March 29 - April 1st

We left Te Anau slightly later than planned (as we always do) and made the 170km trip to Queenstown. Once again this road was another rival for the Great Ocean Road, especially when we were driving along the lake winding around the mountains with our mouths wide open.

After a quick stop at Jucy to get some money they owed us we drove into town and found our holiday park for the next few nights - once again another that offers Jucy discounts.

Queenstown is the adventure capital of New Zealand and quite possibly the adventure capital of the world. In the winter it is famous for its skifields, but year round has crazy activities such as various bungy jumps, gigantic swings, mountain biking, whitewater rafting etc. Asides from this it also has a reputation for good wine so I would be sure to try out some of this. After we parked up we just had a wander around town and instantly fell in love with the place. I was worried that it may be a tacky resort built up for drunken backpackers but this was far from the truth. There is a really nice park area by the lake, boutique shops and decent bars. Having looked around and thought about what we'd like to do whilst in town we had a quiet evening watching Desperate Housewives and drinking wine.

The next morning and our first full day in Queenstown we woke up both with the same thoughts: 'Let's do the Nevis Arc' today. Off we went to the bungy shop to part with our dollars and as I had hoped we were on a bus immediately and on our way to the arc. Getting on a bus straight away made it a bit easier as I didn't have so much time to build up the fear in my head. On the way out there they were blowing up the rocks from the mountain so that they don't fall on the road - this delayed our journey slightly and at this point the fear started to increase in my head. It didn't help that another girl on the bus was really scared and vocalising it to everyone!

The Nevis Arc is basically the world's highest swing, 160m above the canyon floor, a 70m freefall and a 300m arc, falling at speeds of 150kph plus!

We arrived at the Nevis Canyon, which in itself was quite spectacular although I wasn't really thinking about the view at this point. After being weighed we walked out on the bridge that extends from the mountain and shakes as you cross it, at this point I was feeling ok about things but as soon as I stepped foot on the platform I began to freak out!

My hands were shaking (Sean thought I was making it up at this point), then as I looked over my legs began to wobble, breathing became difficult and I think even a tear or two may have been shed. Sean said he has never seen me so scared before and I even suprised myself at how scared I was. It didn't help that another couple went before us so we had to wait a few minutes. The guy that worked there was really good and encouraging about it (even though I'd heard stories about how they try to scare you more) and Sean was encouraging too apart from at one point where he said I didn't have to do it if I really didn't want to. I knew personally that I had to do it, as I'd been looking forward to it for months, I'd paid money for it, and wanted to overcome my fears. It was strange that I felt like that as I know it's safe, my fear is more about the freefall feeling.

Somehow I still found myself walking to be harnessed up and attached to the swing. Within seconds we were hanging off the ledge above the canyon and without even a countdown the button was pressed and we were hurtling towards the ground. Suddenly my fear had gone and both Sean and I were loving it, the freefall was over in a matter of seconds, I didn't even have time to think about it. Once the crazy part was out of the way we were left hanging in the canyon admiring the views whilst we were winced back up! Afterwards it was crazy to think how scared I was, but the truth is that watching it is actually much worse than doing it! If you don't believe me then try it yourself!

We got back to town and relaxed for a couple of hours before hitting Fergburger - an institution in itself! Fergburger has been serving Queenstown since 2001, originally in a back alley for late night drinkers. It now has a spot on the main street and turns over approx $8 million a year. It's difficult to describe how amazing the burgers are but once you see the pictures of Sean you may understand. They are absolutely huge and more than a meal on their own all for the price of £4-£8. You leave feeling sick but wanting more and more of them! That evening we also did a mini bar crawl, namely the World Bar where you drink from a teapot and a microbrewery 'Dux-De-Lux' where we got to drink cheap alcohol whilst sitting by the fire! Yes we are getting old!

For our second full day in Queenstown, I (Sean) had decided that I couldn't leave the place without partaking in the extreme sport that started here, bungy! There are a couple of options in Queenstown - the Nevis Bungy, next to the Nevis Arc is the tallest, the Kawarau Bridge is the oldest and original but I opted for the Ledge. The jump is suspended over a ledge at the top of a mountain 400m above Queenstown so it makes for some incredible views, it's also a freestyle bungy unlike the other two which means that you are suspended around your body leaving your arms and legs free so you can take a running jump.

We made our way to the Bungy office in the centre of town and got lucky when they had accidently advertised a deal offering the ledge bungy and 5 rides on the luge for $140 (it was meant to be the ledge swing instead, but they had to honour the deal). The bungy itself is normally $180 alone so I was more than happy with the bargain!

We made our way up to the top of the mountain in the gondolas and the views were fantastic. I tried not to think too much about the fact that I'd soon be dangling off a rope from this height. The jump itself was awesome, after taking a running jump and attempting a graceful swan dive that looked more like a flailing starfish I was in freefall staring down the mountain, an indescribable feeling that is enhanced by a moment where you fear that you may never stop falling but are then instantly whipped back up by the bungy cord. After the adrenaline had worn off we made our way to the luge track for our second luging experience of the travels. Singapore was good but Queenstown has two tracks and the advanced one is seriously good fun. FYI - me and Janine raced each other 3 times and I won twice, just in case you were wondering (Sean had an extra practice run though). After a great day up at the top of the mountain we made our way back to our favourite little bar, Dux-De-Lux for more local beers around the fire. We left Queenstown with some awesome memories and both agreed that it was one of our favourite places so far, and that Fergburger really need to expand and open up some English franchises!!