The next two days were by far, the best two days of the trip, and probably my life. Queenstown is known as the ADVENTURE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD! With that being said, I had to live my life to the fullest while being in Queenstown. We got Wednesday and Thursday completely off during the day to do whatever we wanted.
Wednesday, April 27th:
George and I woke up at 7:15 a.m. and went for a run around Lake Wakatipu. The goal was to run around most of the lake, but what we did not realize was that everything is very hilly around the lake. Our hotel was at the very top of a hill, so by the time we got to the bottom, we realized that we still had to run up the very steep hill. Since we ran so early in the morning, the sun was just coming up and the lake looked spectacular. The air was so crisp and fresh that I would have loved to wake up every morning and run along Lake Wakatipu.
After running, George, Andrew, Adam, Becca, Katie, and I went to breakfast because we were going SKY DIVING that morning! Chris did not come with us because he has a perforated ear drum and was afraid of going because of his ear. The first day of the tour, our tour guide showed us a video of all the activities we could do in Queenstown. I was not planning on going sky diving, rather just bungy jumping. After seeing the video, I HAD to do it. The tour guide told me that sky diving in Queenstown is one of the most beautiful places to do it in the world. Let me just tell you, she was absolutely right. Everyone but George and I was extremely scared to go, because George and I were more worried about bungy jumping which we were doing the next day.
We met at the building where we were leaving from at 9:15 a.m., and took a 20 minute car ride to the place where the plane takes off. Upon arriving, I knew I was in for such a treat because the weather was BEAUTIFUL! We honestly had to best weather the entire trip. The tour guide said that she has done a ton of tours, and our trip by far had the best weather that she had seen. There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining the entire time.
When we arrived, we were told that they were behind a little bit, and that the 6 of us would have to wait about 30 more minutes until we could get suited up. It was such a tease waiting because the entire time there were people dropping down from the sky every couple of minutes after they had just sky dived. In the mean time, we took pictures in front of the plane we went up in!
After about 45 minutes, they called our names and we were off to get suited up! We had to wear a full suit that went from the floor all the way to our necks. They also gave us a cap and some goggles to wear so we could see. The guys who were hooked to our backs came and introduced themselves to us. Luckily, we were all able to fit on the plane together! When it was our turn, the guy hooked to our backs brought us to the plane where we all sit in between each others legs. Every one of us sat on the floor of the plane, one in front of the other. It was quite funny to look back on, but none of us thought anything of it at the time. They also taught us the banana position, which is the position that you fall out of the plane in. For the first 5 seconds, they make you do this position, and then the instructor taps your shoulder and you can then open up your arms if you want. They kept telling us to do the banana position, and not look like a pineapple!
The plane went up, and up, and up, and at 12,000 feet, we were ready to sky dive! I was second to jump out because of the way we were situated in the plane. The instructor double checked everything was okay, and then made me scoot myself to the edge of the plane where they opened the doors. I assumed the banana position, and before I knew it, the instructor threw me out of the plane with him connected to me. IT WAS AWESOME! It was such an amazing feeling falling for 45 seconds, that I want to do it again and again now. The feeling is nothing that I can even describe. After 45 seconds of freefall, the instructor opened the parachute, and I got about 7 minutes of looking out at the view. It was probably one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. I know I keep saying that, but honestly it is a sight I will remember for the rest of my life. Right when I landed, I told the camera man to sign me up again because I wanted to go again! I got to see everyone else come down, with a smile on their faces. Even the ones who were the most scared and were not sure if they wanted to go kept saying that they wanted to do it again and it was unbelievable. I am so glad I got the opportunity to sky dive in such an amazing place with my close friends. Here are some pictures that were taken of me!
After we undressed from our suits and gave our guides a high five, we were driven back to Queenstown. Since we all worked up an appetite, we ended up going to this famous place that everyone knows about in New Zealand called Ferg Burger. No matter what time you go, there is always a huge line that takes about 20 minutes because it is so famous. The hamburgers were definitely good, but not nearly as good as In N Out! The hamburgers were HUGE though! They also had clever names on the menu such as the Bun Laden.
The 6 of us then shopped around the town for a while, and met up with Chris because we were going Jet Boating that afternoon! We got to the meeting place around 3 p.m., and were headed off to the water to jet boat! We heard that jet boating is super fun, so since we were in Queenstown, why not?! The jet boat is a huge boat that fits about 15 people sitting next to one another. The boat was described to us as a huge jet ski boat because it can go in water that is only 4 inches deep. What the activity is, is you have a driver that drives the boat and everyone holds on to these rails in front of them. You drive between super narrow cliffs and do 360 degree spins in the water. You are going so fast that it looks like you are going to run into the side of the cliffs, but you don't. The driver has complete control the entire time, and when he is about to do a 360 degree spin, he makes a hand motion so you know to hold on tight. We got a little wet, but they give you rain jackets to wear during the ride. It was pretty cold when we did it in the afternoon, and that was during the fall. During the winter, they still run jet boating, but the water is freezing and when the boat is driving, the temperature can get to -15 degrees Celsius with the windchill! Brrrrrr! Our faces were freezing when we finished because the water would hit our faces when we did the turns. It was such an adrenaline thrill, but not as crazy as sky diving or bungee jumping. Since it is so intense, you are only on the boat for about 30 minutes.
When we were done, we headed back to the hotel to rest up for dinner and the night out. That night, the tour provided dinner and brought us to a nice restaurant where we had all you can eat pizza and appetizers. With it being Andrew's 21st birthday, we had to celebrate with him that night! Once shoving down all the pizza we could eat, we first started out at a place called Minus 5 Degrees, that was included in our tour. This place is an Ice Bar, where everything in the bar is ice, even the cups you drink out of! The bar is actually -5 degrees Celsius, so we got to wear huge parkas, uggs, and gloves which they provided us. We each got a small cocktail served in a ice glass, and got to sit on the ice sculpture chairs while drinking our drinks. I had never been to one of them before, so it was an awesome experience. Since it was so cold, we were only able to stay in for about 30 minutes.
Once we left the ice bar, we went out to two other bars that night to celebrate Andrew's birthday. Overall, it was a very successful night! We all had a ton of fun out in Queenstown that night.
The day was absolutely amazing, and if I could, I would rewind and do it all again. Going from a run on the lake, to sky diving, to Ferg Burger, to the jet boat, and then out to dinner and the Ice Bar, I could have not asked for anything else. Check back later for the next post about bungy jumping 134 meters!
Heaps of Love,
Heidi
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