BUNGY BUNGY

Well I have been in Hamilton for almost two weeks since I have returned from break, and it really has not been as bad as I imagined. I finally feel like our group has made enough connections to be able to enjoy this place, and it is truly a blessing to come back to my own room and not have a care in the world. It makes the traveling that much better! In all of my downtime back here at school, I have been able to catch up with some friends back in the states and across the world. It's amazing that so many of my friends from Furman and people that I grew up with in Sudbury are scattered across the world, having equally amazing experiences. What makes it even better is knowing that they are having different experiences from me. Whether its hanging on the beaches of Australia, exploring old world Europe, taking safaris in Africa, or going to the Spanish clubs every night, all of their experiences bring something new to the table. I wish I could experience it all-and hopefully I do someday-but I value the experience that I have been able to have here in New Zealand and would not change it for anything. One thing that New Zealand has taught me is that I have time. If I want to get to these places that my friends are seeing, then damn it I will.

But back to spring break....

When I last left off, we were about to head into Queenstown. Now Queenstown has an amount of hype unlike any other place in the world that I have been to. When I told people that I would be living in New Zealand, they told me that I better make it to Queenstown. And the Kiwis understand too. They know that its a tourist hot spot, even though most have never even been there. All of this hype left me with serious doubt that it could live up to the hype. I imagined it to be a ritzy ski town, similar to Aspen and in many ways it was. But lets rewind for a second.

On the way from Wanaka to Queenstown is a place called the Kawarau Bridge. It was here that the original bungy jump took place when a wild man named A.J. Hackett was able to secure the bridge from the Maori people. It looks down over a river 42 meters below. Today the bridge still serves as one of the worlds most popular bungy spots. Now, I was not going to bungy. That type of thrill did not get me going. If anything, I wanted to skydive. But our whole bus ride, the driver kept hyping up the damn bungy to the point where I couldn't say no anymore. I convinced myself that you cannot go to Queenstown-known as the adventure capital of the world-and not bungy. In my last post I talked about a British fellow from my bus named Richard. He had told us that if we were thinking about doing something, we had to do it. If we didn't, we would be living with the regret of not doing it. This was probably the greatest piece of wisdom that I have received in New Zealand. If I had not done the bungy, I would have kept thinking about whether I should have done it or not.

At first, I thought I wanted to do the Nevis, which is over three times the length. But when Walker told me that he was just going to do the bridge, I agreed that the Nevis might be a little over the top. So we settled for the bridge. I don't think I took my headphones off for the two days before the bungy. Quite honestly, I was scared. More than scared, I was mortified. I was about to jump off of a bridge and rely on a cord to yank me back up? No thanks. But this was a new Wilson. So I pretended I was getting ready for a rugby game, trying to pump myself up with music. I knew it was all mental. As soon as my feet left that platform there was nothing I could do anyways. So all I had to do was jump off. Piece of cake. As I walked up to that bridge, I was ready. There was no turning back now. As I entered the cage to get harnessed up, all I could think about was the music that was playing in my headphones minutes before. I was amped. Now my feet were strapped together, so when I got up I had to hop my way up to the platform. I didn't look down, smiled for the pre-jump photo and waited for my go. I didn't even realize it but I was holding onto the wall of the platform. The jump master was telling me to let go, but I wasn't even paying attention. I was in the zone. I finally heard him and let go. It was time for my fate, my destiny. It was time to bungy. The countdown began.

5....What the hell am I doing, I thought to myself.

4....You are making a huge mistake.

3....You won't jump off that platform.

2....Too late now!

1....And away we go!

My feet left the platform and I was off. Now my form was less than perfect. I was no Olympic diver, heck I couldn't even dive during swim lessons back in the day. With my feet tied together all I could muster was a bunny-hop-over-the-edge-pencil-dive. My heart was racing, I was flying through the air. I started to have chest pains-to this day I believe that I had a minor heart attack. My body just did not know what to expect, and it definitely was not expecting this. I was hurtling towards the river when *SNAP* I flipped over and was dangling by my feet. This is where my form came to hurt me. I had to flip over eventually. I had a little whiplash as I was bouncing up and down, but I was loving it. What a rush! As I was lowered down into a boat below, I was completely out of it. It was a high the likes of which I had never experienced before. The guys in the boat told me to flip the bird to the camera, which I promptly did. I was not in the most flattering position, but I didn't care. You couldn't wipe that smile off of my face. As I walked up the hill I had to stop and catch my breath. It was euphoria. It was one of the coolest things I had ever done. I couldn't speak. When I got to the top, everybody asked how it was. "Sweet!" Was all I could muster through my wide grin.

It was one of the coolest things I had ever done, and yet I would never do it again. It is one of those thrills that I don't need to pay 180 bucks (I got a great deal that day though) for more than once. But you have to do it once. Now don't expect this crazy Wilson to come running back to the US. Have you ever seen the episode of Seinfeld where "Relationship George" is worried about his "world colliding" with "Independent George?" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPG3YMcSvzo) This is what would happen if I brought "Adventurous Wilson" back to "Normal Wilson" world. It will always be there, but I don't need my worlds colliding on a regular basis.

After we finished there, we headed into Queenstown. It was, as I expected, your average, quaint little ski town, set on the shores of a beautiful lake overlooking "The Remarkables" mountain range. Something about mountain ranges always gets me. They are always perfectly named. The Remarkables are by no means the exception to the rule. They are quite remarkable. But do not let the "quaint" nature of this little ski town fool you because when the sun goes down, this town heats up. For such a small town it carries a big reputation and one of the things it is known for is its party scene. The town has 46 bars, which in itself is quite remarkable. But beyond that, there are bars in every hole in every wall, and every bar is unique. From ice bars, to hot bars, Irish pubs to British taverns, this town has it all. It made for three quite entertaining nights out. On Friday night, the night that we arrived, we went out for a bar crawl with the rest of our bus group. It was the last time we would all be together, as we were all leaving Queenstown at different times. It was a lot of fun.

The next day we headed up to the top of the mountain overlooking Queenstown for a nice leisurely hike and some great views of the town and lake. The hike was less of a leisurely stroll and more of a treacherous climb, but we made it to the top. The views were stunning. Right below us sat Queenstown. Behind Queenstown was the lake. Behind the lake were The Remarkables. It was the view with everything. Also at the top was a luge track, which a bunch of us partook in. Imagine real life Mario Kart and you have luge. We got a drink and snack at the scenic overlook bar before sneaking onto the gondola to ride back down. That night, Walker and I decided to lay low. The night before had clearly gotten the best of us. We also wanted to plan our next moves. Monday we would be heading to Milford Sounds for the day, and Walker had decided that he wanted to stay off in Te Anau after our trip to the Sound and hike part of the famous Kepler track. It would be 14k up and 14k back, mostly uphill. I had not yet decided if I wanted to go, but I had all day Sunday to consider my options. Sunday was a rainy day, so we just went to the movies and prepared. I was going to go with Walker. We had come too far for me to ditch him now. Besides, I was still in "Adventurous Wilson" mode.

So we woke up early Monday morning to catch our bus, and we were on our way for the four hour drive out to the world famous Milford Sound.

To be continued....

Up next: Milford, Kepler, and back to Queenstown!