George’s Adventure

Thursday 3 August 2006

Since I last wrote we have been on a day trip to Milford Sound.  It is fiordland and it is beautiful.  The mountains are unbelievable, covered in snow and surrounded by greenery with trees and the lake.  Janine and I have also visited a kiwi and bird park so we have now officially seen a kiwi.  They are such strange birds. They have enormous beaks and their nostrils are at the end of their beak.  They do not have a tail and they have very small wings which are useless – they do not fly. 

We also took a gondola ride up Bob’s Peak to see the magnificent view of Queenstown, The Remarkables and Lake Waketipu.  I cannot begin to describe the views…it is unlike anything I have seen before.  It is such a beautiful world that we live in. 

On Tuesday I did my first ever bungy jump.  I did the Nevis high wired bungy.  It is 134m.  I caught a shuttle bus which takes you along a dirt track up to the bungy jump.  I then got into my harness and took a cable car accoss to the platform which you jump from.  At this point I was so taken aback by the scenery and quite nervous.  The cable car is obviously unsteady which doesnt help but I kept my cool.  The view is of barren mountains, a slight reddy colour and when you look down there is a stream – very shallow.  As you watch people jump it looks like they will crash into the stream but actually when you do the jump you are not really near the water.  It came to my turn and I sat in the seat where they take a picture of you and ask you if you have any final words – as if it could get any worse.  The chair reminded me of the sort of chair i imagine people sit in when they are about to be given a lethal injection.  A dentist’s chair type of thing.  Just to make you feel even more comfy of course.  Then the guy puts the elasticated bungy cord onto your feet and explains that when you jump up for the second time you need to pull a cord at the bottom of you left leg.  The releases the ropes slightly so that you can sit up at the end of your bungy and be pulled in sitting upright.  So i’m now worrying about pulling cords.  I hobble onto the ledge which I am about to jump from and I need to make sure my toes are over the edge.  Now everyone that I’ve spoken to so far says ‘dont look down’ but how is that possible when you have to make sure your feet are off the ledge!!  I look down – its amazing….the guy is talking to me but I dont remember or really hear what he is saying…I just focus on diving out so that I get a smoother bungy.  He counts down…’3, 2..1…….’  I dont hear the rest…I’ve dived out (I’m diving like I used to dive for the 25m breaststroke for Kent) and I can feel cool air on my face and a feeling of complete freedom.  I then start falling and I’m scared.  Only now am I thinking – what am I doing this for.  It seems to last for ages and then I bounce back up and I am grateful to be alive but then I fall back down again and I let out a massive yell because I feel like I’m going to die….then I bounce back up again and I start worrying about pulling this stupid cord attached to the bottom of my left leg.  So i’m pulling, yanking and praying it will work and that I am strong enough to pull the cord.  It works and suddenly I am sprayed around and Im sitting upright.  Now i’m focusing on the pain in my crotch….not pleasant….so I start thinking about the view and the scenery and about how I have just done the most exhilirating and craziest thing ever.  Worse that the skydive – ten times over!  The pain, the view, the pain, the pain, the view…….thank goodness the platform…and I’m back on my feet on a (not stable but swinging) platform but that will do.  I then start feeling dizzy and I’m told that all the blood vessels around my eyes have burst – looking good!  I still can’t believe I jumped!!

Yesturday I went on the Shotover Jet.  This is a jet boat ride over the Shotover River Canyons.  It is pretty cool, you get a bit wet and you think you might crash into a rock or two but it’s fun. 

Today I went snowboarding!!! This has to be one of the best things I’ve ever done.  I loved it.  I had two lessons, one around 10 o’clock and one around 2 o’clock.  By the end of the day I could snowboard down the slope without falling over.  I am so proud of myself! Looking good in my rented snowboarding stuff – snowboarding is defo all about style.  I fell over loads and my bum is killing now but I soon got into our hostel’s free hot spa when I got back.  That helped!  The view from the Coronet Peak mountain was great….I would love to do more snowboarding and master a few turns – yeah!

I ache now…..think New Zealand is wearing me out!!  So much fun!

 

Tags: bungy jump, kiwi, milford sound, New Zealand, Travel

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 3rd, 2006 at 1:46 am and is filed under New Zealand, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.