South Island Tour 16th - 19th Feb

16th Feb - Queenstown

This morning, after breakfast we will return to Fiordland Wharf and our trip north to Queenstown. Queenstown is New Zealand's premier ski resort and the summer is no less thrilling, as well as its stunning alpine setting, Queenstown is world renowned for jet boating, its many bungy jumping sites, white water rafting, Para-sailing and much much more. For those that prefer life at a more sedate pace, the many lovely walks, lakeside bars and cafes and beautiful scenery will keep you happy for hours.

After the cool calm relaxing scenery that was Milford sound Queenstown hit us like a cannonball. To kick things off we jumped off of the bus and onto the canyon jetboats. Reaching ridiculous speeds and careering perilously close to cliff edges and protruding rocks it was a high adrenaline ride and the perfect introduction to the vibrant adventure town of Queenstown.

We were to be spending 3 nights here and the accommodation was perfect. Enormous mountains provided a spectacular backdrop to the town and it was a wonderful experience to have them looming over our cabins everyday.Through the course of the trip everyone was sharing rooms with a new set of friends overnight and the duration of my time in Queenstown was spent with Welsh man Eurig and the two Canadians Joel and Ray. They were 3 superb nights and spending time with these three characters was never dull. It should be pointed out here that myself and crazy Welshman Eurig were in the midst of a heated competition of "last man standing" for each night of the tour and at this point I was winning (5-3).

*Note* On this day I was adamantly not doing the Nevis bungy jump. I had done the Taupo bungy and that was enough for me. I didn't need to spend the next two days in Queenstown worrying and getting stressed over the 3rd biggest bungy jump in the world...

17th - 18th Feb - Queenstown

These two days are free for you to relax and enjoy Queenstown as you please. There is lots to do from bungy jumping and jet boating to nature walks and wine tasting or just relaxing.

17th

For some crazy reason I thought it was a good idea to go down to the bungy booking office with all the people who had already agreed to take part in the ridiculous feat. There was a lot of waiting around to pay and in this time myself, Eurig and Canadian Joel (previously not doing the Nevis bungy) somehow convinced ourselves it was a good idea to pay 200 bucks to throw ourselves off of a precarious ledge into a huge void of space with nothing but an oversized elastic band around our ankles. I began by saying I would do it if Eurig and Joel would do it. They contemplated it for many moments before, to my surprise (and horror) agreeing...

This night, it was my turn to cook (we were all in cooking teams). Sweet and sour pork was on the menu, for some reason people weren't especially hungry. I don't know if this was due to my teams cooking or because what was facing us in the morning was beginning to sink in. There was also much less alcohol consumption this night.

As soon as I had paid for the bungy I regretted the decision. I felt extremely nervous and uncomfortable all day.

18th - Day of the bungy.

I was woken early at 7 O clock with Joel by my side. "Hey Matt do wanna go and get a refund for the bungy jump!" Half asleep I wearily replied "no we have to do it". After waking up fully I actually found myself feeling relaxed, calm and collected. Before the full horrors of the bungy were to be experienced we went for a small bus tour to the old gold mining settlement known as Arrowtown. Fed up with the constant trips to cafes and souvenir shops. Jens Gill and I went for a wander to a Historic (1800s) Chinese mining village and whilst the area and buildings didn’t really bring back any memories of Japan (as some thought it would) there were some Asian tourists who instantly brought back memories of Japan. They had stopped by some cherry trees ahead of us and instantly offered some of the best cherries they had picked. This act of kindness immediately transported me back to Japan as I recalled the many generous gestures that I encountered there.

After Arrowtown we went to watch half the group throw themselves off the 43 meter Kawarau bridge bungy. For some reason everyone elses nervous energy was just making me more and more relaxed.

Finally our time was up. we were split into 2 groups (I was in the second). Watching the first groups bus head off sent a small jolt of uncomfortable nerves to my head but they were quickly dismissed. Our bus turned up and during the hour long journey my feelings about the jump went through a pattern of rapid cycles. From feeling extremely uneasy and unwilling about the whole thing I pumped myself up until I felt like I was 100% ready to do it, only to find that we weren't there and declining back into feelings of regret.

After a scary drive up the mountain in a dodgy old 4x4 bus and then a slightly more exposed ride in a cable car to a platform (complete with glass floor panels) suspended 150 meters over a huge canyon, we were ready to bungy. At this point I would like to give special thanks to my good german pal Folke. Who firstly nominted me as his "bungy buddy" and then decided (even though he was first on the list) that I could take his place. My screams of protest went unheard as I was shoved into the chair of doom...

Folke actually did me a favour. Once I had done it an immense sense of relief, satisfaction and completion hit me and mixed with the adrenaline of the jump it was an almost psychadelic experience. Going first had taken away all the pressure. There was no time to ponder over it and build up fear and as an added bonus the first group was still around to see (and more importantly hear) it before departing. That truly was an immense challenge for me. I will never forget it. I also will not be undertaking any kind of bungy activity for at least 10 years.

19th Feb - Franz Josef

We will make an early start this morning to give us plenty of time to enjoy our drive over the Haast pass road, which connects Lake Whanaka with South Westland. This is the most historic of the transalpine routes and it follows an ancient greenstone trail. There are lovely walks to waterfalls and rugged beaches along the way, and we will stop to enjoy these beautiful surroundings.

Beautiful surroundings they were. However this day was mostly taken up by driving and thus was valuable sleeping time. The previous night had understandably been taken up with after bungy parties and most people partied hard! (Myself included). Other notable occurrences in Queenstown included the reunion between myself and Swiss companion Raphael who had been travelling the south island in an old banger with one of our German friends and the show stealing Frederick the Frenchman. Performing at an open mic night, he had the whole crowd doing a ridiculous "bobbing" dance. And an epic mini golf battle between me and a certain Norwegian lady... you know who you are!!!