Queenstown

As we left Sydney to fly to Queenstown we were all very excited as most people who have travelled say New Zealand is a better version on Australia. We left early once again and after a short 3hr flight we arrived at the small airport of Queenstown. We soon booked into our BASE hostel and got settled in. We went downstairs to the hostels booking agent and got some activities sorted out, they included river surfing, bungy jumps, sky dives, canyon swings, jet boating and luging. So our wallets didn't really appreciate us that day lol.

Queenstown is known for having amazing views over the lakes and mountain regions and trust us, we weren't disappointed. It's an incredible place that has everything you would possible need, great action packed sports, amazing nightlife, brilliant shopping, nice little cafes and restaurants. It reminded us of a skiing village like Whistler. After 3 days of being in Queenstown enjoying life we tried to move to another part of New Zealand called Kaikoura, but we got told by Kiwi Experience that we had booked on too late and the next bus available would be in another 3 days, luckily we were probably stuck in the best place in NZ so we just lived the life for another 3 days until we eventually got onto the bus.

The first full day we booked onto a jet boat ride, the company collected us from our hostel and to get to the river we had to take a dangerous 4x4 road with 300 meter drops on one side, with no safety rail. It felt like we had a few close calls but the driver had done it many times so we had trust in him to get us through it safe and sound. As we arrived, two jet boats sped along the river towards us, and we have never seen a boat go so fast in such shallow water surrounded by cliffs either side. After being attacked by sandflies in there millions we jumped onto the boat and had the most exhilarating ride of our lives. The driver would do 360 degree turns while doing 50mph, and drive within inches of 20tonne boulders, amazing. We soon headed back to Queenstown for a night of drinking J

The next morning we headed back out of town to the Shotover River to do a new sport called River Surfing, it consists of you lying on a body board and riding the rapids, if you've got skills you can even surf the waves in the river. It was a rough ride down and you get battered around a lot but its great fun. Due to us all being hungover and dehydrated we all got severe cramps lol, nightmare! We all wore big wetsuits to keep us warm as the water was close to freezing point, they worked a treat and didn't even feel the cold J After we finished we went back to town and brought a legendary Fergburger, which is a small burger shop that has worldwide status as having the best burgers in the world. And trust us they were amazing! That night we went down to our bar underneath our hostel and Ross Smith and Brads won a 2 for 1 skydive and Ross Smith won a free paragliding session for waxing his chest. Nutter.

The next day we had a massive lie in as we had nothing really on the agenda for the day, once we sorted our lives out we headed up the gondola for beautiful views over the mountain range. We also did 4 races on the luging course, in which Ross Matthews spanked the other two and won all 4 races. He thinks he's going to be the next Lewis Hamilton J lol. After getting back from luging we played the most awesome round of mini golf (pictures are on Facebook) in which Brads took the Queenstown Cup home after being 5 shots ahead. That evening we had a relaxing night watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The following day, after having a revitalising sleep we played another new sport on the scene, it's called Frisbee golf, it's exactly the same as normal golf but you're using a Frisbee, and it's no longer a hole but a basket you have to aim for. Its good fun and it was free J Ross Matthews soon took The Queenstown Cup off his little brothers hands much to his delight. That evening, once again involved checking out the local bars. In Queenstown there are 65 bars within 2 streets, its insane.

The next day, Ross Smith got up early and headed back up the gondola to do his free paraglide. He said you get some awesome views over Queenstown and the adrenaline rush is sweet, but said it was extremely cold. Ross Matthews was slightly jealous as he wasn't doing much compared to the other lads as he's a pandsy and wouldn't jump off a bridge or out a plane. Unfortunately we had to leave the next day but we were excited for something new.