BOUNCEBACKABILITY!!
Trip Start
May 09, 2005
1
15
25
Trip End
Ongoing
Queenstown to Auckland...,
New Zealand
Saturday, September 10, 2005
28th August, Queenstown
Leave for Milford Sounds @ 06:00 hours
10:45 hours, wake up cursing after a few drinks the previous night! Fairly annoyed as this isn't the first time we failed to get down to Milford Sounds! I did manage to drag mine and Giggsy's lazy arse up the mountain for an afternoon's boarding, but the mood wasn't cooled because of the horrendously slushy conditions. Then in the evening we went for a few drinks and I ended up telling everyone how I was going to do the Nevis bungy jump backwards...
29th August, Queenstown
Complete my Thrilogy and have a small leaving do
Had a bit of time (and nerves) to kill in morning, so we played crazy golf in a crazy indoor crazy golf place just around the corner from the hostel
1. TOUR DE GIGGS!
. It was crazy! Then we made our way to my first bungy jump, the Kawarau Bridge (43m), which is the oldest commercial bungy site in the world. I told the guys I wanted to be dunked, but I missed the water by a metre or so! When I told the guy in the boat and he said I deserve a free jump! Sweet, I thought! Unfortunately, I couldn't do it straight away as the bus had arrived to take me to the Nevis Highwire (134m). I'll try not to bore you with the details, but my God -- she's huge! The funny thing is, as soon as we arrived and got my harness put on, I didn't want to back down from my drunken lippiness the night before, and so asked if I could go backwards. Luckily, the guy told me you're not allowed to go off backwards. And then he told me I shouldn't be so cocky because I was wearing a girl's harness and I was probably going to die! Anyway, you get taken out to the cable car, strapped up, asked to walk out on to the 'meat tray' and then dive out like Superman. So that's exactly what I did and it was probably the highlight of NZ so far... After that, we heading back to the bridge where I had my free jump. This time I went off backwards and managed to touch the water, but I still didn't get properly dunked. I wasn't fussed though, I was beginning to feel a little bounced-out, plus my eyes were popping out of my head! Oh well, just one more to go, and naturally, Spidey had to make an appearance somewhere in NZ. The last bungy, the Ledge (47), is pretty cool because it overlooks Queenstown and the bungy cord is attached around the waist -- which is perfect for some arachnid acrobatics! So after explaining to the bungy guys that I had been struggling with alcohol due to the great power and responsibility (hence the weight issue), I put on a superhuman show for the small crowd that had gathered. The best bit is, Giggsy said if I did the jump dressed as Spidey, he would do the Kawarau jump... Anyway, that night we had a small leaving do that went on till 5 in the morning..
2. ROB ARMS-STRONG!
.30th August, Queenstown
Leave for Milford Sounds @ 06:00 hours
11:00 hours, wake up cursing! It's not meant to be... Never mind, Giggsy made a promise about a certain bungy jump. So we said goodbye to everyone again, then headed off to Wanaka stopping at the Kawarau Bridge. I'm not going to be cruel, but my one piece of advice "Don't think about it, just jump!" fell on deaf ears... A few hours later we drove to Wanaka...
31th August, Wanaka
Go boarding at Cardrona
Mission completed. Although, I'm officially over the ski season in NZ -- it's rubbish! I'm just really glad I spent $1500 on a new board, boots and bindings...!!
1st September, Wanaka
Go to Puzzling World, have a look at the Snow Park and then head north
Puzzling World was a lotta lotta fun
3. QT, AS VIEWED FROM DPH!
. It was topped off by a two story labyrinth. Giggsy wanted to have a race to the four towers -- big mistake! I took the challenge very seriously -- literally legging it full pelt around the maze pushing mums, dads and push chairs out the way to my eventual victory, whilst all the time giggling like a little girl! Anyway, after that we headed up the Snow Park to have a look, and then headed north!2nd September, Franz Ferdinand
Do the Glacier walk and head north
It's bloody typical! The mildest winter in years, weeks and weeks of sunshine, the day we arrived at Franz Joseph it absolutely pissed it down! We're talking torrential rain, which was quite apt really because the surrounding area looked like a rainforest. However, this meant we could do the glacier walk. We did go for a bit of a trek up to the glacier, but the path had turned into a river. It was still pretty cool (get it?) because all the rain had caused several waterfalls open up and come down through the forest, one of which we walked up! Anyway, then we headed north!
3rd September, Franz Ferdinand
Catch the ferry to the north island
Yep, did that okay
3. THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER...!!
. T'was highly emotional leaving the south island for good... either that or sea sickness? We stayed in Wellington for a night and then drove up to Auckland the next, where we've been staying for the final week. We've been lucky enough to stay at Bryan's (aka Pissy Pants) flat this week, which has been really nice for a few reasons; the flat is huge with a big arse projector for cinematic DVD sessions, whilst relaxing in lazy boy chairs; been ill so staying in a hostel would have been horrendous; have no money for a hostel; I hate hostels and I love Bryan's flat; the flat has a big arse projector for cinematic DVD sessions and has lazy boy chairs to relax in. Plus a sea view! I've always wanted a sea view! Anyway, we just about managed to sell the Silver Bullet. I won't go into the details because I get rather angry, but we ended up selling it to the most pedantic, robotic, son-of-a-rud German guy called Iamaspastic for just over $2000. I was a little disappointed with the price, but the exhaust did snap cleanly in two places on the drive up from Queenstown and we got a mechanic to weald it back together -- so hopefully that will break again soon... I don't know what it is, but I've not had much luck with Germans so far...
Okay I'm getting bored of writing now -- so let's wrap things up shall we?
JFT (it's back -- it's never really been away!):
The fact we extended our stay in NZ should say a lot
4. HOME SWEEEEEET HOME!
! We've had a fantastic time here and all the locals have been very friendly and welcoming! The country is like a home away from home, just much, much, much less populated and much, much, much more attractive! The highlights have definitely been the bungy jumps, sky dive, seeing the dolphins, following the Lions, having some really messy nights out, and the snowboarding (the good snow days)!! Also, just driving around is great because you get to see some of the most amazing scenery... unless you drive at night -- then it just becomes a bit dangerous and gash! I'm gutted the money kept running out and I was forced to get an allowance of Giggsy, because there were a few things I really wanted to do but couldn't afford (swim with the dolphins and hire a hit man to see that Frank swam with the fishes to name a few)... but I've learnt from my mistakes and I can't wait for Oz where I'll be keeping my eye out for the cheap booze and women! Oh, and one more thing about New Zealand -- there really are a shite loads of sheep! Over 40 million! Each as beautiful as the next...AND FINALLY... Now the Giggs and myself have been travelling for 4 months, everyone keeps asking us how our relationship is. Just to reassure everyone, it's fine! We're both laid back guys and nothing really fazes us, plus we've not had anything really serious happen that could push our friendship to boiling point. However, having said all that, one particular argument did very nearly leave Giggsy needing stitches... In hindsight, perhaps we both over reacted, but it was something we both felt so strongly about that we were prepared to bare our chests and go 12 rounds. Also, alcohol may have had a part to play, but these tensions are always going to explode after 4 months of living out of each other's pockets -- what can you do? You can't keep bottling them up! Anyway, after a few days/weeks of not talking to each other the matter was resolved when we both agreed that IF a cross between a pig and gorilla took on a cross between a bear and giraffe, then the fight would probably end in a draw...
