It was shortly after arriving in their Queenstown hostel that Claire decided she was too old for 'all this'. We had booked beds in a five bed dorm due to availability. Up until this point we had only ever shared with girls, the fairly quiet reserved kind. On entering the dorm we were greeted by a fellow resident, male, German and not dissimilar to Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, only this guy was much less hygienic. He spent approximately 23 hours of the day lying on his bed watching films eating cheese bread and cookies. We were there for 3 nights and he wore the same outfit throughout our stay, night and day.

Claire decided after their night in the car, it was shower time. She gathered the necessary items and headed for the shower, unfortunately located in the middle of the lounge where there were approximately 15 people watching a film. It was what would ordinarily be called a cupboard, one adequately sized for a vacuum cleaner. Claire nearly lost her rag when the shower curtain refused to cease contact with her buttocks despite her protestations.

Saturday was spent river surfing. A trip Greg had persuaded Claire to sign up to after much trepidation as someone had died doing it the last time she was in New Zealand. We were bussed out to the start and squeezed ourselves into wetsuits and helmets and were handed flippers and the oldest body boards imaginable. At this point even Greg became nervous. After a brief tutorial about how river flow works and how to navigate the 'eddies' we were on our way paddling down white water on nothing but body boards. It was excellent! The Rapids ranged from grades two to four and on the really big waves you could get a little bit of air and attempt barrel rolls. At one stage we stopped at a point where the water flow had created a stationary wave which, if timed correctly, you could stay on 'surfing' indefinitely. Unfortunately only half of the group managed this, luckily we were in this half. It was a very surreal yet exhilarating experience, and Greg (for a few seconds) even managed to get up on his knees. The trip ended just in time as our legs were beginning to cramp in the cold water. We were greeted by an unexpected free beer and burger. Delish.

That evening we met up with Jordan (who we had met on our last night in Gisborne) and his partner Damien (also a junior doctor coincidentally) for a few drinks. After only four hours sleep we met up again and, bleary eyed, signed up for the Nevis Swing...a 300 metre arc swing that starts with a 70 metre free fall. Greg was petrified and so adopted his serious face for the day and was dragged into the cable car. We first watched Damien do the Nevis bungee jump (the highest commercial bungee in the world) which did nothing to calm Greg down. This also gave Claire horrific flashbacks and reassured her that she had made the right decision never to do it again! Now it was our turn. First difficulty was picking our position for the swing. Multiple choices and combinations as we were swinging together (oi oi). We went for the seated backwards option as we had been reassured that this was the most fun. Once sat in the harness Claire's nerves set in and she began gripping Greg as if her life depended on it (which it quite possibly could if the joker strapping them in missed a buckle).

We were winched up and out over the canyon and were then toyed with by the aforementioned joker. He asked us to look at various cameras for photographs, and as we looked up to the one directly above us he dropped us. Confused terror gripped us for the freefall, but as the harness tugged and we swung across the canyon it became an exhilarating rush with a huge adrenaline surge. We survived. Jordan and Damien followed us and opted for the slightly more daring position of upside down.

That afternoon we tried out the luge in Queenstown...still good, but not quite as good as Rotorua. Claire refused to race this time deciding to retire on top, much to Greg's annoyance. This was followed by a famous Fergburger which did not disappoint. Greg went for the option with two burgers, bacon, two fried eggs, cheese and a whole lot of salad...he did not need the side order of chips.