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Wow, Queenstown is the most amazing, adrenaline filled, party obsessed town we have ever come across! We're pleased to say that we have done a lot of what it has to offer and that we have just had the most action packed few days we could ever have imagined. We were pretty tired when we arrived as we had spent the whole day travelling so we just checked into our hostel and went straight to the kitchen for the 'free dinner' but as soon as we got to the front of the queue it had all ran out, so we headed out for some fast food and to get our bearings. Queenstown is a nice sized town where everything seems to be just around the corner, but is impossible to get bored in, and is right next to a beautiful lake (which is always bright blue even when it's cloudy and miserable) There are loads of bars and restaurants selling everything from jacket potatoes to Nepalese food. On our first day we were booked in to do a 15,000ft skydive! The weather wasn't great so we went to check it was still on only to be told to come back later. When we did we were told our jump was postponed until the afternoon due to the weather so we got some lunch and went back in good spirits but unfortunately they had cancelled all jumps for that day. Feeling very disheartened after spending most of the day waiting around, we thought we'd still get our adrenaline fix and booked ourselves in to do the one thing we said we'd never do: a bungee jump. We went to simply enquire whether the bungee jumps that day were being affected by the weather, and less than an hour later we were standing on the Kawarau bridge waiting to do the first bungee jump ever made. Standing at the top was the scariest thing we've ever done. The staff don't push you so it's up to you to jump yourself,but when you do, the freefall is the most amazing feeling! That evening we went out for a drink with our dorm mates to yet another Irish bar (though this time it wasn't actually our suggestion!) to sample Queenstown's nightlife. Day two and we had jet boating in the morning followed by a rescheduled skydive in the afternoon- exciting stuff. The jetboating was basically a speedboat through a canyon over rapids. We did the Shotover Jet, which is the only company in Queenstown to do 360 degree spins in the water. It was brilliant! The driver likes to go dangerously close to the sides of the canyon, leaving us literally millimetres away at times! In the afternoon we arrived for Take 2 at skydiving only to find it had been cancelled yet again due to the weather. As a result we felt the need to console ourselves again, only this time we chose a cheaper option with food rather than a bungee jump! Colette had some delicious fish and chips from down by the lake and Katie had one of Queenstown's specialities: a Fergburger! Everyone in Queenstown knows about the famous Fergburgers. The queue is always outside the door no matter what time of day! That evening Colette decided it was about time Katie finally watched Lord of the Rings. 4 of us settled down to watch it but the quality wasnt too good so it's being saved for another time. The next day was the best day we've had so far! What better way to start the day than with the world's highest cliff jump! The Shotover Canyon Swing is a 60m freefall followed by a 200m swing across a canyon, and it was amazing! There are over 70 different jumping styles to choose from and although it took us a while, Colette settled for The Slide, where you go down a slide which then launches you off the side of the canyon and Katie went for the upside down option! The staff at the top like to have a bit of fun with you and pretend to let you go a few times before they actually do, which added to the scariness of it! We then followed it up with our skydive! Yes, we finally got to jump, 3rd time lucky, and it was an absolutely beautiful day for it! We were delayed by a few hours but we didn't care, we were just so happy that we were finally doing it! Once we were finally suited up, we met our instructors who we would be jumping with then made our way over to the plane! There were only 6 customers in the same plane but there were 16 people jumping as each person had an instructor and everyone else had paid extra to have a personal cameraman jump with them to capture the action! We would have loved to do the same but it was so expensive and we'll never forget it so we decided we didn't need photos! We had about a 10 minute ascent before a couple of people jumped at 12,000ft then another few minutes as we carried on up to 15,000ft. We had a 60 second freefall followed by a few minutes descending in the parachute which was incredible! We absolutely loved it and it was the perfect way to end our string of adrenaline activities in Queenstown! After landing we headed back to the town where we spent a lovely evening eating sandwiches and cookies by the lake in the last sunshine of the day before heading back to the hostel for some well earned sleep! We had no planned activities for the next day, simply because we'd pretty much done everything! We spent the morning hiking up to the top of Queenstown Hill, then spent the rest of the day sunbathing on the beach! It was a lovely, cheap, chilled out day to finish off with and to reflect on the crazy things we'd done! We'll be sad to leave Queenstown as we've done some amazing things, met some fab friends and basically had the time of our lives!
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