The Magic Bus left Wanaka behind on late Sunday afternoon to make the short journey to the "adventure capital of the world", Queenstown. Queenstown is renowned for its adrendallin-based activities, especially the bungy jump, and its party atmosphere. This was to be a big change from the rest of New Zealand which had been relatively dead. On the way into Queenstown we made a stop at the Kawaru River Bungy Site for those who wanted to throw themselves off a tall bridge. This site is famous for being the first established by A.J. Hackett. Hackett, along with a Dutch guy, Henry van Asch, was inspired by a traditional ceremony performed by the Pentecost Islanders of Vanuatu. This tribe had a coming-of-age ceremony for all the young men on the island. These young men had to choose a vine to tie around their ankles to support them as they chucked themselves from a very high height. If the vine was too short and prevented them from landing on the ground it was seen to be a great disgrace, whilst if the vine was too long the impact would cause instant death!!! From this idea, Hackett and Asch developed a safe method of jumping off immense heights with elastic cords and began to promote their idea around the world. Hackett even got arrested for bunjy jumping of the top of the Eiffel Tower. There are now 3 sites in Queenstown, the Kawaru Bridge at 43m, the Ledge on the summit of the Skyline Gondola at 47m, and the massive Nevis, which stands at 134m and its among the 3 highest jumps in the world. The aspect about bunjying that sets it apart from all other activities is that, more than anything, it is a mental challenge. The participant has to be able to persuade him/herself to ignore all the natural barriers and knowingly put themselves at risk. As Hackett has said, whether you are small, big, old or have a bad back, it doesn't matter. What does matter is what happens from the shoulders up. 3 of our bus had decided to challenge themselves so the rest of us went to cheer them on from the viewing point below...that was scary enough for me! We arrived in the centre of Queenstown in the early evening. Queenstown sits on Lake Wakatipu, a massive 80km in length. It is surrounded by towering mountain ranges including The Remarkable (they live up to their name!) at 7,682 ft and Ben Lomond (5,786 ft), and it is by far one of the most spectacular places I have visited so far. As our Magic group was reunited once more, we had booked to have dinner at the local pizza restaurant. After an entertaining supper, which saw the consumption of multiple tequilas as well as Ella and Jo's great fascination with the automatic bins, we went to test out Queenstown's night life. It wasn't a disappointment!. One highlight was The World Bar which served cocktails in teapots. It was quite bizarre to see intoxicated people dancing around holding and swigging from the spouts of white china teapots!

We arose on Monday morning bleary-eyed and with several sore heads. Luckily the sun had decided to appear, producing a glorious day, so we all went to soak up the rays on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. While I dozed in the sun, some crazy Magic members decided to go for a swim...the water was only about 12 degrees! In the afternoon I decided to stretch my legs with a wander around the lake while the others went lugeing at the top of the gondola. That evening 6 of us had decided to ditch the backpacker stereotype for the night and treat ourselves to an all-you-can-eat buffet in the rather fancy restaurant at the top of the gondola, 446m above Queenstown. This provided panoramic views of the city and surrounding landscape and it was only up here that it struck me how small Queenstown actually is. When you are in the town it feels completely different! The food was fantastic and filled the gap in several empty stomachs. It even provided the next day's lunch for some as Ella and Jo began to make ham sandwiches half way through and hide them in a bag.

On Tuesday Ella and Jo went on a cruise around Milford Sound so I, having awoken early, climbed back up to the summit of the gondola and sat there for several hours reading my book. After finishing Ellen MacArthur's autobiography (she is an incredible human being who possesses an extraordinary strength of character!), I decided to round off my day with a 3-hour loop walk halfway from the summit before heading back to the hostel. When the girls had returned and Stacey had cooked us a delicious supper, we headed out to revisit the World Bar and its cocktails and to say goodbye to a few friends who were departing the next day.

Early on Wednesday morning I made my way into the town to catch a bus to Glenorchy, where I was to do a day's horse riding. I had been looking forward to this for ages and I wasn't to be disappointed. The first of the 2 rides I did was called "The River Wild" along the delta flats of the Rees and Dart rivers which ended back in Glenorchy. I was put on a beautiful horse called Beckham. He was such a character and very powerful but cantering on him was one of the most comfortable experiences ever. The delta flats are covered in glacier sand that has come down from the glacial areas in the surrounding mountain regions and it sparkles in the sunshine. We saw many birds along the way including Paradise ducks with their white heads and oyster catchers who had a tendancy to dive bomb at the tallest person in order to protect their chicks. I had a 2-hour break for lunch in the small town of Glenorchy and used the time to have a rest in the sun whilst chatting or rather listening to a very talkative German guy called Sebastian. Glenorchy also lies on Lake Wakatipu, about 40 km from Queenstown and was built by the Scheelite miners in 1862 and contains around 200 people. Its recent popularity has stemmed from the fact that it was the scenery used to represent Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and there now many tours based around this idea. My second ride of the day in fact was to be "The Ride of the Rings" in which we were taken around settings that were used in filming. This happened in Paradise Valley which was protected by the New Zealand government and given over totally to horse riding and other activites. Initially the owners were very reluctant to allow Peter Jackson to film here because of the anticipated destruction. However, he eventually persuaded them and went around the whole area with an OS map marking down every single item of nature he could find, This was to make sure that the park was left in pristine condition. In addition, instead of paying tax, he established a network of little huts with their own water systems, so that hikers/horse riders could go and stay at various points around the surrounding area. This time I was riding a young 4 year old called Pipsqueak. He was adorable, always with his ears pricked looking at things, actually hopping over creeks and extremely friendly. Having completed this ride, I returned home to catch up with the others before we all headed out to the local fish and chip restaurant before heading onto Anouk and Hank's hostel for a bit of a DVD fest.

For the remaining 2 days in Queenstown I took it easy. On Thursday morning I said goodbye to Jo and Ella. It is really strange that we have only been travelling together for 2 weeks and yet I feel like I've known them forever. They are heading on next to Whistler for the ski season and I am going to visit them out there when I am free which is pretty cool. I spent the day wandering around the lake, soaking up the sun, going on the internet and doing a bit of clothes shopping. The thing about packing is you don't have a lot of variety in the things you wear so I decided that it was time for a bit of a change. In the evening I went out to dinner in a lovely restaurant overlooking the lake before heading out for a couple of drinks in the town. On Friday I was to catch a 7-hour bus to Christchurch at 3pm so I spent the morning with Anouk, Hank and Nadja on the grass by the lake, whiling away the time until I had to leave. I was actually very sad to say goodbye to the place and the friends I had made there. Queenstown is definitely a must see for anyone visiting New Zealand. Tomorrow I fly to Fiji for the next adventure. It is all going so fast I can't quite believe it!!!