New Zealand

On August 29th, I flew to New Zealand to join a week-long Contiki tour of the South Island. Known as Kiwis (after their endangered national bird), New Zealanders take pride in their beautiful country, rich in vegetation and wildlife that is unique to this South Pacific island. With only a population of 4 million people, New Zealand has 10 sheep for every one person. It comes to no surprise that they film science-fiction movies here because the scenery is surreal and like no other place on Earth. Blessed with endless, breath-taking views and impressive landscapes, I found New Zealand to be a tranquil and refreshing place even though I can also argue this is the country where I lost my mind...

Dunedin

Dunedin is the home of the world's southermost University, Otago, and the study abroad location where BJ and Laura met (aw). Brady recommended I go down there to meet and hang out with her former flatmate, Simon (a super-friendly, 6'5" curly, redheaded Dutch Kiwi). I boarded a bus in Christchurch at 7am and 6 hours later I was in Dunedin. The time flies by, however, because the scenery along Highway 1 (that shoots up the South Island) is beautiful. Between naps and a stop in Timaru, I enjoyed rolling green hills and heaps of sheep farms. Thankfully, Simon met me at the Railway Station (which happens to be the second most photographed building in the southern hemisphere) and we headed back to Cumberland Street. I got to stay in Laura's old room and tour the campus and surrounding area. The next morning Simon treated me to homemade blueberry pancakes before we took our adequately stuffed stomachs over to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory for a tour. Smells of fresh chocolate wafting through each room tempts the senses. The tour guide satisfies any cravings by providing samples around almost every corner. Similar to brewery tours, you watch mass production and packaging machines masterfully at work. To top it all off, the end of the tour features a 3-story chocolate fall with 1 ton of liquid goodness. I wasn't shy to treat myself to a creme egg since the U.S. is only graced with Cadbury chocolate once a year. With a sufficient sugar high, we sped through part of the city's botanical gardens before I had to catch my shuttle back to Christchurch.

The following day I met up with the Contiki Tour and we started the long haul across the South Island to the west coast. I noticed on the list that there was one other person from the U.S. traveling in the group. A guy pulls out a Duke sweatshirt from his backpack so of course the only other American came from 8 miles down the road. Otherwise, the majority were Australian. With an additional handful of Europeans and two token Canadians, we had a packed bus full of mostly solo travelers eager to meet new people. Driving through Arthur's Pass, we enjoyed stunning views of the snow-capped Southern Alps. We arrived in Hokitika to shop for carved greenstone, abudant in the area and a significant part of Maori culture. Driving south, we reached Franz Joseph Glacier where we stayed for the night. Anyone who wanted free drinks at the bar could eat a live NZ grub, but needless to say, I just bought my glass of red wine and watched.

Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier is one of very few glaciers benefitting from global warming. The lack of rain in Australia is actually falling on the west coast of the South Island and increasing the glacier's size. The steep part of Fox moves 5 meters while the flatter area only makes it 20 to 30 cm per day.
A large group of us took helicopter rides to the clean, flatter part of the glacier where we strapped on cramp-ons to walk comfortably on the large ice "slide" for a few hours. Here we explored deep crevaces and caves while admiring the bright blue glow that illuminated different ice formations. It takes approximately 5m of snow to produce 1m of glacial ice making the dense glacier weigh 16 billion tons! We flew out and had to grab a superfast lunch before getting on the long, winding road to Queenstown.

Queenstown

As the adventure capital of the world, Queenstown is well-known for being the only place where you can jump, swing, dive, fall, or throw yourself off or into just about anything. It's home to seasoned adrenaline junkies and those first-timers that are here to challenge their fears and test their will. It's also quite expensive. Technically, a 10-second adrenaline rush can cost you $200, but there's comfort in knowing that you're investing in a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a 100% safety record. The city made it's mark on the map when AJ Hackett opened the first commercial bungy site at Kawarau Bridge in 1988.

I spent the first day in Queenstown exploring the city since I only had enough guts and money to be temporarily insane once. The town is nestled around Lake Wakitupu and the Remarkables, which is the snow-capped mountain range for those who come to ski and snowboard. I managed to get a free excursion out of a promotion Contiki was running when I signed up for the trip. The company, Fly By Wire, had me suspended by a cable and whizzing around in a figure-eight motion so that I could reach maximum heights and speeds in this odd-looking, individually-sized plane. I was strapped in on my stomach in a body-sized, rocket-looking machine that I would get to fly myself after being released halfway up the valley at speeds of up to 140 km/h! While it was a fun ride, I was relieved that I didn't have to pay for it.

Per Laura's recommendation, I ate lunch at Fergburger--the burger joint famous for their giant patties and large french fries. After managing to finish a burger the size of my head, I commented that everything in Queenstown must be extreme...even the food. The rest of the afternoon was spent biting my fingernails and psyching myself out after hearing the daunting accounts of two Nevis survivors. As much as I counted out the 8-seconds of freefall and the act of jumping off of a ledge into an abyss, I could not imagine actually going through with it. How could I look down the equivalent of a 44-story building and fight past all logic and sub-conscious that tells you not to jump?

Luckily, we were the first jumpers of the day and it was so early that most of my worries managed to stay tucked in bed while I dove off the plank. After being weighed and shuttled up to the remote Nevis Highwire (the highest in the country) bungy site 45 minutes away, I was starting to worry that I wasn't worried enough. My emotions were running circles around me so much that I was starting to feel numb. The process is quick; they snap and strap a harness on you and before you know it you're swinging on the cable car that's ever so slowly riding off the cliff edge and towards the suspended jump site. Yet for some reason I still wasn't nervous. But then I was standing there, watching the first guy jump and a rush of all those notorious emotions returned. Yea right...that was not going to be me in 2 minutes. I had made a pact since Day 1 with a girl on the trip that we would do this together, but she awaiting her turn a seemed quite convinced that should would have to back out. Somehow I managed to convince her to jump still lacking the confidence that shortly after I would be in the same position.

Now it was my turn.
[Gulp]

You're moving in slow, reluctant motion and they're running this like a well-oiled machine. They have you sit in a chair while they snap and clip on all sorts of things, yanking chords and making sure you're good to go (which is why it didn't even cross my mind to question safety; there was just too much to think about that I couldn't really think about anything). The last thing you do is smile at the camera before swallowing the giant lump in your throat and shuffling your feet out to the ledge.

The cliche, don't look down. Yea right, because that's pretty much impossible. Before I knew it, they're counting to 3 and I'm in position (arms out to my side and all), ready to go. Luckily I dove off without thinking because if you hesitate then you're doomed to be beat by your own thoughts. However, even looking back at footage and photos, I'm in disbelief it was me. I'm rushing head first straight for the river; I have tunnel vision as the ground gets closer and closer. Then all of a sudden, it stops and you're floating half the distance back up and falling again. I only had time to think, what did I just do? and never once worried if the bungy chord would catch. The adrenaline mixed with the new, unreal feeling makes it hard to fathom that I just fell 440 feet for 8.5 seconds. On your second bounce, you lean up to your ankle and yank a cord that puts you harnessed in a sitting position. I expected to be scared when they slowly pulled me up, dangling from a mere concoction of tightly woven rubberbands. Instead, I screamed and almost cried from the overwhelming amount of emotions I experienced in such a short period of time. In a matter of 15 seconds the wide spectrum of feelings went from fear, doubt, nervousness, to adrenaline, excitment, disbelief, pride, and elation. I couldn't seem to wipe the smile from my face.

I expected to feel totally different that what actually happened. Adrenaline is an unimaginable, surreal, and fleeting sensation. I can't put the experience into words, but it gave me a a unique and euphoric feeling, one I have never felt. The decision to jump is a mental battle that challenges normal human thought. I initially thought it was stupid or pointless to test precious life, but because it's 100% safe, I now disagree. Instead, you're challenging yourself to live life to the fullest, face your fears, take risks, and experience things that most people don't. Good on ya for anyone who does it...I think it's a big deal.

Milford Sound
After an event-packed few days in Queenstown, everyone was ready to relax in Milford Sound. By early afternoon, we had arrived in Fiordland National Park. We stopped for a compulsory frolic through Egleton Valley and continued to wind our way through the U-shaped valley surrounded by snow-capped rock cliffs and hundreds of cascading waterfalls. We were fortunate to have blues skies on both days because Milford is notorious for bad weather with rain guarunteed 2 out of 3 days. We learned that Milford Sound is actually a fiord and therefore, incorrectly named. Nonetheless, it surpassed the hype. The photos cannot do it justice.

We boarded the Milford Mariner for an overnight cruise and set out to explore the area's remote waters. At a frigid 3 degrees Celcius, we couldn't exactly go swimming, but they did offer motorboat and kayak excursions. Everywhere you turn in Milford there is a 100+ ft. waterfall. The captain would get the boat inches from the water's edge since the high rock cliffs are mimicked underwater. That night we feasted on a delicious buffet and celebrated our tour guide's 30th birthday and final Contiki tour. By the end of our cruise, we had seen the endangered fiordland penguin, fur seals resting on the rocks, and a pod of bottlenose dolphin trying to stay warm. The fiord's still waters produce a perfect reflection on a clear day oftentimes of Mitre Peak, which is Milford's central landmark. Once again, New Zealand's stunning landscape amazed me with it's indigenous features and vibrant life.

Lake Ohau
We stopped in Arrowtown on our way to Lake Ohau. The small village outside of Queenstown became famous during the 1800s gold rush and for several scenes in The Lord of the Rings. By sunset we had reached Lake Ohau, which was our stopping point for the night since it was halfway between Milford and Christchurch. The next morning we set out for our scenic drive by Mt. Cook (NZ's highest peak), Lake Tekapo and Mackenzie (sheep) country. The lake's naturally bright-blue waters, crystal clear skies, and untouched environment made for another picture-perfect day. To top off our final day together, we had lunch in the small town of Geraldine, which is world-famous for having the Guiness Book of Records' largest sweater.

Christchurch

We made it back to Christchurch by mid-afternoon on September 7th. That evening we celebrated at Speight's Ale House and had dinner one last time as a tour. There was a small group of people who also had to kill time in Christchurch the following day so we all met up for meals and to shop and wander around.

I flew out at 6am the morning of September 9th and was back in Brisbane before most people had gotten up. I'm glad that I decided to venture off on my own and got the opportunity to experience what I would argue is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It's quite hard to do the scenery justice, but check out the photos. As the Kiwis frequently say, New Zealand is "sweet as..."