Queenstown: The Adventure Captial of New Zealand

Kia Ora!
Queenstown was originally valued for its pounamu -- greenstone -- and moa and then its prosperity under the gold rush in the 1800s, but today it's one of the world's greatest destinations for ADVENTURE!

With so much to do and so little time the squad didn't waste a second. As soon as we arrived we went to Fergburger. Fergburger is basically the iconic burger joint of Queenstown and according to Erin and Alicia the burgers are "big, juicy, beautiful and a bit messy".

 

Alicia chowing down on her Fergburger.

Josh and Braden enjoying Milford Sound.

Erin's best day ever face.

The following day Josh, Braden, Alicia and Erin were all fortunate enough to visit the incredible Milford Sound. Erin explains their day perfectly. We took a bus ride through Fiordland National Park to Milford Sound, where we toured the area by boat. Fiordland National Park is New Zealand's largest national park, and is a magnificent 13,000 square kilometers of pure beauty. On the bus tour, we stopped alongside massive glaciers, drank from the crystal clear glacial rivers, and saw avalanche trails, snow-covered mountaintops, and reflective lakes. The bus trip to Milford Sound was absolutely spectacular, but nothing compared to the Sound itself. Dubbed the eighth wonder of the world by Rudyard Kipling, Milford Sound lives up to its reputation. We learned a lot while on the ship: that Milford Sound is falsely named because it is actually a glacially-created fjord, that it is the wettest inhabited area in New Zealand, that it is bordered by the Tasman Sea, and that it was often missed by early explorers because the opening is hard to spot from the ocean. But mostly, we learned that it is easily the most beautiful place we will ever see. It was a wonderful adventure!


Our next adventure was skiing and snowboarding. Katherine, Tory and Le'a took the evening to night ski at Cornet peak. While Josh and Braden skied The Remarkables the following day. Tory compared the runs to what you would expect out west in the USA, but much shorter. We enjoyed several runs down the mountain with a few sit-downs due to the ice patches. We couldn't help but notice that the lights on the mountain were all extremely bright and uncovered, shielding any view of the stars above us.

Katherine, Le'a and Tory taking on the slopes.

Now for the adrenaline junkies. The squad started our Saturday morning at AJ Hackett Bungy, where some of the squad took on the challenge of throwing ourselves off the Kawarau Bridge, 43 meters above the Kawarau River. The Kawarau Bridge is home to the world's first and most famous jumps. Overcome with nerves and excitement we each successfully completed the jump! You could say we are a little insane, but the feeling of falling, although frightening at first, was absolutely incredible. It literally takes your breath away! 

Braden, Tory, Christina, Katherine and Le'a happy to have completed the jump.

Our next adrenaline rush was skydiving that same afternoon. We embraced the fear of jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft at 12,000ft at 200kph and did tandem skydiving through NZONE Skydive. In 1990, NZONE Skydive was NZ's first tandem skydive operation and they are now celebrating 23 years of skydiving. So we were in good hands! Once we took the leap out of the aircraft door we experience 45 seconds of free fall. In those seconds we went through the clouds and essentially felt like we were flying. It was an unreal experience to say the least. Then once the canopy opened and we slowed down, we were able to see the dramatic scenery of NZ. Like a bird soaring high in the sky we got to experience the true beauty of the NZ landscape. The only way to describe that feeling is pure bliss. That moment we landed, overcome with happiness, was unimaginable. It was the best experience of my life!

Christina, Le'a, Tory and Katherine all ready to Skydive.

Then the squad packed up our stuff and boarded a bus back to Christchurch to end the best weekend EVER. The bus ride back was even beautiful as the day was clear and we were able to get a glimpse of Mt. Cook, an amazing site to see in NZ.

Beautiful view of Mt. Cook

We made it back to Lincoln and the Squad was finally reunited again. Over dinner we exchanged stories and got to hear about the relaxing weekend Connor and Sam had in Christchurch. Sam said the damage from the earthquakes is still readily apparent and, although the city has a great spirit of resilience, it's obvious that Christchurch isn't what it used to be. Despite that, Christchurch does have a certain charm and innovative ideas they've had to make the most of the post-earthquake devastation and rebuilding.They explored the Restart Mall, which is a shopping center built entirely from freight shipping containers for most of the morning. They had lunch at Dimitri's Greek Food for some delicious falafel pitas. Then spent the rest of the day with more exploring before heading back to Lincoln. 

Restart Mall in Christchurch

We can all say it was a weekend full of adventures and magical memories for a lifetime!
Cheers! Christina