Queenstown, South Island
25th - 27th Apr 2007
Queenstown (Day One)
Escaping the mild autumn weather of auckland, i was off today to new zealands south island, to a place called Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world i am told.
managed to get a lift to the airport which was great and i checked in as normal and was on that 1+1/2 hour flight to almost the opposite end of the country.
Flying over the mountains coming into queenstown was pretty spectacular to say the least.. such extreme landscape and it was amazing to view.
stepping off the plane i could soon feel that extra bite in the air, considerably cooler down here, definately hoody weather!
got a bus to queenstown centre then walked a short distance to my hostel, yha. once there i thought bugger this, so i upgraded myself to my own room, good move!
got a nice little view and the hostel is central amongst lots of bars/pubs
with it being so cold here most bars have open-logged fires...mmmm
i wasted no time and headed to the gondolas which take u right up the top of a mountain with the most amazing views i've ever seen... the gondola ride was steep and not for people with fear of heights. at the top i did one run on the luge. damn that was good fun. then i just took in the views, wow.
tonight it will be a few quiet drinks in the local as tomorrow i will be doing my triple challenge.. i must be mad getting in the river in this weather...freeze to death haha.
so now i wait for my triple challenge which includes the shot-over jet boat ride, a rollercoaster-hellicopter ride over some canyon then the white water rafting.... bring it on!!
Escaping the mild autumn weather of auckland, i was off today to new zealands south island, to a place called Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world i am told.
managed to get a lift to the airport which was great and i checked in as normal and was on that 1+1/2 hour flight to almost the opposite end of the country.
Flying over the mountains coming into queenstown was pretty spectacular to say the least.. such extreme landscape and it was amazing to view.
stepping off the plane i could soon feel that extra bite in the air, considerably cooler down here, definately hoody weather!
got a bus to queenstown centre then walked a short distance to my hostel, yha. once there i thought bugger this, so i upgraded myself to my own room, good move!
got a nice little view and the hostel is central amongst lots of bars/pubs
with it being so cold here most bars have open-logged fires...mmmmi wasted no time and headed to the gondolas which take u right up the top of a mountain with the most amazing views i've ever seen... the gondola ride was steep and not for people with fear of heights. at the top i did one run on the luge. damn that was good fun. then i just took in the views, wow.
tonight it will be a few quiet drinks in the local as tomorrow i will be doing my triple challenge.. i must be mad getting in the river in this weather...freeze to death haha.
so now i wait for my triple challenge which includes the shot-over jet boat ride, a rollercoaster-hellicopter ride over some canyon then the white water rafting.... bring it on!!
Queenstown (Day Two -Triple Challenge)
Shot-Over Jet Boat Ride:
This is the worlds most exciting jet boat ride..it may only be my first but i do agree.
its a quarter of a million dollar version of a jet ski, it seats 15 people and you hurtle towards the canyon edges and speed around at upto 80kph! extremely fast and it was difficult to keep my eyes fully open with the cold air smashing my face haha. it was an adrenelin rush, the driver came close to hitting rocks and its signature move..the 360 spin was so good. it does a 360degree spin on the water and throws the boat around...class!
Rollercoaster-Helicopter Ride Over Canyon:
my first ever time in a helicopter, it wasnt a let-down at all. after the jet boat we waited for another group to come from the town and we all geared up in our wetsuits and life jackets etc...damn it was bloody tight, it was like taking a big deep breath that didnt end haha. yeah, so the helicopter ride was en-route to the rafting. we jumped out of the bus and onto the helicopter, we flew over some of the mountains they used in Lord Of The Rings and it was a great experience, when the helicopter took its sharp turns it felt very insecure like it was gonna go over horizontally.. damn it was a rush
White Water Rafting:
the end of the chopper flight dropped us off at the beginning of the rafting on the kawarau river. we got into our teams and got in the raft. it was a steady river, grade 4, but the rough bits were really bumpy and a good challenge trying to paddle through them. i didnt manage to fall in, instead i just jumped in the water, wasnt as cold as i thought. the current was strong. we managed to stay up-right and didnt end up capsizing which was a bonus. we went through yet more locations used on the Lord Of The Rings movie.. went through what they used as Aragons Gates, or whatever it was called (i havnt seen the movie) its where frodo was in the river apparently. anyway i was there a part of cinema making history hehe.. when the rafts caught upto eachother we would end up having a splashing fight and try drag someone in the water off the opposite raft. we also went under a bungee jump, the first bungee in the world, a 43metre drop. no-one jumped when we went under it tho. the white water sections were rough, was so much fun, the boat flipped backwards and felt like we were gonna loose it, but we stayed level.
at the end of the three challenges it was back to the rafting club where we had sausage rolls and a drink also hot showers and a sauna!! that was nice
Shot-Over Jet Boat Ride:
This is the worlds most exciting jet boat ride..it may only be my first but i do agree.
its a quarter of a million dollar version of a jet ski, it seats 15 people and you hurtle towards the canyon edges and speed around at upto 80kph! extremely fast and it was difficult to keep my eyes fully open with the cold air smashing my face haha. it was an adrenelin rush, the driver came close to hitting rocks and its signature move..the 360 spin was so good. it does a 360degree spin on the water and throws the boat around...class!
Rollercoaster-Helicopter Ride Over Canyon:
my first ever time in a helicopter, it wasnt a let-down at all. after the jet boat we waited for another group to come from the town and we all geared up in our wetsuits and life jackets etc...damn it was bloody tight, it was like taking a big deep breath that didnt end haha. yeah, so the helicopter ride was en-route to the rafting. we jumped out of the bus and onto the helicopter, we flew over some of the mountains they used in Lord Of The Rings and it was a great experience, when the helicopter took its sharp turns it felt very insecure like it was gonna go over horizontally.. damn it was a rush
White Water Rafting:
the end of the chopper flight dropped us off at the beginning of the rafting on the kawarau river. we got into our teams and got in the raft. it was a steady river, grade 4, but the rough bits were really bumpy and a good challenge trying to paddle through them. i didnt manage to fall in, instead i just jumped in the water, wasnt as cold as i thought. the current was strong. we managed to stay up-right and didnt end up capsizing which was a bonus. we went through yet more locations used on the Lord Of The Rings movie.. went through what they used as Aragons Gates, or whatever it was called (i havnt seen the movie) its where frodo was in the river apparently. anyway i was there a part of cinema making history hehe.. when the rafts caught upto eachother we would end up having a splashing fight and try drag someone in the water off the opposite raft. we also went under a bungee jump, the first bungee in the world, a 43metre drop. no-one jumped when we went under it tho. the white water sections were rough, was so much fun, the boat flipped backwards and felt like we were gonna loose it, but we stayed level.
at the end of the three challenges it was back to the rafting club where we had sausage rolls and a drink also hot showers and a sauna!! that was nice
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