We ended up leaving closer to 6pm, so the drive wasn't very scenic as it was dark and we couldn't see anything. It was a lot of fun though. Just hanging out listening to Simon & Garfunkel, the Beatles, and other wonderful oldies :]. We even stopped at a dairy in Alexandra to have some ice cream :D. By the time we go to the hostel, it was a little after 10pm. Reception was nice enough to leave our keys at the front desk in an envelope. The hostel was...very interesting, for a lack of words. It was really intricately decorated and it looked cool, but the other guests who were staying there were not so cool. Lots of drunk people stumbling around making noise at 3AM - not so fun. The most redeeming quality about the hostel was George - the hostel's cat. He was so friendly and kept darting in our rooms as we were settling in. Then he'd jump on the bed and nuzzle us. He was precious.
We got up at around 8 on Friday and headed out by 9AM. To our surprise, it was snowing. Not very heavily, luckily. The first stop was a 20 minute drive away to the Kawarau Bridge so my flatmate Anna could bungy jump.
We got there and it was incredibly cold. The snow had picked up a bit and it was coming down heavily. Anna was the first jump of the day. I remember standing at the glass balcony lookout next to the bridge and feeling terrified for her. It was so high (143 feet). She stood at the ledge and without any hesitation, stretched her arms out and just slowly let herself fall. She didn't even scream! It was very impressive. We were so ecstatic for her - screaming, cheering, and laughing. Phil went next. He wasn't planning on jumping because of finances, but he decided on doing it anyway because he really wanted to jump. Phil was really hardcore and decided to jump in just his jeans (even though it was about 0 degrees Celsius outside). Phil took much longer than Anna to jump. He stood at the edge for a while, probably contemplating what on earth he was doing. Eventually, he let out his battle cry - 'Forth Eorlingas!' - (yes, that is a reference to the second Lord of the Rings film) and dived off the ledge as if he were 'diving into a shallow pool' (Phil said that was the instruction he had been given by the bungy people). Phil's jump was great. He yelled the whole time. And then the yelling turned into maniacal laughter. It was awesome. Because of his long, dark hair and his goatee, the bungy staff dubbed him Jesus. Yeah, we watched Jesus bungy jump - no big deal ;].
Phil & Anna after the jump :D.
After the hardcore jumping, we wandered down the Kawarau River a little further to see where the Pillars of the Kings scene was filmed in The Fellowship of the Ring. It was amazing. The colour of the river is just...stunning.
Me with the flatties <3. It had finally stopped snowing by then.
After admiring the river, we drove another 15 or 20 minutes to a really small town called Arrowtown. There were more Lord of the Rings sites to see there. We wandered around a stream for a bit, then eventually walked around the shops area and had lunch at a small cafe.
We ended up leaving Arrowtown at about 1 and decided to drive out to Glenorchy (yes, Glenorchy may sound familiar because it's close to the area where I went tramping during Easter :]). The drive out to Glenorchy is absolutely amazing. Seriously. The sites are breathtaking.
Background's a little overexposed, but still a fun self-timer picture.
We got to Glenorchy and walked around a forest in the Mt. Aspiring National Park. Played on a fallen tree. Walked out to Diamond Lake. Failed at helping people get their car unstuck from a massive mud puddle.
By the time we got back to Queenstown and the hostel, it was probably after 5pm. We ended up going out to dinner that night at a pizza bar. Wine and pizza. How classy ;]. After dinner, we walked around Queenstown for a bit, despite the fact that it was really, really, really cold. Marci had a goal to kiss all the statues in Queenstown, so we went searching for them. There was a sheep, a moa, a fern, and a little boy sleeping, which was kind of creepy. We ended up playing on some swings for a bit and then hiked back up the hill to the hostel.
The next morning, we drove up to Deer Park Heights, a small mountain where various random scenes from LOTR were filmed. It was incredible mostly because of all the animals that were running freely on the mountain. Lol. We are such city kids. We could tell by how fascinated we were by the llamas, donkeys, ducks, deer, and goats. We stopped the car briefly, and then we were swarmed by a heard of llamas! They were so cute! And so inquisitive! They'd put their heads right up to the windows to have a look at us. Marci went outside to take some pictures and they were all smelling her and checking her out. It was hilarious. And then we looked behind us and there was a huge swarm of ducks running toward the car. Apparently, people feed the animals. Often. They've associated our mechanical machines with food. Eventually, a donkey showed up, and he was really cute. Later, the llamas chased after our car.
It was so much fun.
It was at this time that I was feeling really regretful about not jumping the day before. I really wanted to, but knew it would be really financially irresponsible for me to do it. But I also knew if I didn't bungy jump off the Kawarau Bridge, I'd probably regret it, maybe for the rest of my life (haha). They told me that if I wanted to do it, then I should, and that we could stop at Kawarau Bungy on the way home. Yay excitement.
The entire drive there, my palms were sweating. I was antsy, nervous, and couldn't keep still. They were pumping me up with music in the car. I kept saying to myself over and over again, 'You can totally do this, Christina. No big deal. Just do it.' It was really difficult to convince myself.
We got to Kawarau Bungy and everything went by so fast. I had to sign up, fill out some forms, get weighed, then pay for it. After the transcation went through, I realised that I didn't even hesitate; I didn't even stop to think: Do I really want to do this? I just did it and couldn't believe it.
Walking along the bridge to the ledge was intense. I was scared. I could feel the adrenaline pumping. They put me into a harnest, and then I couldn't stop bouncing around. I was excited, and so incredibly nervous. My chest was really tight. I was so anxious. I kept saying, 'What am I doing? Why am I doing this?'
It was finally my turn and I vaguely remeber sitting down as they attached the bungy cord to my feet and the harnest I was wearing. I stood up at the ledge and had to carefully waddle my way to the edge. It was excruciatingly frightening. One hand was clutching the pole next to me. The bungy guy kept telling me I needed to let go and inch forward a few more inches. I couldn't allow myself to look down. I just looked straight ahead, or up toward the sky. I knew that if I looked down at the water, the height, depth, and insanity of it all would completely freak me out.
He counted down from 5 for me and then I was supposed to jump, but I didn't; I was too scared. And that's the most difficult part about bungy jumping, hands down - that moment when you're standing at the edge and you have to make yourself jump (they won't ever push you). You have to make a conscious decision to do something that all physics, up until that very moment, has told you will probably kill you. So he counted from three, and I don't know how I did it, but I had to shut down my brain, turn off my emotions just for a second, and then I jumped.
It's amazing how you can go from feeling completely terrified and nervous to feeling elated in a matter of seconds. It felt amazing to fall like that. I screamed so much, but it felt good. It's pretty much indescribable. I couldn't really tell you, unless you experienced it yourself as well.
It was undoubtedly the craziest thing I've ever done. Before we left for Queenstown, I had decided I wasn't going to do it, but on a spontaneous whim I said 'Screw it. I'm doing to jump.' And I'm so glad I did. It was amazing :].
I'd definitely do it all over again.
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