The day I jumped off a bridge

Kawarau Bridge - plummeting 43 meters down to the river. It was an amazing experience.

The only time that I got really freaked out was when I was shuffling towards the edge and I looked out, over and down. My heart was thumping as I realised I was actually going to free fall all the way down. The guy who was there on the platform with me asked if I was scared. "Oh yeah, now I am!" was my response, to which he replied, "Good!". Next few seconds were spent smiling and waving at cameras, and then everything happened so quickly after that.

I was giving Thumbs Up to Jef and Kien. I wasn't even sure I was looking in the right direction.

And here's a video of my Kawarau bungy jump taken by Jef. They wanted us to shell out $45 to purchase their CD/DVD - that's a tad bit steep, don't you think?



I did that. Finally.

The Remarkables and Glenorchy

On Sunday morning we went to town to purchase snow mittens so Kien's fingers didn't freeze off in the snow. While we were at the store they were selling these cheapo plastic sit on sled things so we got that as well. We asked the dude in the store if he could recommend anywhere with enough snow for us to play in. He suggested The Remarkables - the ski field hasn't yet opened since there hasn't been enough snow fall, but it would be perfect for what we wanted to do.

There was definitely enough snow for playing in! Beautiful, powdery fresh snow that crunched under our feet with each deep step. I've never experienced this much snow before, because I haven't experienced much snow at all. This sand loving summer girl doesn't like being cold and ladened in layers to keep warm! But I've come to appreciate how wonderful it is to be somewhere you can be cold and sunburnt at the same time.











When there is snow what else are you going to do if not build a snowman with the white stuff.



And what else are you going to do if not eat the white stuff.

"Snow is so yummy!"



Frosty the Snowman, himself.





It's so weird to imagine that in one month's time (if not sooner) this place will be full of people and these lifts will be completely occupied. Right now it looks like a ghost town, save for some staff and a handful of other tourists who took the steep route up here.



As we drove back down the hill I made Jef stop so I could get out and take some photos of the scenery.





Since there was no one there to take a picture of me with the lovely backdrop I took a selfie.



Next stop - Glenorchy. It was like we were in a quiet alpine village somewhere far, far away.













A brief drive back to Queenstown as the sun was setting meant more stopping for photographs.



This is what it looks like from Jef's point of view while traveling with me.



But this is my point of view.

Winter in ZQN

It’s nice to be distracted from everyday life, and what’s a better distraction than to get out of town for a long weekend to the winter wonderland that is beautiful Queenstown. Yes, we woke up at 5am to catch a 7am flight yesterday morning, and after checking in to our hotel room and blobbing out for a few hours there, we were up at Coronet Peak throwing snow balls at each other.

These snow mobiles are so cool. If I lived in the snow I’d would want one of these - and maybe dogs pulling sleighs. That would be awesome!



The last time we were here it was dry and empty. Now the place is buzzing, and wet, and (almost) white.







I feel so fortunate to be here in this amazing place. We are lucky to have this experience, and this view from our balcony at the Heritage Hotel.

What do gondolas, luges, lake cruises and a plane have in common?

Not much really except that we went on all of those things during the last 2 days of our brief little jaunt down the line. So yes, the last 2 days of our Queenstown holiday was a "touristy" type affair. It was a cold morning with low hanging cloud when we made our way to the Skyline gondola.



Jef and Rob were doing the Bike Park, and Phillippa and I with the kids in tow went up to see the sights, and get some luge action.




That low hanging cloud was persistant.

So Kien and I definitely got some luge action. It was way way fun!

Taking the lifts back up was nearly as much fun as going down.



Unfortunately the luge was for persons 2 years and over, so this time Phillippa and little Emily couldn't partake. Jef took a photo of them partaking in exploring the surrounds instead.



Then it was a cuddle for Daddy so he could go down the bike park again.



Kien and I hung around up here for quite a while. Kien would pose and I would take photos of him and the scenery.










I love these types of signs telling us how far away we are to places.

Then we tried to race Jef down - him on his bike and us in the gondola.




Hi Daddy. Good to see you! We won, right?

In the late afternoon we went to the Kiwi Birdlife Park so we could see these creatures getting fed. That was fun but for obvious reasons I have no photos to show you. There were also a bunch of other native birds we saw, most of which were very beautiful, and I took a few photos but it made me sad to see pictures of wild birds in cages so I haven't even processed them.

We made our way to the waterfront for dinner. One thing we've noticed recently is how he's taken an interest in colouring in. So it's great that restaurant we go to have this available, and he happily sits there and scribbles for all of 5 minutes.



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The following day was our last in Queenstown, and it was overcast and foggy. After dropping our rental car off we went back to the waterfront and the next available cruise on the lake.









Kien insisted on being inside, and then he got restless. So we quietened him down with some electronics.



We hadn't realised that the cruise we took, called "Million Dollar Cruise" was not referring to million dollar views of the wilder side of Queenstown, but rather the expensive waterfront homes. It was fun nonetheless as the captain/entertainer told us some interesting facts about Queenstown, so it was relatively educational.

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Our flight home - I've ticked something else off my list of "must do in my lifetime" - I was fortunate enough to be able to catch a ride in the cockpit right behind the captain. Here he is doing the overhead transmission to the rest of the passengers on the plane.


"This is the captain speaking..."

It was such an amazing experience. As we flew over regions he would point them out and tell me some facts. Besides the take off and landing, the other highlight was flying over Golden Bay and seeing the sandspit, then looking to the right and seeing Wellington, then seeing Mt Egmont and New Plymouth ahead of us. It was breathtaking.



We had an awesome landing. I loved how the runway was right in front of us and then next minute we were down on it.



Wow-wee, we were only away for 5 days but it felt like a true holiday, and I feel so rejuvenated and enthusiastic - so much so that I've booked us in to go back to Queenstown for the winter festival in June!