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Annabel's Amazing Adventures (nah nah nah nah naaa
Right! Hello again all. I hope y'all are doing well.
Last I left ya I was pressed between two giant slabs of ice and carving my name in the glacier. Which moved. That was scary.
That next day we left fairly early for the long drive to Queenstown ('adventure capitol of the world!') stopping via Haast (for a coffee) and Wanaka (for an icecream sundae which turned out to be MUCH bigger than I'd expected. gulp.) On the way we also had a brief stop at the world's first commercial bungy site - a suspension bridge a grand total of 40m above a river in which you can get dipped. It was unnerving just watching, let me tell you.
When we got to Queenstown in was Niall's last night with the Stray group (a very amusing Scot) so we celebrated with having "Niall's bucks night" in altitude - the bar annexed to the hostel. It happened to be kareoke night. An extremely drunk Irishman and Scotsman and 3 sober girls and a Dane bellowing Wonderwall into a mike cannot be good. Later we did a slightly more tuneful rendition of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (minus the Irish man) which was received much better. Fun. Fun fun fun. Needless to say we didn't win the $100 drinks tab. Maybe next week, eh?
We woke up on the 5th (5th of September, a day to remember!) (note the rhyme) bright and early at around 11am. After a light-ish breakfast off we clambered into a mini bus with the Dane (the guy holding an umbrella - see photo album), an Irish lass and a slight young German called Anne-Marie who we'd been sharing a dorm with much of the last week. 45 minutes later we were at Nevis.
For those who don't know, Nevis is a gondola suspended 134m above a valley and the second highest bungy jumping site in the world. Not long after that I'd thrown myself off it. And yes, I'm still afraid of heights. I was made to sit on a glass seat (which you can see through to the bottom of the valley - argh!) and suction things that reminded me of blood pressure arm bands were secured to each of my legs. Earlier we had watched as many manly men mucho-ly launched themselves off of this gondola and their manish yells rapidly transformed into girlish shrieks. So naturally I was feeling very confident.
Since I was the heaviest out of our group I was first to go (whoopee.) and put into a chair that came straight out of a labour scene in Friends. A rope was attached to me (thankfully!) and another was tucked into my left walking boot (the only shoes I brought with me to NZ). I was to tug on this second rope on my second rebound and I would fall into a 'comfortable' sitting position (I have a harness on) and they would haul me up. Fair enough, I thought.
Up I clambered and over to the edge of this wooden platform I penguin shuffled, all the while Emma and Jen taking pics and laughing at me saying that that's the most frightened face they've ever seen and could I hold it in place a little longer so they could take more pictures of it.
Now this is when I made a mistake. You know that old adage "don't look down"? Well, oops. I swear I almost burst into tears. This is the girl who cried on D of E because the hill she was standing on was too high up and she was afraid she might fall. "I don't want to go." I pleaded. "I've changed my mind. Let me go. I don't want to do it. It's ok, really, someone else can go instead. I don't want to go. I don't want to go. Did I mention I'm afraid of heights? Don't do this to me you mean, cruel people. I don't want to go!"
"You must go." Came the calm intonation of the kiwi holding my upright. "I've got you, don't worry. Just shuffle a bit closer to the edge."
Obligingly I shuffled closer, occasionally rubbing my face and still chanting.
"Just look straight ahead" He said. I glanced up at the mountains far far away. Not helping. I glanced down again.
"I don't want to go. I don't want to go. I don't want to go...."
"I'm going to count to three and then you jump ok? Just like a dive. It's ok."
"It's ok? IT'S OK?! I don't want to go I don't want to go I don't want to go"
"One..."
"Oh dear."
"Two..."
"I don't want to go! Don't make me! Jenny! Emma! MUMMY!!!!"
"Three!" He let go of my harness and stepped back in anticipation.
"I don't want to go I don't want to go I don't want to go I don't waaaaAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
First thought: "s***!"
Second thought: "My God I can't believe I just did that"
Third thought: "I don't want to go I don't.... hey! This is quite nice..."
*bounce*
Wheeeee!!!!!!!
*bounce*
Better pull that ropey thing now.
*tug*
*tug*
*TUG*
It's not coming out.
*bounce*
Oh dear.
*bounce*
Oh well. At least I get to bounce around some more.
Wheee!!
*Bounce*
Oh I'm so embarrassed.
And so they haul me up upside down. I can still hear Emma's laughter. I tried to do a handstand (don't ask me why). "There's always one! You just *had* to be different, didn't you?" The man who's cutting me down jokingly says. "Everyone can see your arse now."
"I KNOW!" I wail, laughing from a mixture of exhilaration and embarrassment. It's always me... They cut me loose and I fall into the nearest pair of arms I could see for a hug. (It happened to be the Dane's. I don't know if he was expecting it or not... hmmm...)
It was totally worth it. I swear that's the most scared and the most happy I've ever felt. You don't see the ground, you don't feel sick. You just feel free, and really really peaceful. To begin with I was laughing just from happiness. Then I remebered I'd said I'd scream, screamed, then decided that that was a pathetic attempt and I couldn't be bothered anyway and resumed my laughing.
I have a DVD and photos if anyone is interested in watching my plight.
And that is the story of Nevis. I have since bought a sheep (which I have named Neville) that when you turn upside down it goes "BAAAAaaaaaa....." and it wears a bungy jumping sheep t-shirt. Cool, eh?
When it came to Anne-Marie's turn she latched her arms around the guy's middle in a fierce hug and refused to let go, trying to persuade him to jump with her. He (now slightly worried) pointed out to her that he didn't have a rope. She tried to persuade him that it would be funny. He quickly wriggled out of her grasp.
I caught Emma's jump on camera. Her scream was most satisfyingly girly. Jenny just kept spreading her arms and giggling up at the sky. I always knew something wasn't quite right with that one.
So that was that day.
That evening we went to the pub quiz and lost spectacularly, but learned that only 55% of Americans know that the Sun is a star, for every 2000 words a man says a woman says 7000 (this one we got right) and Sweden is the country that consumes the most ketchup. Also, 0% of Smirnoff vodka is produced in Russia and more Monopoly money is made each year than real money.
That night the Irish man decided to snore for Britain and - despite me usually being a fairly heavy sleeper - it was driving me nuts. So fairly quickly I gathered up my sheets and made my bed in the corridor outside of our 8 man dorm. For some unknown reason someone who worked for the hostel was patrolling the corridors at 4.30am and saw me as I was just about to clamber into bed. He insisted I could NOT sleep there and told me to meet him at reception. Grudgingly (my bed looked *very* comfy) I followed and they set me up in a room of my own with a double bed, an ensuite (with fragranced soap!) and complimentary tea, coffee and hot chocolate powder. AND a tv. That morning when I returned to the dorm to get dressed I took great pleasure in trying to make Jenny and Emma (who'd both slept through the lot) very very jealous.
We caught a shuttle to Wanaka Bay that morning and that afternoon rented 3 mountain bikes and went for a cycle around part of Lake Wanaka (where Jenny flew off the path and landed upside down in a tree - I took a couple of snaps before we heaved the bike out), down (or should I say UP the hill?) to Albertown (where we stopped at the pub for an icecream) and then cycling along a highway back to Wanaka. My backside is still bruised. We did a load of washing and had an early night.
That next day we were supposed to have an early rise and then trek what is rated as one of the best one day walks in the world. First we overslept, then discovered the path was closed anyway because of the winter and that the path began a 1 hr drive from Wanaka (we had initially been misinformed). So instead the plan was to do a smaller walk round Mt Iron then have a look across the road at Puzzling World. By the time we had walked up there we only did Puzzling World, a long maze (so we did do some walking!) and had an icecream before going back to the hostel and doing another load of washing.
That evening we went to the cinema to watch 'Confetti' - a mockumentary about 3 weddings that was acted completely through improvisation. Definitely worth a watch.
The cinema was an experience in itself. No seats. There were only couches and recliners. And an old car which you could sit in to watch the film. A box full of bean bags in the corner if you so chose. A couple of airplane seats at the back. During the film fresh cookies were baked and sold alongside handmade (by the cinema staff) icecream during the intermission. YUM.
We caught a ridiculously early bus back to Queenstown the next morning and as soon as we got our dorm we promptly had a nap, waking up in time for lunch. We then went in search of something cheap to do.
We discovered, and rented, a 3 seater tandem bicycle. Whenever we'd crash (usually while I was steering) an old lady would ask if she could take a picture of us. The postcards should be out any day now.
Really, it was loads of fun and Emma and Jenny are discussing possibly buying one between them to get to work each day. We've all agreed that we're going to cycle tandem around the world after Uni to raise money for charity (hopefully the Annabel fund, but I have yet to suggest it).
Today, we spent pretty much the whole day asleep on a bus going from Queenstown to Christchurch, my last destination (sob!!! WAIL!) We have nothing planned for tomorrow bar having an explore (it's practically England! Oxford Terrace, Durham street, Cambridge Street...) and then the day after I'm onto a plane. I really don't want to leave.
I want to go to Taupo and go Skydiving first.
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