Louise Crawley Photography

New Zealand 2013

On August 2nd the boyfriend, Birdy, and I headed off on our second adventure in almost as many months! This adventure took us back to my home country for an extreme week in Queenstown, New Zealand.

Queenstown is definitely the place to be for adventure, and we took full advantage of that.

Our second full day in Queenstown we were up bright an early and on the slopes of the beautiful Remarkables. Although we had both snowboarded before, we thought it would be a good idea to do a refresher course. Before long we were carving up the beginners and intermediate slopes. I will admit that some of the "carving" was with our buttocks and not our boards! The amount of times Birdy took out fellow skiers and snowboarders when attempting to disembark the chair lift, you would almost think we was doing it on purpose! Nobody got hurt (except for Birdies ego!) and everyone had a good laugh.

We spent two of the following three days on the slopes of the Remarkables. On the second day I had a particularly bad stack where I lost all my gear, otherwise known as a Garage Sale. This stack resulted in my wrist and head forcefully smashing against the icy snow. Initially I was concerned about the impact my head took, however, it seemed that my wrist was in fact the worst of my worries! By the time we were ready to get back on the bus and head back to the motel my wrist was starting to feel a bit achy. When we arrived back in Queenstown town centre my hand had doubled in size and I couldn't move it without a lot of pain. To make my life easier I ordered a burger for dinner, however, I was in so much pain that Birdy had to cut up my burger just so I could eat it. I thought I had broken my wrist and that my adventure may have been over. How wrong was I!!

After taking a handful (other hand!) of nurofen before heading to bed I was lucky enough to wake up with a slightly smaller and more functional hand and wrist, albeit still quite sore! Nevertheless, I powered on, excited for what the day was to bring - The shotover Jet and the Nevis Bungy!

The shotover Jet wasn't as exciting as I had expected it. It's quite good for 'everyday Jo' but not for me and Birdy. It failed to get the heart pumping and the adrenaline racing. But the afternoon brought the best part of the entire trip - Nevis.

The Nevis bungy is the second largest bung in the southern hemisphere with a fall of 134m! The Nevis is considered the bungy of all bungys in Queenstown! First we were kitted up into our bungy attire and shuffled into a small metal cage suspended on large wires that crossed the gorge. Then we were shuffled out of the small metal cage and into a slightly larger metal and glass box suspended in the middle of the gorge - for anyone with a fear of heights, this would be absolutely terrifying! Luckily, I am not scared of heights and happened to be the most excited and enthusiastic person in the box! Well I was until the moment I stood out onto the ledge... I froze! I heard the countdown to jump, but I didn't even flinch. I took a deep breath, and with a little bit of persuasion I managed to jump after the second countdown. It was the craziest experience of my life! My heart was pounding, my palms were sweating and I was absolutely speechless when I got pulled back up to the suspended metal/glass box!

Following another day of awesome snowboarding, we jumped in a helicopter which took us up river with some inflatable boats and some wooden paddles. Our group separated into two groups, and we managed to get the guide who hadn't actually taken a white water rafting trip before. It was hilarious! We sailed down grade 3 (and some grade 4) rapids bouncing off the rocks and walls in the gorge. One poor girl ended up in the freezing cold water not long into the paddle and my wrist was rather sore by the end. The afternoon was then spent racing each other down the Queenstown luge.

That evening we caught a bus up to the Coronet Peak ski field for some night snowboarding. As soon as the sun went down it began to snow. With the lights lighting up the snowy mountain and the falling snowflakes it felt like we were trapped in some magical wonderland. It was incredibly beautiful. I didn't want the night to end. I wish I had my camera on the slopes to capture the atmosphere.

The following day we picked up our rental car and headed for a day excursion out of Queenstown, through Arrowtown and into Wanaka. Our first stop, however, was the Cadrona ski field. Whilst Birdy was enjoying himself up on the slopes, I was fast asleep in the rental car; inevitably worn out from our action packed week. Birdy said that Cadrona was amazing and that we will BOTH be hitting up the ski field next time we are in Queenstown. Arrowtown is a quaint little town that I absolutely adore. It had amazing coffee and a calm, laid back atmosphere! Our last stop was Wanaka before we headed back to Queenstown. Although I had been to Wanaka before, this visit I decided I wasn't a fan. It had been developed into a more commercial tourist town; it had no remaining character and was somewhat disappointing.

We had spent the past week in Queenstown and I was pooped! But our journey wasn't over. The following day we packed our bags, checked out of our motel and started our slow journey over to Christchurch and then up to Hastings to visit family and friends. The journey was a rather uneventful one, and I won't bore you with the details. As for my wrist, it gave me trouble for many months following the trip. I never saw the doctor (stubborn, I know!) but I believe it was some sort of ligament damage and not a fracture like I first thought. Nevertheless, it was an amazing trip, and the injured wrist just made it that much more of an adventure!