3,2,1, Bungee!

On the Saturday we left for Queenstown, as we had booked to do the Kawarau Bridge Bungee (43m) and the Shotover Jet.

Going over the Crown Range, passing by beautiful scenery, and going past Mount Cardrona (a popular ski area), we got from Wanaka to Queenstown in about 45 minutes. We had booked the bungee at 11 o'clock, but were there much earlier, to have a look around before actually jumping.

The weather was excellent, and forecasts wasn't good (as we already could see lots of showers above Lake Wakatipu). So my brother and me reported in and in no time we were standing on the bridge. What an amazing place to jump from (the original jump, actually!)

Just before us a bus stopped with lots of Japanese people, they all wanted to go for a jump off the bridge.

Some tense moments before my jump, as a Japanese girl started crying, telling she didn't want to go, holding on to the instructor, and eventually after 5 countdowns actually jumped down.

Actually, I didn't mind being on the bridge, but the edge is creepy, with your ankles bound. So it didn't take me long before i dived!

What an amazing experience!! And the beautiful scenery as it is at the Kawarau bridge made it complete!
Too bad I'm not able to upload a movie of my jump onto the site (its about 200mb).

Afterwards got a nice dvd of my jump and some history of jumping, a certificate of jumping and a tshirt. Great!!


After that it started to rain, but nevertheless we drove through Frankton near Lake Wakatipu to Deer Park Heights. You can go up all the way by car, and see lama's, bison, deer, lots of other animals, and ofcourse.....sheep!

Deer Park Heights also is famous for a lot of sceneries that were used in the Lord of the Rings movies. It shows you six specific locations which were used in the movie.
So recognizable! (although the fences and civilisation were photoshopped out of it ofcourse.

From Deer Park Heights we drove off for the Shotover Canyon, to do the stunning Shotover Jet. Except for.........it was still raining! :(
We waited for more than an hour, and the boats that normally go every half hour, were cancelled. What a shame! Maybe get another chance next week on our way back from Milford Sound.

When we drove back over the Crown Range, weather got better in the valley, and in the end the boats did go again.... :(

So that was the end of an exciting day in and around Queenstown, although I would have to get back for the Shotover jet and a clear view from Deer Park Heights (where oyu normally got a beautiful landscape with Lake Wakatipu and lots of mountains). So no pics from them this time :(