‘The adventure capital of the World.’ I peered out of the window as we passed Frankston and headed into Queenstown and saw hand gliders circling around the top of the cable car, people jet skiing and powerboats tearing around lake Wakatipu. My adrenalin started to flow straight away. After booking Base ahead for $30 per night, I was made to wait last for check in despite being with the Kiwi Experience tour because I hadn’t booked through them. There were no dramas but for a minute I thought I was going to be on a different floor to everyone else.
I went for a walk with James and Charlie around Queenstown Gardens and came across the very modern sport of Frisbee Golf. The only difference being that you have to hit a pole with metal chains around it but it did look fun. On the walk around we saw a sign saying “Hey. I just met you. And this is crazy but keep our town clean. Don’t be lazy” which was brilliant. The first night we went to Red Rock where we had a BBQ and I had tried TUI ale for the first time. After I had 4 pints of TUI and a rack of ribs we set off to Loco, a bar/ nightclub next to our hostel. We were given 2 rounds of free shots for our entire tour group which went down very well alongside the 4 Gin and Tonics I had. The club played chart music all night and everyone had a good time until the early hours.
The 7:30 start for the Milford Sound daytrip wasn’t too bad considering the amount of sleep I had. I sat at the back of the coach and made an American friend who did triathlons and biking. So we talked for hours on the subject before arriving at our first walking point of the day at the mirror lakes next to Mount Eglinton. We took some shots of the mountains reflected on the lake which was crystal clear before stopping at where one of the fault lines runs through the valley for the Pacific plate meeting the Eurasian plate which runs out through the Fjord. According to our guide, seismologist predict that there will be a magnitude 9 earthquake with the next 50 years within the country which would be 10,000 times more stronger than the earthquake which struck Christchurch 6 years ago. They predict a 30m tidal wave to hit the coast and all the infrastructure to be devastated throughout New Zealand. Not a place I plan on retiring to then.
We stopped at Monkey Creek next to Mount Christina to take some photos of the valley and also an opportunity to fill our bottles up with some of the freshest water in the World. We continued to climb until we reached the Homer Tunnel. This was blasted out in the rock before and shortly after WW2 using old techniques and equipment. It drops down 200m in elevation and only has one lane running through it. A short drive on the other side led us down to the fjord. Milford was wrongly labeled as a sound as it runs out to sea however the name stuck and has been made too famous to change it. We boarded the Jucy Lucy ferry and motored out into the 8th wonder of the World. With peaks dramatically rising a mile high on both sides, you feel quite insignificant out there on the water. There were seals bathing in the sunshine on the rocks and hunting bait balls near the boat. The wind was incredibly strong and loud at the front of the boat. The 1 ½ tour took us out to the sea mouth of the fjord before retuning back. The captain drove the boat right up to the base of the Boden falls and soaked us all in the process but what a great sensation it was to feel the power of the water falling on you. After 14 hours of driving that day I called it an early night before rising early again the next day to do a canyon swing and white water rafting.
I was joined on the Shotover Canyon swing by a few of the NFL Oakland Raider players who were enjoying an adrenalin rushed holiday. I weighed in on the scales at 84kg which was higher than I expected. On of the guys who played the position of a blocker weighed 155kg, I am just a little nipper then haha.
I decided to run off the edge of the platform then spread my arms in a classic Goldeneye pose from the James Bond film. The guys lent me over the edge for a photo and pretended to drop me to my amusement before giving me guidance on not jumping to the left or I would hit the cliff face. I may have come across as unenthusiastic due to my cold (thanks Beth) but I was loving it underneath and excited. I threw myself off with no hesitation and free falled 60m before catching the wire and swung upside down 200m across the rapids below, what a feeling!
That afternoon I went on the Shotover River for a 2 hour rafting experience. I had never done it before, only kayaking. After been cramped in the back of a van travelling down New Zealand’s most dangerous road with the boats strapped to the back, we made it to our destination. Some of the river scenes from the Lord Of The Rings were shot on this fast flowing river which is also perfect for adrenalin seeking tourists like me too. After a quick demonstration on positioning in the boat we set off in our team of 8. I was on the front left of the boat which is the person who dictates the pace of the paddling. After performing call out drills such as ‘get over’ and ‘down’ we were ready to tackle the rapids. To begin with the river was pretty tame and shallow. We made it past the first section unscathed and were told we could jump in to glide down the rapids ourselves. Over the side I went. You would have thought by now I would be used to the freezing water but I wasn’t. I was pulled up by my life jacket as I scrambled back on.
We got to the toilet bowl section of the rapids which has a sharp jagged rock sticking out of the water in the middle of the channel. The water took us on a collision course and the front of the raft raised out of the water and angled to the right. I rolled out of my position shoulder barging one of the other lads on my way into the river. I managed to grab the side ropes preventing myself from going in before he was washed ahead of us helpless. The raft in front threw a rope in and dragged him out, his Dad in the seat behind looked a little overwhelmed. The rafting was great fun and is finally ticked off my to do list.
That evening I had a Fergburger for the first time. The ‘Big Al’ consisted of 3 beef burgers, 2 fried eggs and salad. For the first time ever I couldn’t even finish it so Talli and Kathryn had to help me out. We had one more final night out in Queenstown where we went to Cowboy’s which had a mechanical bull and the head of a moose on the wall playing old country music. It was certainly different to the mainstream.
Queenstown was fantastic with great nightlife, scenery and plenty of adrenalin-fuelled activities to do. I would definitely go back and spend more time there.
