Wow what an action packed week this was......

Nomads Queenstown...
The week started on a high as Amy, Vicky, Andy, Mike and I checked into the brand new Nomads Hostel in Queenstown...the hostel wasn't quite ready so they 'had' to upgrade us from the dorm room to private twin rooms with en-suite, plasma tv and a balcony with mountain views!!! Then the receptionist messed up and charged us $20 a night instead of $29 so we got all that for 8pounds each a night!!! Amy and I shared. We explored the hostel like excited school kids as we bounced off our new bed, fresh new duvet and linen, the kitchen...everything brand new, not old and scanky...plasma TV room, pool tables, chandliers hanging in the chill out area, sauna…amazing location. Not bad for a hostel ey!! Anyway everyone had raved about Queenstown from the moment we got to NZ so I was really hoping it was going to live up to its expectations…

Canyon Swing....
So instead of the doing the bungy I decided to spend my money on the scary canyon swing, people constantly debate on which is better out of this and the Nevis Bungy but I heard you got more out of this so decided to do the swing. Basically it involved me throwing myself off a cliff into the narrow valley. This was by far the scariest thing I have ever done. Whereas with the skydives I was full of excitement and just smiling the whole way, this jump made me want to sh*t my pants! Unlike the bungy, you can choose from over 10 different jump styles for the swing.Admittedly I did choose the ‘Chair of Death’ for my first jump. Basically I was buckled into a plastic chair and had to tilt off the edge and rock myself backwards off the cliff at 110m high….i was warned the guys worked at the swing are really good at scaring you so I was determined to ignore their taunts and get on with it, but the minute I got to the hot seat and they started messing around, I lost it. They are good at distracting you, then I thought I wasn’t harnessed in properly and they don’t reassure you but instead kept trying to throw me off the edge before I was ready. Pure fear. You should see my video for it, it captures my embarrassing sacredness before my jump. Then I decided to get on with it so rocked myself back…wow…it was amazing feeling. Freefalling down the cliffs before it turns into a low swing back and forth across the valley. It then takes painfully long for them to pull you back up to the top…then just as I thought I was safe, they jolted me down a bit and I let out another big scream. But it was so good really I decided to do a second jump, this time, one of the scariest rated jumps, the Pin Drop! Basically your hands are tied behind your back and you have to stand to the side and jump yourself off sideways. I wasn’t as scared jumping off this time but the actual jump feeling was more intense on this. “Sweet as bro’”

Ferburger
Well of course we all had to try out the legendary ‘Fergburger’ whilst in Queenstown…and it was amazing. Massive fresh burgers with different toppings, it was so good. But bad thing was it was open til late so everyone always wanted to go after a night out!

Teapots, World Bar and Altitude!
The BASE bar Altitude is where we mainly started off, good drink deals and stuff. Also Lauren and Meghan had to stay at the BASE rather than at Nomads with us because they had already prepaid. Next on to World bar which has amazing music, dance stages and most importantly, Teapots!! (Literally a teapot filled with your choice of cocktail). Funny times!!! Great nights out, lots of dancing and fun. Everyone got reunited too during the week as Puppy, Jess and Jo were still there when we arrived, and Drew, Seth, Laura etc were all there. Then Tom, Tom and Ethan arrived. Party times.

Milford Sound
Of course whilst in the south island you had to visit Milford Sound, which is rated as the no.1 Tourist visit point for NZ. I tried to go one day but there had been a massive avalanche on the route so it got cancelled…we were all gutted. Luckily I had one more day to try and the weather turned out perfect. It was 4-5hours away so an early stop but we visited and walked in some amazingly beautiful places on the way! Never seen so much snow either, I loved it. Milford Sound itself was great, 2 hour boat cruise across the sound and the weather was beautiful. Though apparently it can be seen as more stunning when you go when its raining or just rained as instead of 25 waterfalls there are 100s flowing down the mountains. Great day though.

So that was it, my time in Queenstown came to an end, and that meant only a few days left in the beautiful NZ! Next and final stop was Christchurch…

The drive to Christchurch was an all-dayer but again, with Kiwi experience we did frequent stops and walks at this beautiful places. Lake Tekapo was just the most stunning place we went too, we had clear blue skies, the sun was shining, the water was a rich blue/turquoise colour and snow capped mountains surrounded us. Stunning.

Christchurch was nice, pretty, quiet compared to Queenstown but an English style city, I walked the Botanical Gardens, went to the great museum there and explored the Cathedral. I said my final goodbyes to who was left of our group and headed off to start my next adventure…Australia!!!