I (Heart) Luge - Queenstown Part 3

So we raced up the stairs towards the bridge for more flying body adventures. I had my jumpstyle prepicked so I got suited up first. The body harness held at the waist and even came with a padded seat so that once the swing had swung one could just sit back and enjoy the river view as they were raised back up by winch to the jump point.
I got a hassling from the crew for wearing my AJ Hackett (rival company) t-shirt, so I jumped with my shirt covered in duct tape. Then they found out I was Canadian, which was listed right beside pregnancy, heart disease and back problems as serious medical conditions that could compromise one's ability to jump. Razz razz razz.
Eventually I stepped through the gate to the jump area. As anyone who knows me can tell you, my decision-making is not what you would call 'swift.' Given that, I decided to go with "Jumpmaster's Choice" for my first swing. After a brief conversation, it was decided that I would go backwards. The crew at the Canyon Swing were a bunch of jokers and really fun people, and their hilarious antics included dangling you off the bridge and then catching you just before your inertia got the better of you. After some happy snaps I was able to just lean back into oblivion.
The rush was incredible! Though I twisted in mid-air and didn't manage to get the whole "watch the cliff falling away from you" effect, it was still quite exhilerating. So much so that I opted to pay the $40 I'd saved from the bungy to jump a second time.
This time I chose a style called "Gimp Boy Goes to Hollywood," which consists of turning oneself upside down, reaching for the river below, and swinging eyeballs first into the canyon. The jokers decided it would be fun to pretend they hadn't done the proper safety check, but that was old hat by then, and when they finally launched me it was a marvellous ride! I picked up the customary t-shirt and dvd to relive the experience, which was well put together.
After that I chatted a little more with my fellow jumpers and invited them to the pub later in the evening to celebrate with the Strayers. I didn't manage to find them later, but they had not nailed down their plans when we parted, so no worries.
After the ride I headed back to the hostel to find Fionnuala, Emma, and Alan in the room about to hit the town. Manon had done a skydive that morning and was currently out doing the Nevis bungy, but we managed to collect her and Yukya before setting forth.
We went down to the Info & Track to book some fabulous luging for that evening and further activities for later on.
I got myself a haircut while the others shopped and we all met back up at the hostelbefore heading over to the gondola for luging action.
What started as a nice ride up the mountain culminated in 6 runs down a portion of it in modified luge carts for a nostalgic Mario Kart experience. We met up with some others from the bus and took turns taking photos of the adventure before staging a big race at the end. Despite Emma's crafty cheating, Fionnuala came out the winner and we all chipped in for a celebratory I Heart Luge t-shirt. I guess luge is not as well known across the pond, as our Irish friends could not stop saying the word and giggling.
After that it was downtown for some ginormous FergBurgers and Cookie Time! cookies and the pub meeting that would be our last day with Curry.
We took photos and drank ales and had a bit of a dance as another parting was imminant. Only myself, Manon and Maud were to carry on forth to Te Anau/Milford Sound the next day and some proper goodbyes were in order.
The night ended with a 1:20am ice cream and some pre-emptive hugs goodbye before climbing into bed for a short rest.

Wheeeeee! - Queenstown

So I decided to let someone wrap a towel and a bungy cord around my ankles and let me throw myself off a bridge. I had hummed and hawwed about whether I would do the shorter bungy with more history and the Shotover Canyon Swing (my true purpose in looking forward to Queenstown) or do the 134m Nevis Bungy (New Zealand's highest) and the AJ Hackett canyon swing (less exciting than the Shotover, but bundling would help me save money). In the end I decided to go with my gut and do the 43m Kawarau Bridge bungy and the Shotover canyon swing.
I generally don't get too nervous with amusements that involve hurling oneself off of high things, I guess my time as a carnie contributed to that, but there was a tinge of trepidation when my feet left the platform. It was more of a teetering over the edge than an actual jump, but the effect was pretty much the same. The sensation of going from standing straight up to head first and falling fast proved a little much for my brain to handle, and there are a good 2 seconds of just blankness in my memory of the jump, but as soon as I felt the bungy cord pull me back towards the bridge I was able to speak again and let out a loud cry of joy to the watching public, who had the unfortunate task of watching my shirt ride up to my neck on inversion. Free show, indeed.
After being lowered into the raft and paddled back to shore, I had that walking-on-air feeling that is hard to beat and I practically raced up the stairs to watch the others experience the wonderment.
I got suckered into buying the souvenir photos and postcards, though I don't regret it, and then we headed into Queenstown proper to check in at Nomads.
The hostel was surprisingly clean and orderly for its size, and there was even a free meal of Bali chicken, sweet as! The meal was 45 minutes late and would not have been sufficient even had the rice not been burnt, but backpacker labour is what you pay for.
I topped up on spaghetti and went for a look around with some of the others before coming back to the hostel to update the blog and upload some happy snaps before bed.
The next day was the big canyon swing. I had booked it with Curry for phat discounts while at the bungy site the day before, and was all stoked to go meet the van at 11:45.
Also waiting to hurl themselves off things were two Canadians, Kate and Ben, and their Australian travel companion Stephen.
We had a bit of a chat on the way to the site, and as soon as we stepped out of the vehicle and finished doing business at the Mr. T and Chuck Norris themed urinals, we bounded up towards the bridge.
Blasted internet cards. I'll finish this later.

A Perfectly Good Bridge - Makarora to Queenstown

The day had finally arrived!
Everyone was abuzz with the prospect of arriving in Queenstown - the adventure Mecca of New Zealand and perhaps the world!
But first, there was the drive to Wanaka, sprinkled with lovely photo stops before a good ol' lunch break in Wanaka itself. This was a sad time, as Curtis, Hayley, Davin, Astrid, Anika, and Kevin would all depart the bus for two nights of relaxation away from the madding bus. I had planned the same for myself come Dunedin, but was still not the happiest camper when they took all of their bags and got off the bus.
The new sixsome consisted of myself, Fionnuala, Emma, Manon, Yukya (who sang the best damn 'Let It Be' the night before), and Kennith, fellow king of the forest. We walked around Wanaka and consoled ourselves with a swingset and pictures with a giant hand.
Afterwards we wandered over to the Subway to meet some other Strayers and experience the best view I've ever had from a fast food outlet.
Back on the bus, it was a b-line down to Queenstown, home of bungy. We stopped on the outskirts to watch an intro to bungy video at the very first official bungy site.
As I mentioned earlier I had no intention of hurling myself off a bridge, but seeing as it was the first one and as old as I am and $40 off, I thought I'd go plunge towards the river.
A few of us went right away while the others watched with cameras. Getting up third in line, I saw one comrade tell the operator "I'm so fucking scared." just before turning around and falling 43m towards the water.
My turn next and I tried to make a show of it, which I did in an unintentional way.
Running out of time so more about that later!

Makeoke! - Franz Josef to Makarora

Today's journey was a sojourn to a little place called Makarora. It's one of those quaint little places with one shop that no Kiwi even knows exists. When the Stray bus comes through, it doubles the population. That being said, this was one of my favourite and most memorable stops on the tour.
Getting out early from Franz Josef (who featured prominantly in Anika's nightmare about being chased and crushed by a glacier), we had a gorgeous drive through the green countryside with three full stops for photos of waterfalls, rivers, trees, and stumps resembling thrones which lend themselves perfectly to playing "King of the Forest"
By this time in the tour I felt that the group on the bus was a really solid one. Everybody seemed to know or at least know of everybody else, and we all got along for the most part. The day's travel passed quickly, and before we knew it we were in sleepy Makarora, where popular activities include naps, food, and booze. The one activity offered was an early morning jetboat ride, but I took a pass on that one to save money and have a lazy day.
The other popular attraction of Makarora is the nightly kareoke in the accommodation pub. Normally, there would be no way in hell I'd get up with a microphone in front of me and a midi backup. However, cheap pitchers and great people have magical powers.
About 10 minutes into the evening I was coaxed into a duet of 'Fat Bottom Girls' with Fionnuala, and it was all downhill from there.
Knowing that I would likely not see many of these people for a good long while, I decided to keep the ball rolling, and encourage other reluctant performers to show us what they had with the ol' vocal chords.
The final playlist looked a little something like this:
-Fat Bottom Girls with Fionnuala
-Gangsta's Paradise with Astrid (Canada represent!)
-500 Miles with Alan, Curtis, and Kevin
-Surfin' USA with the other guys
-Ms. Jackson with Curtis
-Total Eclipse of the Heart with Kevin, Cally, and Fionnuala
Following our inebriated march from the pub, we noticed that the entire sky was bright with stars. The most amazing night's sky I've ever seen. The Milky Way was clearly visible and we even saw a shooting star!
It was eventually finally time to turn in, and everyone slept comfortably in Hut 18 (boom), a 10-bed A-frame structure with it's own bathroom and shower and enough room for everyone to have a single bed and individual reading lights for all.
A note from Fionnuala reading "Best Night Out Ever!!!" seemed to adequately sum up the procedings and we were all a little buzzed boarding Anna the bus the next day.

They Call It "Rugby" - Franz Josef Day 2

A rather short post on a short but sweet day.
As the Glacier hike was out, I was able to sleep in and go at my own pace, so I lazily stayed in bed until near noon before making a big ol' pot of spaghetti and lounging in front of the impressively-sized but unsatisfactory television watching a countdown of the greatest music videos of all time.
Once that got stale I threw in some washing and headed out to explore the town in search of treasure in the form of a stuffed toy Kakapo. The wee glacier village has four major souvenir shops, none of which were home to the elusive bird. As it was pissing rain and I was drenched, I decided to head back to the hostel, feeling a little better about having done some minor form of exercise while most everyone else was off falling down glaciers.
A change of laundry and the first hikers arrived back home just as I had put everything in the dryer. They were headed to the enormous 20-person spa pool, and a dip sounded like quite the treat so I joined in.
A warm and relaxing 45 minutes later we split up into dinner parties and foraged for noodles in the hostel kitchen.
After that it was out to the pub to take in the Cup Final of the Wellington 7s, which featured an impressive victory by the All Blacks over the English.
How to celebrate? Drink and tell dirty jokes of course! The evening was full of merriment and social gaiety late into the night before we finally settled down to sleep prior to the trip's most frequently-overlooked stop, Makarora.

With Franz Like These... - Barrytown to Franz Josef

Though I was a little disappointed to have missed out on the cross-dressing tom-foolery of the night before, I was thankful not to be feeling the effects as we set out for the bone carver's at 9am the next day.
7 of us had opted to make lovely bone necklaces first thing in the morning, while the am activity meant a long lie-in for the over-imbibed as the bus would not depart until after midday.
Walking just over the road to the carver's, we found ourselves in an open-air garage-style structure with power sanders on all sides. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the small space looked and smelled of a dentist's office.
Once I got beyond the initial startling, I picked out a design and set to carving.
The process involved drawing out the design on a piece of bone, then shaving the rough outline with a power sander. Some spot-polishes with sandpaper, and then the detail work began with a combination of man power and machine power. Sand, examine, sand, examine, and so forth until about three hours later I was standing in line by the polisher to have my work sealed and threaded for wearing. The final design is a combination of the fish hook (for strength, determination, and safe passage over water) and the twist (the entwining of two souls), I thought a fitting emblem for gifting to my sweetie.
The lady at the carver's recommended that I wear the necklace for the rest of my journey in order to imbue it with my lifeforce before gifting it to my significant other, which I have been doing happily ever since.
Following the carving (the lads working the bar came out to watch and have a breakfast brew with some of the Stray personnel while we were working), we set off for the glacier town of Fran Josef. We first made a stop in Greymouth, Curry's old haunt, for an hour-long lunch break and to exchange some people who had mistakenly only booked their bus until Greymouth for some people just starting a week-long pass from Christchurch who had shuttled over while we inhaled bone fragments.
My intelligence had informed me that I could find a stuffed toy Kakapo at a sanctuary here in Greymouth (this was a coveted souvenier for Cat and I), and between getting my glasses adjusted and finding some chow I set off in search of the elusive bird.
Alas, my efforts came up short and the search continued.
I had a tasty quiche and ice cream in a meal that was themed a radioactive orange colour at the local hotel before meeting up with the others to continue the journey.
There was a big rugby match in town that day, but we were unable to spectate as it was too late in the day. Shucks.
Sadly one of the people departing in Greymouth was a Dutch lad named Rene who I had stunt planed and bone carved with, but these departures were a part of the journey and had become a more optomistic occasion as the trip progressed. He did leave me with the newfound desire to bungy jump, though, something I followed through on in Queenstown (more on that later).
Off to rainy Franz Josef, a quaint little town sandwiched between a glacier and a mountain, with little in the way of exciting architecture but lots of excitement in the way of glacier hikes and cheap pub food.
As my ankle was still a little sore and the hike was expensive, I decided to pass on the icy climb scheduled for the next day, and put off my exploration of the township until then.
The cheap pizza meal was welcomed gladly in the nice hostel pub, and the remainder of the night was spent there getting to know some of the new travellers, namely a couple of wee North Irish lasses called Fionnuala (Finn-uw-lah) and Emma (Emm-ah) who I would travel with for the next few days.
It was a reasonably early night for most as the next day would be an early start, and I followed suit, looking forward to a day of taking it easy.

What Happens in Vegas... - Marahau to Barrytown (AKA Baz Vegas)

Awakening far too early and quite sore from the busy day before, much of the trip from Marahau to Barrytown was spent asleep.
It was slightly sad leaving Abel Tasman after all of the excitement, but the tiny town of Barry was one of the more anticipated stops on the journey, so anticipation prevailed.
The reason wee Barrytown was so exciting was because of the carving that takes place there. You can make your own knife, carve bones, carve jade, and then subdue your foes with the furits of your labour.
I was disheartened to learn that making a knife was an all-day affair and would require spending an extra night that I didn't have in order to do it. However, Barrytown or Baz Vegas is a legendary stop on the Stray bus for other reasons. The accommodation is out back of the central pub, and while the facilities are quaint, there is a substantial costume room and cheap booze to keep interesting things happening.
I should point out that I had a rather eloquent post all typed out for this leg of the journey, but the interwebs nom'd it all down, so I'm afraid it's the silver medal version.
Heading into Barrytown we had a cheap meal option - a tasty burger with fries and a beer for only $12 - choice!
After that it was a wee wonder around the shop for some social munching of vegetables, playing with the hostel kitty, and catching up on my painfully neglected journal.
All this lasted into the night and about 10 there seemed to be no sign of drunken rowdiness.
Just as all hope seemed to be lost, some of our young Dutch friends appeared in skirts and oversized sunglasses, beckoning us to join. Theatre background: engage!
However, just as I headed back to my room to stash my notebook, I was met with a contrary sight. All five of my bunkmates were in bed reading and writing. Feeling a little sleepy, I sat down for half a second.
10 hours later, it was time to wake up and carve some bones.