Monday, November 28, 2011

I was Wrong?!?!
Queenstown-- I was wrong??!!
I know, I was just as shocked as you are right now. It's never happened before and I don't plan on making a habit of it, but I was wrong! Before arriving in Queenstown, I heard repeatedly how much I would love it. I have to admit, that I was very skeptical and actually expected to dislike the city. Boy am I glad I was wrong!!! This place is amazing!!!!
On our way to Queeny-town, we stopped at Fox Glacier. Stray doesn't officially go there but Trouble was nice and stopped for us which I'm happy about since it's the 2nd of the 3 rainforest glaciers in the world and it would have been a shame to be so close to it and not see it. We got some photo ops (see the "special" photo of me jumping near it), then stopped for some more at Lake Matheson, appropriately named Mirror lakes for the impressive reflections in the water and views of Mt. Cook in the distance. Other stops before arriving in Q-town were the Haast mountains, Makarora and Wanaka lakes. Just driving through Wanaka, my friends and I got the feeling we would have loved this place and were a bit disappointed not to have time to explore it more.
Before reaching town, we stopped for views of the city and then to the birthplace of bungy at Kawarau bridge, AJ Hackett. I NEVER thought I would do bungy. Had absolutely no interest in it…until I arrived here and realized how cool it would be to do it with the inventors of the sport! So, a few days later I did just that! See photos and video on FB. I'm quite proud of myself actually. I'm not particularly fond of heights and was pretty much set on having a panic attack on the ledge and talking myself out of it. So much so that the night before the jump my friends and I watched youtube videos of people wimping out of bungy and I secretly took note of how to do so with any ounce of dignity possible.
Originally, I had planned to go to Milford Sound on Saturday and bungy on Friday but the wind conditions were too strong so all jumps were canceled Friday. Took the risk and canceled Milford Sound Sat. and jumped then. I was privately hoping the wind would be strong again Sat. but I was not so lucky. Instead, it was a perfect, sunny day. We were bused about 45 minutes away to the mountains. As our bus kept creeping higher and higher, I glanced at the peaks and told myself, "I could jump off that" and "That one doesn't look too bad". (Yeah, it didn't really work for me either but I gave it a shot anyway).
The Hackett gang is smart and doesn't give you much time to think. I can tell you that wen planning to throw yourself, intentionally, from a very high cliff (440 ft. to be exact), thinking is your worst enemy. You just have to do it! Also, eat a lot and stop exercising the weeks beforehand so you put on weight and can go first. Being the lightest of the group, I had to go last, which meant more time to think about it---ahh!!! I had just calmed myself down enough to feel like I might be okay doing this when the girl ahead of me panicked and chickened out. Just what I did not need to witness! Nonetheless, I did it! Might not have been the most graceful or confident of jumps, but I did it and that's all that matters!
Besides being the adventure capital of the world, Queenstown has lots to offer. Great nightlife, small town that's walkable (even for Americans like me who hate to walk), free movie star spotting (Orlando Bloom was there), and food deals everywhere. My friends and I decided that Queenstown is super smart because it's so cheap—2 for 1 cookies at the cookie bar, $4 pizzas between 5-7, $15 lunch specials, key drinks (show your room key and get 2 for 1 drinks) etc. that you end up spending lots because you can afford to…oh the trickery! Although my wallet did not appreciate it, my taste buds enjoyed all the splurging on fish and chips, ice cream, fudge and cookie samples, and gourmet pizza—yum! To balance it out, we had lots of free meals at the hostel that had free breakfast and dinner every night. Breakfast left a lot to be desired (just bread with pb, jam, butter) but dinner was full on cooked from scratch each night. Most nights we were even able to get seconds and keep it for lunch the next day. We be smart!
Said hostel, Nomads, was by the far the best hostel anyone had been it. It was set up more like a hotel and actually treated us as paying guests and not dirty backpackers. Staff was nice and friendly, we got a free upgrade, had a private bathroom in the room, etc. I loved it!
Other highlights included hiking the gondola mountain and catching a "free" ride in the gondola back down, running around the lake alongside the spectacular mountainside, reuniting with all our old bus friends, witnessing Helen's rage at inadimate objects, being in a street-side magic show and doing our own card tricks in the lounge, watching Chad try to untwist his arms, ice cream by the lakeside, and participating in a bar contest to win a free bungy canyon swing. Didn't win but had fun anyway! Thanks for the memories, Queenstown—Thanks for being right everyone!