remove the beetroot. When it was finally ready for collection, Dave strolled confidently to the counter and was handed the goods. He was immediately taken aback by the weight of the thing, comparable to that of a small child. Over the next 20 minutes, Dave triumphantly completed his task with only a few groans and left the Fergburger arena victorious, leaving behind only a small pool of grease.

The following day was a rare early start to get the bus to Christchurch, which was again admirably handled given the beating our bodies had taken from the adrenaline fuelled activities and alcohol over the previous few days. We left Queenstown with fond memories of a town in a great setting, with loads to do and with many formed friendships. In short, Queenstown was sweet as!

Ant, Dave and James