11/8/9 Wanaka to Queenstown

We left Wanaka for Queenstown at 8.30am in the pouring rain and drove a short distance to Puzzling World which is a puzzles park. It has the worlds first 3D maze with many bridges which really make you lost. We spent ages in there running around trying to get to the towers in each corner and got soaked in the rain but it was a bit of a laugh. Inside there were lots of illusions and a few rooms with illusins and mind tricks. The first had huge hollow casts of famous faces which appeared to turn their heads and follow you around the room. They appeared to be 3D but weren't....very weird. There was a room playing with perspective which looked normal from outside but was tiny when you walked in. The next room was on a slope but when you walked in everything was placed at an angle so it looked straight. Walking round made your head spin and feel really weird. There was some water looking like it flowed uphill and a pool table with a ball appearing to roll up it....really clever. We took a photo of Phil holding up a building leaning over at 56 degrees and got back on the coach to carry on to queenstown. We drove along Lake Dunstan and stopped at a road bridge some of the madder passengers had decided to jump off into the freezing water below. They got lots of beeps from passing cars as they got undressed and jumped the 10 meters into the water below especially as the weather was cold and damp too. We stopped again closer to Queenstown at Kawarau gorge and the famous AJ Hackett bridge bungy. It is the first commercial bungy in the world and we stopped to watch a DVD about bungy history and saw a few jumpers. The bridge is the shortest jump and Phil booked himself to do the highest one called Nevis which is 134m drop over a 400m gorge!!! We were both booked to do the highest swing in the world at the same site and we were doing that after Phil has plunged 134m the next day!!!! we pulled into Queenstown, the adventure and adrenaline capital of the world and had a group photo on the shore of Lake Wakatipu on which Queenstown lies. We walked 5 minutes to our hostel, a quiet, smaller one Cam had advised and it was lovely. We popped into town to find the bungy pick up point and had a Fergburger which are Queenstowns famous burgers from the Fergburger shop. Phil had a sweet bambi burger (ahhhh!) and Liz had a bombay burger and they were fab. We booked ourselves a days skiing and a trip up the Queenstown gondola for a few days time as we are due to go on the bottom bus for a three day trip to the south of the South Island. Then we attempted to check our finances as we often do and Liz managed to lock herself out of her internet account...idiot. We then called home to try and get it sorted and eventually got the account unlocked thank goodness. We were having last drinks with everyone that night so we got changed and went to meet up in the bar where we had a few free shots with Cam an some happy hour drinks. Our next stop was a bar called World Bar which had a Centurian night when at 11pm if you said the phrase 'you must be Jamaican cause Jamaican me crazy" you could get free drinks until 100 had gone. We managed to blag a few rounds out of it then had a few cocktails which were bizarrely served in teapots!!! We had a quick drinks in the bar near our hostel and found a late food place for Phil and lost a few dollars in the casino on the way. We then collapsed into bed at about 4am !!!!

12/8/9 Queenstown We had a much needed lie in until 11am and listened to the pounding rain outside. It had rained all night and the outside of our hostel was flooded . We didn't fancy doing our adrenaline activities in the foul weather but it just wasn't stopping. We went to the pick up point and checked in. We were weighed and our hands stamped with the activities we were doing. In the check in point there are videos of people doing the various jumps and it makes everyone more nervous. We were feeling fine though and quite excited.
Liz was going to watch Phils jump and take some piccies then we would go and do the swing. There was a 45 minute drive to the gorge where the jumps were and we had our first glimpse of just how high the bungy was. The bungy launch station was suspended over a gorge 400 m up on two cables. You travel to it in a little cable car once you are all in harnesses, even the spectators. Phil had his ankle straps put on and then had the wait to deal with. He had a few moments of nerves but he was pretty cool compared to most of the others waiting with him. When it was Phils turn he edged forwards and without hesitation just launched himself down. The launch pad had a glass bottom so you could see him dangling at the bottom which was such a long way down...then he was winched back to the top and was full of adrenaline and grinning !!! Then it was Lizzies turn for some action. We walked along a suspension bridge and were harnessed to the swing ready to be suspended above the gorge. We went upside down and facing forward which is the scariest and best way to do it. After a few seconds suspended you are dropped and fall down 60 m before falling into the swing of 300m which just feels like one long fall.Phil somehow managed to flip the right way up during our tandem swing but it was great fun and Phil did another one. We all returned to Queenstown adrenalined out and pretty tired. We had a cheap tea in the backpacker bar before going to our hostel lounge to write our diary. We got chatting to a couple of guys from USA for a while then went to bed.