Hi all,

Due to the fact that we got caught in the campvan the morning before and threatened with a $400 fine, we thought it wise to head out of town to try and find a suitable road side sleeping place. As the road out of Queenstown carves its way through a mountain range it was proving to be a little harder than first thought. Twenty minutes out though we visited the home of bungy jumping - AJ Hacketts Karawau Bridge jump. This was the first commercial bungy jump ever...! There is viewing platform that juts out of the beautiful canyon and we watched the last thirty minutes of people jumping off the bridge with a rubber cord attached to their ankles. It was so high and you could see the fear in the jumpers eyes before they leaped. But they all seemed to be buzzing when they returned. It was such a beautiful setting and it had set a seed, I was going to return in the morning to join in on the fun.

We continued out of town for another thirty minutes and still no suitable place to pull over and sleep. We ended up in the middle of nowhere and it was well scary, I mean scary. After thawing out in the morning we made our way back to Karawau Bridge to view a few more jumps. After ten minutes I told Becki I was going to the toilet and on the way back I paid to make the leap of faith. On the scales I went (68kg if you were wondering) on onto the bridge to join the queue. Boy, 43 meters is a long way down. It wasn't long before I was sitting on the ledge having my ankles strapped together with a towel in between them for padding. You then stand up and have your legs tied together and you have to shuffle towards the edge of the platform like a penguin and that is pretty scary. The bloke gives you a couple of instructions, you smile to the cameras and he asks you to give the crowd a little wave (lovely touch) and then he starts the count down from 5.

5, 4

I thought sod this and off head first I went....! There is a three second free fall and then you start bouncing on a large elasticated bungy cord. It is over in a flash but an enjoyable flash I must admit. Once you stop bouncing around, a little rubber dingy comes paddling out and collects you - lovely.

There were two things that I was worried about, one was I didn't want to scream like a girl and the other was, I wanted to do a proper head first swan dive. Check out the video for yourselves. Well, when I upload the correct one that is......ooops.

I really enjoyed my bungy jump. However, bungy is all about the fear of being on that ledge and the inner belief to fling yourself off head first and not about the actual experience of falling and bouncing on a bungy cord. I did have a little feeling of disappointment when it was all done and over, I would recommend a skydive over a bungy any day. But saying that, to stand on that ledge petrified was fun, good fun......!

The next adventure adrenaline activity was jetboating in the second wealthiest gold canyon ever. Apparently they mined/extracted fifty million quids worth of gold from it - nice. The jetboats were very impressive with two v6 jet engines strapped to the back, travelling at 80km's an hour and worth one hundred thoudsand pounds each. You get given water proofs and in you jump with about 20 other people and off you fly. Zooming through the three meter wide canyon was excellent fun. The driver seemed to have a death wish and I loved that. At top speed, he would steer towards all the rocks that were in the river and then at the last minute miss them by iches and I mean inches. He seemed to be able to contol this thing with the the upmost amount of skill and acuracy, it was superb. Then came the party tricks with 360 degee spins at top speed. He was able to turn this machine on a six spence....! Well worth getting wet for and the heated hand rail was top draw.

That evening we decided that as we had spend so much money with AJ Hackett that we were going to sleep in their carpark which was twenty minutes out of town.

The next day was Becki's turn to do a bungy and this was the big one - the Nevis. Nevis is now the third biggest bungy jump in the world at an impressive 134 metres high. Becki did some promotional work with AJ Hackett in Cairns and had completed two bungy jumps there but this was a different ball game and she was nevous. Unfortunately you aren't allowed to watch the Nevis jumpers so I stayed in town and went shopping. It is so cold and with only one fleece and no coat in my wardrobe it was time to invest in some equipment and by christ I got a bargain. I got a 180 pound light weight Gore-Tex waterproof, breathable and wind proof jacket for 90 pounds. A pair of walking boots with 25% off and a quality pair of fast drying polypropylene thermal gloves for 3 quids. Was well pleased and I was now properly prepared for the weather.

Becki returned and was looking a little white. Apparently she had backed out of the jump on the first attempt but on the second go she fell like a stone. This bad boy has an eight second free fall and you have to see it to beleive it. You have to get a cable car out to the platform and then jump - it is a monster. She seemed pretty chuffed that she had done it but said never again...! It's now a few days on now and it's eating away at me - I want to feel the fear, but it's too expensive! If anyone fancies sponsoring me.....you've got my email address!

After four days in Queenstown it was time to move on and go to Milford Sound National Park for a nosey about, a walk and to dodge the rain as there are 300 inches of rain there a year. But not before a traditional fish and chip supper with mushy peas or as the Kiwi's say - fish and chup's.

Bye for now

Miffy x x x