Flying into a place like Queenstown doesn’t feel like you’re still somewhere close to the place you departed from. And for some, maybe they’ve come from far away, yet I was only an hour and half plane ride and within the same country and I was convinced I had landed in a new world.
The land is a land all its own beaming with beauty and calling for exploration…. it’s no wonder the flight attendant had to yell at me three times to put my phone camera away the second we stepped off the plane (due to some ridiculous claim of a fire hazard); I was too in awe of what I was seeing that I guess all surrounding volume managed to shut down in my brain.
Before I arrived in Queenstown, all I ever heard was how it was known as the adventure capital of the world. Whenever I told someone I was headed to live in New Zealand, if they knew anything about the country they knew that I would have to visit Queenstown at some point. And oh boy were they right, the second I set foot on Queenstown soil I knew it would be too soon to leave once the time came. My opinion is that the first people to discover this place could not handle how beautiful the postcard-esque scenery was to look at, so they felt they had to top it by doing crazy things in this atmosphere. Or perhaps they felt that the crazy things would be that much better with scenery like this. Either way.. I knew I had to hop on that adventurer bandwagon and take my first leap off a bridge as well.
Yes, that’s right, I threw myself off of the first ever created bungy jump in the world: The Kawarau Bridge Bungy. I was honestly surprised at myself even after I did it. But up until the point where my feet were dangling over the small ledge 43m into the air over a large body of beautiful turquoise water…I was not nervous at all. My two au pair friends kept asking if I was scared, and I think I half pretended to be in order to fit in with what would be normal for a person willingly jumping off a bridge that day, but in all honesty I was just ready. Excited to do something I had never done before in the perfect place to do it.
That is something about New Zealand that has changed me, it has made me more of an adventurer than I think I ever was before. It is almost as if I feel that I would be unfulfilled if I didn’t go to these crazy places and do the crazy things that others have before me.
It is one thing to see something, another thing to process what you see, and a completely new thing to fully immerse yourself in whatever you are looking at. The experiences in New Zealand are often so large and drastic because I think people really just want to fully submerge their entire self into the place that they are a part of in order to soak in the beauty that it holds.
The second I jumped off that bridge I felt that beauty. I opened my eyes and dove straight toward the spectacular blue water and when the bungy threw me right back into the air after the first pull I looked all around me because I wanted to see everything! It was such an amazing adrenaline rush I felt like I had conquered the world.
Of course I realized I was possibly the 752,000th person to have done this same thing.. but nevertheless, I will have that moment with me for the rest of my life, a moment that could not be relived or redone in any way, shape, form, or place… and so I guess that made me feel better about the $260 I spent on the bungy, videos, and picture prints. At least it came with a free T-shirt!
The three of us had a really amazing holiday in Queenstown. The weather, although rainy for a day, worked out in our favor so much. We had three sunny days out of the four we were there, and the rainy day was still successful with a slippery ride up the gondola and down the luge.
For those that don’t know, a “luge” is a miniature plastic race-car type thing that one sits in and rides all the way down a cement track, over large speed bumps and through tunnels, racing alongside friends being cut off and sometimes catapulted into the bushes. Helmets are supplied of course. And the whole thing is controlled by your body weight and the push and pull of the handle bar; no motor needed! It is great fun, that is for sure.. and only more entertaining in the rain with the slight hydroplaning and skids up the sides of the cement track.
The rest of our trip was spent sitting in the sun at delicious cafes, including the famous “Ferg Burger”. Although two of the three of us were vegetarians and I am not quite sure I can speak for Ferg Burger.. however we found Ferg Bakery next door to be of an even stronger liking. The Boston Creme Donuts we had upon our arrival were so good we went back three more times over the course of four days… yikes.
My favorite place was Vudu Cafe located along the Queenstown Wharf. Here you get a beyond amazing view of the water, large greenery in the trees, as well as the snow capped mountains in the distance. I am not sure that I have ever seen so many things in one view from a cafe on the side of the road. Perhaps this is the only place. Simply remarkable.
And on our last day we Parasailed. Crazy how physics works really… the three of us girls got harnessed up in the speed boat and were quickly attached to a gigantic parachute connected to the boat by a singular rope. And as the boat drove faster and the rope let out of the spun wheel we were swept backwards into the air and far far higher than I imagined we could have gone. Within seconds the speed boat was so far away I could hold it in between my thumb and pointer finger as I would a small apple. The idea of hanging high above water with just the wind and a parachute to hold you up sounds terrifying, yet it was oddly calm and relaxing once we were there.
It was a sad goodbye once our plane left Queenstown, but only sad in the moment for I know I will soon return to the gorgeous land of adventure only to experience this place that much more.
Joyful Thinking 
Beautifully written. I cannot believe all the adventurous things you are doing…I didn’t know about the luge. Sounds like you had great fun.
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