Contrary to the title, a more accurate description of the day would be the drive from Otago Peninsula to Queenstown with a few stops on the way. The highlight though, was undoubtedly my first ever Bungy experience, at where it all started!
Itinerary of the day: Portobello → Royal Albatross Centre → Lawrence → Jones Family Fruit Stall (Cromwell) → Kawarau Bridge Bungy → Queenstown
My friends were all surprised when they hear that I wanted to try bungy jumping and skydiving in NZ, because I looked like a docile person (a closet adrenalin junkie?). Having said that, I am still cautious by nature, and would prefer to do these activities in countries with better safety standards. Bungy jumping accidents that made the news recently were Victoria Falls and Phuket. Both incidents were caused by human error and negligence of equipment maintenance. After some more extensive research, New Zealand seemed like a valid choice, since bungy jumping was invented in NZ after all!
To prepare for my jump today, I put on my contact lenses before checking-out in the morning. First stop of the day was the Royal Albatross Centre, located at Taioroa Head at the very tip of Otago Peninsula.
The drive to the Albatross Centre, as expected, was mostly on gravel and road only wide enough for one car. Thanks to these tiny roads though, we would never run into coach buses.
A beautiful bay at Harington Point.
The centre would not be open until 11am, and we had no intention of waiting. According to people who paid to get in the centre, very few albatrosses could be seen at a far away distance through a piece of glass, and sometimes none. Didn't sound too appealing to me, so I decided to try my luck by observing outside.
I already knew it would be a long shot to actually see any albatrosses, as they probably took off much earlier in the morning. Once they flew, to conserve energy, it's unlikely they would land until the end of day.
Instead of royal albatrosses, we saw a lot of tarapunga (red-billed gull), a type of seagull native to NZ.
A bit cuter than the northern hemisphere counterpart...and only by a bit.
As it was breeding season for most birds, the gulls were also busy.
Lighthouse by the cliff of Taioroa Head.
This place is the most accessible location in the world where royal albatrosses could be observed on land. A wildlife observation cruise offered in Dunedin might be a better option for locating them in the sky.
I simply didn't allocate enough time for Otago Peninsula to enjoy the wildlife and scenery fully. On another thought though, we had already seen many great landscapes in NZ, so it wouldn't be too much of a loss anyways. If I were to plan this trip again I would give this place a miss.
There was also this "Lanarch Castle" which seemed to attract many tourists. It's more of a "mansion" than a "castle", and totally reminded me of Toronto's Casa Loma. Not spending anymore time on this peninsula, we started making our 4-hour trip towards Queenstown.
First exit Dunedin through Highway 1, then turn northwest on Highway 8.
(Random fact: Invercargill has the world's most southerly Starbucks. I'm not a fan but maybe someone really would drive all the way there for that)
The first half of the drive wasn't so inspiring, with a few occurrences of fluffy sheep and hilly farmlands.
Many many sheep. So many.
We had lunch at a small town along Highway 8 called Lawrence.
The fish and chips at this takeaway in the middle of nowhere were, to our surprises, very good. After this we ordered another serving of fried chicken.
The latter part of the drive consisted more of mountainous ranges, and some segments of forests and valleys.
The sheep part didn't change though. I thought I had found Windows XP desktop in Italy, but NZ's got its own version as well!
Way more sheep than I needed to see in one day.
Some stone formations similar to the Elephants Rocks we visited two days ago.
About 40 minutes away from Queenstown was the town of Cromwell. It used to be a gold mining town, and changed to a fruit growing area once the gold ran out.
Cromwell is located at the crossroads between most tourists trails, so it serves as the perfect rest stop. Many tour groups would stop here at Jones Family Fruit Stall for a bathroom and shopping break.
This fruit stall is no longer a "stall", but more like a store? Thanks to the word of mouth of previous travelers and travel agencies, this "family stall" was able to expand into a commercialized establishment. They hired several Mandarin-speaking youngsters, most likely on their working holiday, to cater to specific tour groups.
For a less touristy experience, there were plenty of other orchards and fruit stalls in Cromwell. To give Jones Fruit Stall its due, their prices for NZ souvenirs were not bad! Mom bought several jars of Convita Manuka honey here for a much cheaper price than some of the retail stores in Auckland. The fruits though, were not much cheaper than supermarket price.
If anything, come for their ice cream made from Tip Top vanilla and fresh berries! We've seen the same ice cream machine at the fruit stall near Auckland, but they were not really that common, so don't miss the chance!
After Cromwell, we took Highway 6, which follows the Kawarau River and lead into Queenstown. The valley here is called Gibbston Valley, and is one of the many wine regions of NZ.
After months of anticipation, we arrived at AJ Hackett's Kawarau Bridge Bungy. This was the site of world's first commercial bungy jump! AJ Hackett got the inspiration for the modern day bungy from a ritual practiced in Vanuatu, where young boys jumped off a cliff with a vine rope attached to their ankles as a rite of passage.
The Kawarau Bridge jump is good for a first-timer, as it's not very high (43m) and over water. In case the rope snaps, the chance of survival is high! Queenstown is the mecca for extreme activities, so for a more daring attempt, try the Ledge bungy (47m, but you pull your own trigger) or Nevis bungy (134m)!
The facility looked new and modern, as they should because they charge a premium! 180 NZD for the jump, and another 100 NZD for video and photos! Ouch!
There were many cars in the parking lot, but very few people were actually jumping :p I was expecting to wait at least for a while, but no! I was asked to sign two waiver forms, weighed, paid, and was told I could jump right away!
At the cashier, the staff wrote my weight down on my left hand in red, and a photo & video retrieval number in green on my right hand. My weight was advertised for the world to see! On a more positive note, I could flaunt to everyone that I just finished my Bungy!
I gave photography instructions to my parents, left my bags with them, then made my way to the bridge.
At the bridge, three different staff members double checked my weight, put a waist harness on me, picked a rope according to my weight, and started attaching the ankle harness. A lady staff first tightly wrapped a fuzzy blue towel around my calves and ankles, then applied the ankle harness. From my research, I read about a guy who fractured his ankles from rope backlash. This was back in the 90's, so the towels were probably introduced after that incident. The ankle harness was then attached to the waist harness as an extra safety measure.
Although I felt pretty confident at this point, I couldn't help but be a little bit scared, looking right over the platform, only inches away from falling off. The staff kept trying to distract me by asking questions about myself, but they didn't help much. Two guys after me cussing non-stop (out of fear) weren't helping either!
I waved to the camera!
I might look calm in the photos, but in reality I was too nervous to enjoy the scenery around me! Kawarau River was a filming location of LOTR as the Argonath scene.
...but no of course I wasn't thinking about that at all! All I was thinking was "imagine I'm jumping off a bridge for real and feel like a new person afterward!"<---what
One of the best features about this bungy location was the spectators. It was free to watch from the viewing plateform, and suddenly I became the focus of some random stranger's photos! If these spectators were expecting me to scream, I was pure disappointment.
The two persons in the white cap and the red hat are my parents. My mom kept trying to talk me out of this beforehand, but on the day she became very excited! Dad said he was really nervous for me and was only relieved after seeing the rope functioned properly. I felt like such a bad daughter for making them watch, but again I was always the adventurous child of the family!
The fall was over way too quickly, but I remembered two things very clearly. The feeling of free falling (horrifying and completely different from a rollercoaster) and the water closing in on me. Soon enough, I felt the pull on my ankles, which was gradual and gentle. No jolting! Then came the rebound. I couldn't tell how many bounces I got, as I was whirling in circles constantly.
Before the jump I was worried about my knee joints, but it was actually my shoulders that got sore from dangling upside down too long.
Two staff members were waiting at the bottom to receive jumpers onto the raft. After missing the pole once, it took me a while to finally got a grip of their hands. The pull on my arms was way more uncomfortable than the bungy cord pulling on my ankles!
Here's the whole process in video! The video probably captures more essence of my penguin waddle onto the platform, my pathetic swan dive and trying to reach the pole like a helpless piñata.
After the jump, I didn't really felt like I was "born again" like some people described. Maybe I wasn't scared enough? It was satisfying to cross bungy jumping off the list, and earned bragging rights to my friends!
Not gonna lie, I couldn't keep my balance when I tried to get out of that raft. The last thing I wanted to do after a bungy jump was to climb a flight of stairs back to ground level.
Back at the bungy centre, I could review my photos and videos at a screen, and decide if I wanted to pay for them. I chose the online option, and at check-out, was given a free T-shirt, a certificate, and a bungy cord keychain with access code to my photos & video. The media would be kept online for a year with unlimited downloads.
I framed the T-shirt and keychain after I got home, and they're my favourite souvenirs from this trip. The keychain charm is a miniature model of a bungy cord!
These two gentlemen from Malaysia jumped after me (this was also one of the few bungy locations that provides tandem jumps) while their wives watched them suffer. Being a spectator was also pretty fun!
Although Queenstown is a popular tourist destination, the only large supermarket was a New World outside of town centre, near the airport. We made a quick stop before we entered town, and encountered our only traffic jam in NZ.
Queenstown is the no.1 tourist destination in New Zealand all year round, so accommodations are pricey. I looked at almost every hotels in this town but they're either too expensive, didn't have a kitchen and/or parking space, or too far from the centre. Thanks to the fact that we plan to stay three nights here, I was qualified to book a holiday home Lake Edge House. It was basically the basement of a residential house, about 20 minutes walk away from town centre.
Aside from a minimum stay, holiday houses usually have other limitations like deposits, no housekeeping, and paid in cash only. Small trade-offs for the comfort and value. For more Holiday Home options in NZ use http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/ and http://www.bookabach.co.nz/
Another limitation was that we had to arrive at a negotiable time. We ended up half an hour late because of the traffic jam. The hostess, Liz, was so nice to leave a note for me and left the door open for us.
The basement floor was basically like someone's home, and probably three times bigger than what I could get in Queenstown for the same room rate.
There was also a washing machine and clothes line in the lawn for hang dry.
Liz was quite detailed regarding small rules to keep the place clean, like microwave and oven covers, soap-free shower gels, no suitcases on the bed, etc. She is only one person doing the housekeeping, so we gladly abided to lighten her workload.
Words of wisdom from a pair of slippers.
So, we listened to the slippers and had a slow, relaxing afternoon tea and sandwich. I swear kiwi egg ham sandwich tasted better than it sounds.
Lake Edge House had a wonderful view of the reason why many people loved Queenstown. It sits along side Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by The Remarkables mountain range. In addition to the usual summer crowd, skiers also gather here during winter, so Queenstown doesn't really have a "low" season.
After sundown, dad and I took a walk to Queenstown town centre to familiarize and mail out postcards. I could have mailed them out a lot sooner, but unaware that NZ has multiple postal companies, I mistakenly bought stamps of a less popular one, DX Mail. As a result I had to wait until we get to Queenstown to finally get to one of their mailboxes.
(photo taken in Auckland a few days later) Postboxes from left to right: New Zealand Post, Universal Mail, and DX Mail. If the mails with the wrong company's stamps were put in, it would take an extra week for the letters to be sent to the right company.
Judging by the prevalence of the red New Zealand Post mailboxes in general, I assume they are the most popular choice. The postcards I sent through DX Mail arrived in exactly ~*~1 month~*~, which is by far the slowest postcards I've ever sent. I understand the isolated geography of the country, and Christmas holiday delays, but I also heard things about how NZ postal services tend to be slow. For this reason you do not want your mail to spend another week exchanging between postal companies! Buy the right stamps!
Right across the street of the postbox was the most popular eatery in town, Ferburger.
Queenstown tend to attract young tourists for all its adrenalin-pumping activites, and Ferburger showed that. The place was occupied by both young employees and young customers, and just oozed a young vibe all around. We had to get a number and wait for about 20 minutes for our order, which was fast considering how crowded it was.
We got the classic beef "Ferburger", and the "Little Lamby" lamb burger for take-out.
The burgers were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I would rate this higher than Auckland's White Lady Burger, and maybe even the best burgers I had in my life! The burgers were huuuuuge, and they put in lots and lots of fresh veggies. The lamb burger was a WINNER - the mint jelly and aioli sauce went so well together with the meat!
Queenstown was far from my favourite place in NZ, but Ferburger made the stay worthwhile! More details in the tomorrow's trip report as to why Queenstown, picture perfect as it is, was disappointing for me.
