We went to see the Bungy jumpers at Kawarau Bridge, the original AJ Hackett (he invented bungy) jump. The very first day I saw mental people jumping off the 43 metre high bridge, I knew that it was my destiny to do it too because the day before I tried to convince my parents to let me go Sky Diving but it didn’t work! I had to be 10yrs old and 35kgs, and luckily when they weighed me I was 36kg’s! After lots of discussions, my Mum & Dad reluctantly agreed and it was booked. Ollie was relieved that he was too young! The next day Andrew, Amy, Fintan, Florence and Laila kindly came to watch me jump. Dad was underneath me taking pictures.
As I was standing on the jumping platform with everyone watching, I leapt off doing an incredible dive that was way better than of the any other adults. But half way down I forgot that I was strapped on and got really nervous. The best bit though was springing up and down on the bungy rope. Then I had to grab onto a white pole that the men on the raft below me were holding and pulled me onto a boat. I sprinted up a long staircase to meet all the guys to tell them about how much fun my crazy experience was! My Mum cried after I did it with relief, and I got some great cheers from the crowd as I was the youngest one that afternoon. Brilliant!! Cameron.
Apart from being New Zealand’s centre for high adrenaline activities, there are also some more relaxing ways to spend a morning in Queenstown. We went on the TSS Earnslaw, a beautiful old steamer that has been running on the lake since 1915. We visited Walter Peak Farm and went on a farm tour, where I got to feed some Red Deer (an English breed) and even a baby Highland Cow. Next we went for some scones (not as good as Grandpa’s), and I had a chocolate brownie too. After that we went to see the Border Collies showing off their herding skills and a man sheared a shee
p. I was astonished when he said that shearing a whole coat of wool only earned him a couple of dollars.
In the evening we went to the Minus 5 Ice Bar which was awesome!! With lots of ice sculptures carved with chainsaws and pickaxes. We also got some drinks (cocktails), and even the cups were made of ice and my drink had a really fruity twang to it! My Mum & Amy were dancing the Macarana with us and some other people in the bar. After that we had a burger from the famous Ferburger joint, where my Dad and Andrew waited in the queue for about 40 minut
es to get our burgers (thank you for the recommendation Christophe!) but they were delicious. By Oliver
The vibe in Queenstown is energetic and quirky, we watched the running of flocks of rams and ewes through the town centre being herded by sheep-dogs running across their backs and Ben got caught up helping with some street entertainment (he’s got one of those faces!). We also watched some of the other ‘sports’ on offer here, the popular Shotover Jet, the
new ‘Shark’ half boat- half jet cockpit that Ollie fancied doing and what I think is called Flyboarding.
The Shark – does crazy leaps into the air!
Even the weather is a little crazy here, we drove in through heavy rain, woke up to snow on the mountains and ended up boiling in the afternoon sun. This was a good time to head up the Gondola to the lookout over Queenstown and the Lakes and for Ben & Cameron to do some rides down the Luge track– a bit like fast go-carting down the side of a mountain – not for me or Ollie! Ben tried his hardest to convince me to do a tandem Paraglide (not exactly sure why??), which I declined, I am obviously the least reckless in this family. We also managed to fit in a trip to Arrowtown, an old goldmining town where they have managed to preserve over 100 of the original buildings – more my cup of tea – quaint and quite atmospheric too.
Sadly, we also said goodbye to the Dishmans here too, although we hope to have a beer with them in Sydney before they head off to SE Asia and we head up to Brisbane to see our family. They have been great fun, brilliant friends for the boys and we will miss them! Adele
It’s official the Walkers have gone ‘Nuts’; Cameron throwing himself off a bridge, mum dancing the macarena, Ben was born nuts and poor Ollie just got handed the genes 🙂 just had our (Sam & me) Saturday morning catch up on your travels and loving the blogs. An amazing time, you guys are really living the dream. Now…..back to reality, decorating the lounge 🙁 but.. The Rugby home internationals are on later, woohoo. Take care, love Nick x
Dearest intrepid Walkers,
What an unusual and baffling place New Zealand seems to be. Firstly all of those names are definitely just made up by Maoris taking the mick out of the first settlers. Honestly Kuirua park? That is by far too many vowels for a word to be sensible. Looking at your activities over the last few posts had me thinking. Firstly why is Cameron living his life like he is on a Japanese game show? I do applaud the vitality he is displaying with gusto, normally the male of our species only manages to be that enthusiastic about danger when he is on the wrong end of a Lager binge. Talking about bingeing it is nice to see that Ben is hiding his rampant alcohol issues behind a poorly disguised “knowledge” of new world wines. Ben it’s very simple, wine is grape juice that makes you fall over, when tasted if it doesn’t make your right eye involuntarily close or melt your teeth it is a good one. My main thought was why on the other end of the world is the propensity for high adrenaline activities so prevalent? I would normally assume that the country was so deathly dull that flinging yourself off a bridge with an extended piece of knicker elastic tied around your leg would kill the boredom for a few minutes and therefore make sense. I decided to google New Zealand and look up some facts to maybe explain this beautiful if rather nutty country. New Zealand is home to the Giant Weta which is the heaviest insect in the world, the steepest street in the world, they also have a Minister for lord of the rings in their government. In 1990 the Prime minister appointed a ‘National wizard’, there is a giant carnivorous snail living on south island and each year more people die playing lawn bowls than scuba diving. If you listen very carefully you will hear a small thump in the distance; that is me resting my case. The place is a lunatic asylum.
Thank you for enquiring about my health. I am on the mend and it looks like the surgery has worked as I can eat ok now. Stay safe Walkers I am sure you are in Oz now marvelling at the country that brought us Neighbours, drive through off licences and the word “dinkum”.
Stay safe intrepid explorers
Stephen, you’ve excelled yourself this time, I was almost crying with laughter when I read this!! Good to hear that the Op appears to have been a success, now time to get back into the kitchen and start piling back on those pounds!!! Ben
Waouh !!!!!!!!! Cameron, you did it !! I will show the picture to Lisa and Hélio !
Best wishes from new caledonia 🙂
Bonjour Cameron ton plongon était parfait !!! Je suis impressionnée !!!
Bonjour Lisa. I have had a lot of fun in New Zealand doing the crazy activities. Bungy jumping was my favourite because it was really exciting and scary too. What do you like to do in Noumea?
From Cameron
Hey bungee jumper,
You know how you said that mental people were jumping off that cliff. You must be just as crazy to jump off it. Not even i would do that and I believe I’m pretty daring. What other daring things are you guys planning on doing. Don’t tell me you’re going to go sky diving or go swimming with sharks ( please do not try that I don’t want you to come home with a chunk of your leg gone ) or wing walking ( that does sound fun though )
10 minutes later——- so all I’m trying to say is that I want you to come home in one piece.
Charlotte xxxxx
G’day Charlotte
Unfortunately I’m still paying back my Dad for the bungy out of my pocket money – only 2 weeks to go! I would really like to do a sky dive next but my persuading skills aren’t good enough, and secondly I don’t have any pocket money left. Diving with sharks? No way. I’m trying to avoid anything that wants to Sting,bite or Kill me but that is pretty hard in Australia!
I hope that your flu is getting better and you are Back on your horse soon.
Love Cousin Cam:-)
Adele, had you been drinking ? The Macarena !! And did you remember all the actions ?
Cameron you are the nuttiest nut I know ! The question is are you know 6 ft tall after all that bouncing ?
Xxxx S
Hello, sorry for delay, have now reached Mum & Dad’s and back online!! Yes the Macarena was so beautifully done there ended up being about 10 of us doing it in the Icebar. Amazing how a few frozen cocktails can put some rhythm back into your feet! xx
I can see the boys are having a great time…what adventures they will be taking home!!!