New Zealand - Queenstown, Shotover Jet and Canyon Swing

Breakfast at Fergbakery was a pie and boston doughnut for Andrew, and (half of) a giant gluten free orange muffin for me. Fergburger was already bustling at 8am, about as bustling as the butterflies in my tummy.









After checking in at the Shotover Canyon Swing shop, we waited at the Station building for our ride to the Shotover Jet. Once we got to the canyon we realised that we probably needed even more clothes than we had. I look like puff pastry and I was still freezing! We suited up with windbreakers and lifejackets then waited for our ride.





The ride was really fun, fast, and a lot more dangerous than I expected. Well, it looked dangerous, I'm sure we were in the good hands of skilled drivers. The turns in the narrow canyon came so close to the rocks I can't believe they don't have crashes every now and then. At certain points the driver would put his arm up and draw a circle in the air meaning he was about to do a 360 turn which meant hang on tight and prepare to get wet. Poor Andrew got the brunt of it because he very kindly let me sit in the middle of the boat.







It's not insanely scary or intense, (well the wind chill is), but it's really really fun and I'd definitely recommend it. Next we took the shuttle bus to the Shotover Canyon Swing which was just long enough to get very nervous. Once you arrive it's a short walk to the office and jumping platform. We then got weighed, got something drawn on our hands that we assume had to do with our weight, then made our way to the platform.









A couple of girls went first, then I went before Andrew. I did that nervous thing of asking too many questions, and the guys at the platform made the most of my nervousness by teasing me about it which actually made it better. I decided to do a forwards jump, and after counting myself down from 3 I ran and jumped into nothing. It was exhilarating! The first couple of seconds are a blur, and you lose your breath as you hit the air. The next couple of seconds after you come to grips with the feeling are amazing, and you start to be able to notice the scenery and enjoy the fall. It was really smooth with no jolt at all, and the way back up gives you a chance to enjoy the cliffs.



Andrew went next, and he went forwards on his first jump too. He ran for it with no hesitation and enjoyed it so much he decided to go for a second jump. Andrew's second go was backwards, and he looked relaxed as he fell backwards from the platform with his hands behind his head. What a pro! The entire experience was great, so professional and well organised. Although we didn't buy them, the videos and photos at the end were really cleverly put together and fun to watch. Another experience that I'd definitely recommend as a must do.











We recovered with lunch at Fergburger which was worth lining up for. Although it looked long, the line and wait for food was only 10 minutes, those guys definitely have the burger production line sorted out. The burger, chips and onion rings were amazing, and even the gluten free bun was great. Andrew also got a hokey pokey gelato milkshake which was wicked but I'm so glad I didn't add that to the pile of things that would give me a stitch.







We checked out the gondolas but decided not to go up, and stopped into the Red Rock for a beer before walking home to the Rees hotel along the lake.





I'm loving our first chance for a lazy afternoon enjoying the view!

New Zealand - Queenstown, Skiing at The Remarkables Day #2

Last night Andrew cooked an amazing dinner of New Zealand lamb, roast locally grown veggies, with New Zealand wine. It was exactly what we needed for the big day of skiing today.





Andrew and I did a couple of runs together (practice slope then Alta Green) before splitting of and doing our own thing up until lunch.





At first I was all out of confidence because the snow was really icy. But my confidence grew as the sun melted the snow and made it nice and soft so turns were actually possible without skidding. I listened to The National and did a bunch of the green runs over and over, and accidentally did a blue run in between Alta Green and Turquoise in my attempt to do Turquoise… I survived, just barely! It was really short, but full of rocks. It was the most intrepid run I've ever done.



After lunch we did another couple of runs together (Turquoise and Casterway) then split up again to do runs at our own levels. This time I listened to Purity Ring and worked on getting confidence with speed between those two green runs, while Andrew went all over the place including Gotham and Alta Blue which looked insane.





When we got back to the hotel I thought I'd go to the gym to flush my legs out and do some arms and abs to balance the whole experience. I did my usual thing, then spent about 10 minutes on the vibrating machine which made me feel like I was walking on air. The best thing was lying sidewards on the thing and getting it to vibrate my ITB. I'm not sure if there'll be any lasting effects but it was a great massage and I feel much looser tonight at least!



Tomorrow we're doing some adventure stuff; Shotover Jet and Canyon. I will have to let my mum know straight away after so she knows I didn't die.

New Zealand - Queenstown, Skiing at The Remarkables

After a full night of sleep (finally!) we caught the NZSki bus up the winding road to The Remarkables. Our ski gear was awesome, I'm so glad we splurged on our own jacket and pants.



It comes back to you so quickly! We did a quick run on the practice slope before meeting Alex, our instructor for a lesson. We were quite lucky since there were only 3 of us, which is enough to run the lesson for 2h instead of 1h which happens if there's 2 or less people, but small enough so that we got a lot of one on one instruction. Andrew was amazing, and I wasn't too bad either. The instructor told me I was better than the other girl in our group who'd been skiing lots before, so that gave me a bit of confidence.





It's a gorgeous ski field with lots of different options. I don't think I'll get bored of the green runs and Andrew has heaps of blue runs to explore. The facilities are really nice too, with good options for lunch and drinks.









After lunch we headed back for the second half of the lesson which was only 1 hour because the 3rd girl in our group decided to drop down to level 3a (we were 3b). I was much less confident this time because we started some of the blue runs. I basically forgot to ski on account of the paralysing fear, so I bailed on the final run so Andrew and the instructor could fit in one more on a blue slope before the lesson was over. After the lesson we did one more green run and I got my confidence back, so it will be green for a while for me yet!







Now we're back at the Rees Hotel enjoying the view (and a Garage Project Pills n Thrills beer), far out it's a good view (and beer)!





It was such a fun day, but my shins are killing me. It's so painful putting those ski boots on again after taking them off, and this is only the first day! Fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow.

Melbourne to Queenstown - Healesville, Four Pillars, DFO, Gingerboy, Book of Mormon, Amisfield and the Reese Hotel

After a big breakfast at the Hyatt we headed out to the Healesville Sanctuary to see a platypus. What a weird little thing she was! The platypus show, Tales from Platypus Creek, was really cute and showed off how playful naturally the platypus is (apparently they love being tickled, adorable). We ended up seeing pretty much the entire Sanctuary, but unfortunately missed the bird show which was cancelled because a kestrel had escaped. At first we thought that the lady walking around saying that the bird had escaped was part of the show! But no, the main star of the show had really escaped. 

Another highlight were the koalas which did a great job of looking comfortable face planting into a tree fork. I took some koala inspiration on the flight from Melbourne to Queenstown and managed to get some sleep face planting on the arm rest.

On the way back we stopped through Four Pillars, a really cute and stylish distillery. Although we weren't in the mood for a gin tasting we picked up a couple of cute souvenirs. 

Next we had a god awful experience at the Southbank DFO. There are actually lines, with bouncers for gods sake to get into the Nike and Adidas stores. I couldn't believe it! We were pretty successful though and each found some good ski gear on sale. Andrew battled the crowd and got some new Nike gear, and I managed to get a very useful-for-skiing Sass & Bide dress which I miraculously managed to fit into my luggage.

On the way back we got stuck in some crazy traffic on Flinders street which was grid locked for no good reason. Google Maps was suggesting that we abandon the car get out and walk... it was dire, but we managed to get back to the hotel in time to get changed for Gingerboy.

Gingerboy was amazing, I'm so glad I finally got to try their son in law eggs. The food was amazing, and their take on a dark and stormy with crystallised ginger was wicked.

Book of Mormon at the Princess Theatre was really fun. It's only the third musical I've seen (alongside The Lion King and Matilda) and it was really different again. As Andrew would say, "it's nice to see a show"! The performers were all so talented, although I think I expected it to be more crass than it was, and was disappointed that it wasn't. It was a really fantastic show that had it's moments, and you could clearly see the inspiration from South Parknbut it some of the humour was a little bit off center (not offensive or anything just a bit strange). 

This morning we landed Queenstown, and headed straight to Aimsfield Winery for an amazing 3 course lunch at the picturesque winery grounds. I was initially intimidated by the duck course which came as a full duck, bill and all, but got some courage after a couple of bites. 

Our room at the Rees Hotel has the best view I've ever had in any accommodation ever, it's ridiculous! 

Tomorrow, skiing!