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This morning, after some heavy overnight rain we chilled out about town, took it fairly easy. Joel, having missed out on the bungy the day before, decided it was in fact time for him to try and do it. We drove out to Kawarau Bridge, a historical sight in the world of bungy jumping because this is the home of the sport - where it all began. We all just watched and took pictures as Joel braved it by himself - it is far easier having some mates behind you giving you abuse than doing it by yourself!! In the end his jump was very good, and he loved it.
A round half 4 in the afternoon we decided to start the drive down to Fiordland. This is a vast National Park made up of amazing fiords. These are valleys, carved out by glaciers, which have since filled up with water. The first 2 hours driving was easy, flat straight roads and we were starting to see ground snow. The guide book told us that the next 2 hours was one of the most beautiful alpine drives in the world, so with the sun setting we pulled up and decided to tackle the rest the following day.
This was a smart move, as the drive did not let us down - it was really stunning scenery. We arrived at Milford Sound and booked ourselves onto a boat cruise, lasting 2 hours. This was the most awesome boat cruise I have ever taken (along with the Bay of Islands). The landscape was unbelievable. It ranks as the number thing for New Zealander's to do in many guide books. The boat had a depth gauge and we were often only 10 metres from the side, but the depth gauge read over 220m - unreal. The sides were shear rock faces, that plunged into the water, which was often a stunning blue in colour. At the end of the fiord, we suddenly came out into the open ocean.
It was well worth the four hour drive for a two hour boat cruise. Having driven around in the campervan for 3 weeks, four hours suddenly seems like nothing to us anymore. Driving in this country is so easy, we have not been in a single traffic jam, only created them when on steep uphill sections. Our van, named Shela, is rather slow, but is doing us very proud. After the boat trip, we drove back to Queenstown.
The next day was river surfing day!! This quite simply is throwing yourself into a river with a wetsuit, helmet and a body board and letting the rapids take you. We had planned on doing white water rafting but the water levels were too low. This, we were told, was just as thrilling. The whole thing was very well organised, and was surprisingly safe. We had a practice run with the instructor, going through rapids of grade 2 before ending on a rock jump from approx. 8 metres - great fun. We then drove back, further up the river for run two. This time we were supposed to have got the hang of it, so we tried our hands at some grade 3 rapids and a more thrilling route down the river. It was excellent fun, and although the water was freezing cold, we didn't feel a thing until we got out. Then you notice the bruises and the numb feet and hands. They gave us a hot drink and then told us that they were taking us to the hot pools, which was included in the prize. We spent an hour sitting in a hot spa overlooking Queenstown and it was absolutely amazing, one of the best hours yet. The whole day was brilliant.
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