"Life begins when you reach the edge of your comfort zone!"

"I DID IT" - that's what it says on the small blue card handed to me on my unharmed return from the world's biggest bungee swing.

No sooner had we walked into the YHA in Queenstown than I had picked up 2 leaflets - the Canyon Swing and the AJ Hackett Nevis Arc.As I was standing there with the 2 leaflets, the lady behind the reception desk explained the difference between them as she had done both before.As I was umm'ing and arr'ing Liz (who had no intention of being dropped off a VERY high platform) said, "well if you're going to do one, you may as well do the biggest!"So there it was, my credit card had been swiped and I had signed for "Queenstown's Latest Thrill".It didn't help with the bloody roofer from the hostel saying that he had done one and the only thing I needed to worry about was taking a spare pair of pants!

The journey there was pretty quiet in the bus with everyone contemplating the next couple of hours of their lives.Some were to take on the 134m bungee and others (4 of us) the Nevis Arc - 160m high and a 300m bungee swing!I felt okay at this point until we turned the corner and I saw the height of the platform and the 70m suspension bridge going out to it.

I checked in and within about a minute of being on the platform (thinking I had some time to psych myself up) the guy with a name badge "Rambo" said that "Sam, number 62" was next up!Gulp - my stomach churned fairly aggressively and when the other guy harnessed me up I noticed his equally witty name badge - "Butterfingers".

As I neared the edge I had my photo taken by the cameras and by my chief spectator, Liz who was safely behind the railings.I eeked my way out and Rambo counted down "3…. 2….. 1…" and pressed a button that jolted the harness - I almost needed that spare pair of pants right then - sadly he was just joking around and I was just moving out ready for the freefall - hilarious Rambo, you should be a comedian!

Then it was time - He told me to say goodbye to Liz so I turned around and whilst I was mid way through my shaky goodbye he pressed the button that saw me plummet to the ground at an unbelievable pace!There is something so unnatural about having yourself dropped off a platform in to a valley!Having said that, it was absolutely unbelievable, the rush as I hurtled towards the ground and then swung across the valley was amazing.Once the drop had finished it was actually quite peaceful as I was being winched back up to the platform to watch other fellow "swingers" face there fears.

So pleased I did it, despite being terrified at the top, it was so worth the money and brilliant to have done it with such amazing scenery.Narly Dude!

As a reward for my adrenalin filled day and for being very brave and courageous indeed Lizzy was cooking in the kitchen and managed to score us a free steak from an elderly fellow traveller - very tasty.She then very graciously let me open up a can of whoop ass on her as I convincingly beat her at Scrabble, a rematch awaits!

This morning we woke up a bit later than usual and decided the time was right for the walk to the top of the Skyline Gondola to take on the luge (both the beginner and advanced tracks).The walk was really steep and my legs were tired and I hadn't even been running that morning like Beano had!The luge was great fun though and we both enjoyed speeding down the track with the amazing scenery of Queensland town, the lake and the mountains beneath us.

Queenstown has been brilliant - off to Wanaka tomorrow!

Sam