The South Island, First Stop Queesnstown, Home of The Bungy.......

High expectations are hard to fulfill, and even harder to surpass, yet Denise and I started our South Island trip with the highest expectations, hoping to have good weather, good experiences, and a lot of fun. Every Kiwi we talked to told us that the South Island was the 'real' New Zealand, but we had to see for ourselves.

As it turned out, the South Island of New Zealand not only surpassed our expectations, it bestowed upon us a new perspective of natural beauty and a thirst for adventure. This part of the world is sincerely amazing!

We started our trip in Queenstown, a touristy town in the far south of the South Island. Queenstown resides on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, a thin but deep lake carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago. The view below is of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu from atop a near by peak. We took a gondola ride to get up to the peak.

That day we spend in downtown Queenstown, popping in and out of the boutique shops and touristy places. And yes, we had a few brews at the local brewpub. At the end of the day, we set up camp with our sweet ass camper van a few minutes north of Queenstown.

The next day was an eventful one. We came into Queenstown knowing that it was home of the first bungy jump ever, and also home to the highest bungy jump in the world. I suppose the old saying 'when in Rome' came to mind when we considered putting our trust in rubber bands. But, we don't like to do things half way, so it was time to see if we had the stones to take the plunge. It seemed pretty simple..... just jump right?

It became a bit more complicated once the butterflies took effect. I chose the Nevis Bungi jump, the highest in the world at 440 feet. Now in order to get this high up, the AJ Hackett Bungy Company decided to suspend this little aluminum pod thingy between two mountains over a river to jump out of. Check it out to the right of me.

Both Denise and I went out to the little platform via a little gondola, but it would only be me who was to jump. Once in the little jump pod, there was no turning back. I guess I have to jump......

"3".......don't look down....."2"......don't forget to breath......."1".......oh shit......."BUNGY".......scream like a little girl....... Down I went 440 feat with about 6 seconds of free fall. Awesome.....!
That was one of the coolest things I have ever done. I didn't think I was an adrenalin junky, but that was something I would definitely do again.

Now it was Denise's turn. She decided to go for the classic jump off the Kawarau Bridge, the site of the first ever bungy jump. Don't let the picture fool you, Denise was eager to get close to the edge.........hmmmm......well, maybe she needed a little help to the edge.

Yet fear would not get the best of Denise today my friends, and she took the plunge 134 feet to the river below.
Two bounces later, we were able to declare ourselves fearless bungy jumpers. All in a days work I say, lets celebrate with a beer! Mind you, that was only the second day of our trip.......