Queenstown pt 2

If I haven't made it clear yet, Queenstown is an absolutely stunning place.

What an adventure!

Connor, my flatmate and Alexa, his girlfriend and I headed to Queenstown last Friday. Weather forecasts were against us predicting rain and snow all weekend, but that didn't stop us. After all the weather in NZ can change in one minute and you can experience four seasons in one day.

We drove there in the evening in pouring rain. Luckily Nomad backpackers hostel was nice and warm. Fergburger was the dinner destination, recommended to Alexa by a friend of hers. The burgers they serve are amazing! Watch any hamburger commercial for McD or Burger King and imagine there is a real burger like that - big and crispy, with lots of salad and grilled beef. I ordered one with lamb - yummy! (though I couldn't finish it)


Next morning Connor and Alexa were going to go bungy-jumping. I'm not crazy enough for that, so I decided to follow them and watch the horror instead. While getting their booking confirmed I read the ads and saw something called the world's highest swing - Nevi's Arc. Without knowing what to expect, whether to be afraid or not, I decided to go. Connor and Alexa were nervous, but not me, I was just going to go for a swing. A bus took us all to some remote location where adrenalin was in the air.





First we watched some people jump, and then it was Connor's turn. (I was still calm, just enjoying the views). It didn't even look like he hesitated, he just jumped with his hands out like a bird. I don't think I can grasp the overwhelming feeling of falling helplessly into a deep valley with an ice cold river. Many people dream about flying, and this is probably as close as you can come to flying without any support.

Alexa jumped after him, with the same determination and grace. They both looked very elegant in the air.

They were both very happy after the jump, so I guess bungy jumping is worth both the fear and the price (it is quite expensive).


Then it was my turn to get an adrenalin kick! I was not nervous at all, in fact I was very excited and happy. I decided to go first, because I haven't yet seen anyone do the Swing (and if I had I'm not sure I would have jumped) and I also chose to swing backward (avoiding to see the ground below).


The Swing is in a pretty deep valley. The arc is about 200 m, the rope is 120 m and since I was starting at one point I had to be dropped about 70 m, without any tension. One second I was there, hanging in my harness, smiling. And then someone pushed a button and I was falling handless into the valley. It was crazy!


And this is how happy I was afterwards (the guy behind me works there, he is not a scared customer):


I'll post more photos from Queenstown next time. It's such a beautiful place!

Busy bee

I will post more photos from Abel Tasman when I'm not as busy. I just don't know when that is.

Mt Robert - the first mountain I've ever climbed

Mt Robert is one of the mountains of Nelson Lakes National Park. It's 1421 m high (Wikipedia) and you can climb up all the way in about two hours (or even less if you are fit). I'm not sure Kiwis would say it's a real mountain, since they have way higher peaks here. In Sweden anything above 200 m above sea level is a mountain, in NZ it would be another hill.
However, mountain climbing looks easy, but since I'm not fit for any type of physically exhausting activity, yet, this was quite a challenge. But thanks to Eilidh, Dougal (her little brother) and their father I made it to the top :)

They have some funny names for other mountains in Nelson Lakes National Park. Imagine attempting to climb Mt Misery or Mt Hopeless...


Here are a couple photos from that day:










We also went for a short walk near the lake Rotoiti:


The water was quite cold and full of eels, but these crazy people just jumped in!



You may wonder why the eels were there. I'll explain the philosophy of the national parks in a few words for you.
- A national park is supposed to protect the nature, so no hunting, fishing, polluting, rubbish, dogs etc. are allowed
- They are free to visit for anyone, but if you happen to be a possum, rat or any other sort of introduced animal you are considered a pest. Nelson Lakes National Park is almost free from pests, which is good for the small population of the re-introduced kiwi birds living there
- You have to wash shoes and everything else that has been in contact with water where algae live, before you enter any clean water areas
- No fires are allowed in national parks
- You are not allowed to use anything else than a toilet cabin for you needs
- Don't feed the animals/birds in any national park

Abel Tasman!

Photo from: http://www.lafessecacheedumonde.com/goodies_en.html

I Googled "Abel Tasman" and this picture came up. Now I'm expecting a lot - a beautiful national park and a lot of tanned naked men.

On Friday Eilidh are heading off to Nelson, stopping in Christchurch on the way. When we get to Nelson I'll make sure Eilidh shows me this paradise!

Morning fog

View from my window.

Perseids

Botanical garden

I went shopping the other day, and the way to the supermarket goes through Dunedin Botanical Garden. So here are some photos from my quick walk: