Bungeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

134 metres above the Nevis Valley River. You stand on the end of a metal platform with an elastic cord, one inch in diameter, strapped to your ankles. The wind picks up and starts to rock the Bungy Pod, which is suspended precariously between two mountains. The music is pumping, as is the adrenalin. You take one final look at the faces watching you in anticipation... then turn to the mountains... and you jump!

What an experience! 8 1/2 seconds of freefall. The Nevis Highwire Bungy in Queenstown is the highest commercial bungy site in the Southern Hemisphere, surpassed only by the (huge) 216m jump in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. That feeling when you first jump and are totally at the mercy of Mother Nature.. Completely indescribable..

Kayaking on Lake Mapourika was such a relaxing experience. And for those of you that know me, you'll know that I'm not particularly partial to large bodies of water, so this was also a good experience for me in that sense. The weather was so calm and the views were spectacular. The almost perfect reflection of the mountains by the lake's surface is facilitated by the slight blackening of the water due to tannins seeped into the water from the surrounding trees. This lake was actually formed by a huge chunk of the Franz Josef Glacier that broke off as it receded towards its present day position. It's hard to picture just how large this chunk of ice would had to have been to form a lake of this size (about 11 square kilometres).
Saturday, not so lucky with the weather.. The entire ice-climbing trip up Franz Josef Glacier (the Maori name for this glacier is Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere — the tears of Hinehukatere — which actually arises from a legend: Hinehukatere loved climbing in the mountains and persuaded her lover, Tawe, to climb with her. An avalanche swept Tawe from the peaks to his death. Hinehukatere was broken hearted and her many, many tears froze to form the glacier.. how sad..) was accompanied by fairly constant rainfall. Weather aside, the climbing was great fun. Equipped with ice-axes, ropes, harnesses, spiked boots, and of course water-proof clothing, we hiked up this enormous ice formation wedged between two rainforest-laden mountains. After several successful climbs up walls of ice over 10m high, we decided to head back for a much-deserved hot chocolate and a spa bath.
I had met some good people while staying in Franz, so I decided to catch the Magic School Bus to Queenstown on Sunday with them. Again, the scenery along the way was spectacular. It is amazing that I am still blown away every time I look around at my surroundings. Everywhere you look, there's always something new and interesting to see.. Always something to take your breath away! We passed through quite a few towns that I would like to have stopped at, but it's all good. I am planning on hiring a car for a few days from Queenstown and driving back up north along the same route to do some further exploration.
There are so many things I have seen or experienced that I would love to be able to share with everyone, but it's just so hard fitting it all into this little blog. I'm doing my best to put the most important things in.. But that raises the question: how do you classify a certain experience as more important than another?
Aside: Remember that bike ride on the way to Reefton? Well, I was bitten by quite a number of sandflies when I stopped for my lunch break. After hearing that sandflies can be quite nasty (especially on the west coast), I was a little surprised that I didn't have any immediate reaction to the bites. No itching, no red bumps, nothing.. Until 2 days later.. And now, almost a week later, they are still red and still itchy. About 7 on each leg, and a few on my arms. A real nuisance. Lesson learned? Believe the guide books when they say to take insect repellant if you ever come to Aotearoa (New Zealand). Aaaaaaaaaargh..

More pics to follow..

What an experience with the bungy!!!! My God..

Photos:
1. Me, (quite well camouflaged if I do say so myself) plummeting 134m into the Nevis Valley. Reminds me a bit of a jellyfish actually, from this angle.
2. What a view... If something did go wrong, at least you would go out in style..
3. On Lake Mapourika
4. Sub-Alpine view of the Franz Josef Glacier (the day before the climb)
5. Day of the climb. It's hard to imagine standing on a massive ice block in the middle of Spring
6. Me, trying my hand at ice-climbing
7. Perfect Reflection. Lake Matheson, just past Fox Glacier, on the way to Queenstown