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Kiwi Ex – Day 15 – 20th Nov
We done so much in Queenstown I’ll probably miss out a lot.
Just outside Queens town we stopped at the birth place of bungy jumping at the AJ Hacket Centre, a bridge 45 meters off the water. Leona, a girl on the bus was too nervous to do it on her own so Andy agreed to do a tandem bungee with her. So they got strapped them side by side round the ankles and connected to a bungy cord and jumped off the bridge. Their heads dipped in the water but they were safe.
That night Smiley had arranged a night out for the whole bus as it was likely that we would all split up in Queenstown. We had all put in $3 and a raffle was drawn to see whose birthday it would be. Eda, one of the Swedish girls won it and everyone sang her happy birthday and she got a cake with candles. That night again there was more karaoke and at the end of the night the whole bus split into boys and girls and sang “Summer Lovin’” from Grease.
The next day Andy done another Bungy jump called The Ledge. They tie you round the waist so your legs are free and you can take a run up. Andy ran and somersaulted off the edge into a 57 meter drop. That night we went out again and the group got even bigger as a new Kiwi bus arrived. Celtic was playing the next day, early in the morning, so we got an early night.
The kick off was 8:45 so we were up for 8am. Andy had convinced a pool hall (Q Lounge) to open up at 8:30 instead of the usual 4pm by emphasising the importance of the game.
The barman commented that it was the biggest cheer he had heard in the pub when Celtic scored and there were only 3 of us cheering. We were totally hyper after the game, so we went to do a Canyon swing.
The Canyon Swing is like a bungy jump (it has a 60m freefall) but once you reach the bottom you swing through a canyon for another 200m. I did the pin drop. You stand side on to the edge, look at your feet put your arms behind your back and jump off side ways. Andy did the chair. Strapped to a plastic chair the guys swing you back on the chair over the cliff. This might sound easier to do than jumping off yourself but the guys working there really put you through the mill and let you go when you least expect it.
After the canyon swing we met the guys from the bus and a group of us went to play Frisbee golf: Pete, Frank, John, Enda, Dan and Gerard. It was a great laugh and end up a party in our dorm room. There were about 30 people in our room by about 9 o’clock. We got another wee sing song of the old party favourites; “If you’re happy and you know it” and “Head, shoulder, knees and toes”. We all headed out after that but the rest of the night is just a blur.
The next day we did the Nevis. The Nevis is a 134 meter bungy jump. I thought it would be off a bridge or some kind of stable structure, but no. It was a cable car suspended over a massive canyon. The trip from the edge of the canyon to the cable car in the middle is enough to get the nerves jangling.
Andy had done a few bungy jumps before and was well up for it. He was one of the first to go off. Because I was one of the lightest I was at the end so I was standing about watching everyone going off. My nerves were just settling when suddenly there was a glitch. Nothing major but the mechanism for getting the jumper up again seemed to malfunction, leaving Enda dangling for about 5 minuets at the end of the bungy cord. It wasn’t much but it got the heart racing again. It is just like any other bungy but because the cable car is not completely stable you have to stand on the edge until the wind dies down. I was waiting there for a minute, which doesn’t sound long but when you’re trying not to look down it is.
The next day we went river boarding. It is basically white water rafting on a wee body board. It is actually better than white water rafting. You go down the river twice and at the end of the second run you get to do a 6m rock jump too.
That night another dorm room was chosen for the party and the madness ensued again. After that, we went to an Irish bar, Pog Mahones, to see a live band and from there on to Buffalo’s. On the way home we went to Ferg Burger. They serve the best burgers in the world. They are massive, everyone struggles to finish them but you always do.
The next day we just watched movies. We had changed hostel from the Kiwi hostel to a much cheaper one at $19 a night, Alpine Lodge. We shared a room with the Swedish boys and it was king of like living in our own house. We had a big balcony with its own staircase and a massive room with its own TV and video and big selection of movies. Kate and Deirdre where in the same place but their room wasn’t half as good. I guess we just got lucky.
On to Christchurch…
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