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The adventure capital of the world certainly lives up to its reputation.
We arrived in Queenstown convinced we weren't going to do a bungy jump but ended up doing something just as gut wretching - the Canyon Swing. Matt's palms were still sweating days later just thinking about it.
But the excitement and feel of the town sucks you in and there is nothing else for it but to jump right in...
We started the week quite calmly with a cable car ride up to the top of Bob's Peak which gives excellent views over the town, lake and Remarkables mountain range. I still can't quite believe how beautiful this country is.
At the top was a Luge ride, which is basically a go-kart track. It was great speeding along downhill, trying to race each other (no guesses as to who was the quickest!).
The next day we took a jet boat ride through the Shotover River canyon, which was brilliant. The driver sped along the river, swerving just inches away from rocks and boulders. It was hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing but we were going so fast the wind just took our breath away.
We were wet and cold but were still laughing when we stepped off the boat.
The following day we returned to the canyon, but this time it wasn't so funny.
I thought the Canyon Swing would be better than a bungy because you are tied to a harness around your waist instead of being tied by your ankles. And I imagined the graceful arc of the swing would be much better than being yanked back up on a bungy rope.
Hmm. In fact, the platform was 109 metres high, the swing included 60m of freefall, with a 200m arc at 150kmph.
These figures didn't really register until I was actually standing on the ledge, looking down onto sharp rocks below me. I had to step off the platform of my own free will and I nearly froze. I really didn't think I'd be able to do it. How can you just step into nothingness?
But somehow I worked up the courage to do it, stepped, and fell. I couldn't believe I'd really done it. The freefall was over in seconds but once the swing was underway I just kept clinging on in a state of shock.
Matt's fall was slightly different was he hung onto a rope for as long as possible before slipping off. And the 'jump masters' pretended they hadn't tied a safety clip properly so Matt was left dangling in thin air while they rushed around until Matt could hang on no longer. After he fell they just fell about in fits of laughter.
Despite their high jinks, we were both on a high for the rest of the day not believing we'd actually gone through with it. It was such an achievement but one we're not keen on repeating any time soon!
From Queenstown our adventures slowed down somewhat with a few nights in Dunedin on the east coast.
Our main activity here was the Elm Wildlife Tour, where we got to see lazy sea lions, cute Yello-Eyed penguins, and fluffy fur seals up close.
It was amazing. There were just six of us on the tour and we had the whole beach to ourselves, standing just metres away from sleeping sea creatures.
We went to a viewing hut to watch the little penguins waddle out of the sea, which was great, but very odd to see penguins sharing the same environment as lambs and sheep!
After a few days r&r we headed back to Christchurch via another gorgeous lake (Lake Tekapo) and a white water rafting trip on the Rangitata River.
This was excellent but I have to confess - we fell out of the raft at the very first hurdle, a grade 1 rapid. How pathetic! Still, at least we'd got the cold swim out the way at the beginning so we knew what to expect when we were faced with a grade 5 rapid!
And miraculously we managed to stay in the raft for the rest of the trip. We all went at it with gusto, paddling away as hard as we could with huge torrents of water washing over us.
The hot showers and BBQ that followed never felt so good.
From Christchurch we made our way to Wellington via the TranzCoastal railway, very similar to the TranzAlpine we started with. It was another beautiful journey, going past forests, mountains and beaches.
And so to the North Island. We crossed the Cook Strait earlier today in a tiny tin pot aeroplane. We thought it would be better than the ferry but I've never been in such a small plane or on such a bumpy ride in my life. I was so grateful when I spotted land again!
So we're now in Wellington, the country's capital city, for a couple of nights before we begin our journey across the North Island. There is still so much to see and do and I'm looking forward to it already.
Till next time,
Love Nikki
xxx
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