New town, more partying!

Yet another early start the next day, this time to Queenstown, NZ's unofficial adventure capital. The morning wasn't as spectacular as it could have been. The previous day, Richie was telling us about a possibility of doing skydiving first thing in the morning over Fox Glacier for those who wanted to try it but wouldn't have time to do it in Queenstown. According to him (and he's done quite a few jumps), jumping over Fox Glacier (another glacier, nearby the Franz Josef Glacier) was one of the best places to do it (though the limit is 12,000 feet here), and doing it in the morning would only improve the experience. The way he described the sun breaking the horizon during sunrise and the view of both the Fox Glacier and the neighboring rain forest while falling...I didn't care about the costs anymore (would've been cheaper this time since I wouldn't get the complete package and it's a lower altitude), I just wanted to do it just for the scenery (and the experience, hopefully not blanking out this time!)! The trade-off would be that those who went skydiving wouldn't get to see Lake Matheson, often called Mirror Lake because of the reflection of the landscape it captures, but I didn't care and I put my name in along with a few others. But it was just a possibility...there was a chance we wouldn't be able to go because the forecast was predicting a cloudy and windy morning over Fox Glacier. And we found first thing in the morning it was definitely canceled. But at least I'd get to see Lake Matheson now right? Well, the view wasn't that stunning - in fact it was quite poor - all thanks for the cloudy weather. There was a cafe (yet another) near the lake that most of us ended up chilling out at for a while, waiting for the "breakfast" stop to finish (everything was ridiculously expensive so I didn't get any food, and I couldn't even finish my $2.50 NZD coffee, it was almost as bad as Tim Horton's coffee).

The suspension bridge at the beginning of the trail to the view point, sadly the best part of the visit to Lake Matheson. It was so wobbly it was near impossible to get a steady shot (which is why my photos are slightly blurred), but that's what made it fun - feeling like you're walking around drunk first thing before you're even fully awake - good times for all hahaha. And it wasn't actually that bright, I've edited them so the photos won't be so grey.


An interesting bird I spotted. It almost looks like there's a rainbow pattern to some of its feathers.


Lake Matheson is famous for its reflection of the Southern Alps...what reflection? It was really cloudy (the entire sky was grey; I've edited it a bit like the photos above).


The view from atop a random gravel pile I found. So cloudy the tops of the mountains couldn't be seen.


Back on the road. Passing by the effects of a rock slide, causing the closure of a road.


Another brief stop, at Thunder Falls. Very beautiful scenery.


Not an uncommon sight in NZ.


More views along the drive. There were many rivers along the route in this region.


Passing by the gorgeous Lake Hawea. I know the photos are a little dark - we were moving quite fast so I had to shoot at a fast speed.


Next stop, Lake Wanaka. The water was freezing cold as the weather was pretty windy and cool too (notice the girl wearing long clothing?). It was supposed to be summer in NZ, but it was surprisingly quite cool (rarely over 20 Celsius). But the question is: why is there a half-naked guy, beginning to strip off his boxers, running towards the lake? Well before we rolled up to the lake, Richie said he'd give whoever was willing to skinny dip in Lake Wanaka a voucher for a free pizza dinner and a free teapot (containing alcohol; more on that later) at one of the local bars in Queenstown. I guess he wasn't expecting anyone to do it (especially since a lot of the party people had stayed behind in Franz Josef) because he only had one voucher, so when me (that's right haha) and the other guy in the photo both said we'd do it, he changed the conditions to giving the voucher to the first one in the lake. Well, the other guy obviously beat me to it - he was the first off the bus and stripping down while running to the plank! Plus, he had the benefit of his girlfriend grabbing his stuff and bringing him a towel as soon as he got out of the water (the girl in the photo). Then Richie said he'd give discount vouchers for teapots to anyone who'd take a dip in the lake (not naked), so I had grabbed my swimming trunks out of my bag. But then after hearing how cold the lake really was (and testing it myself), I decided it wouldn't be worth it anymore (I think that was a good decision hahaha). Yes, he actually stripped down all the way - my compact camera was too slow to reload for a more hilarious shot as he got closer to jumping in.


More views around Lake Wanaka (I've never seen black ducks before...).


Some strange sculptures around the lake.


It was so windy that the seagull was trying to rest behind the bench.


Some more views of around the lake. Just to get an idea of how windy it was, take a look at the tree's branches in the second photo. There wasn't much to do at the lake (especially since it was just a brief stop) so me, Markus, and Corinne went to a nearby cafe (yes yet another one haha) in town (same name as the lake) for another pricey coffee drink (which was actually decent, though I got a cappucino this time). We almost missed the bus(!) as we lost track of time enjoying our drinks (and the drivers generally don't do checks unless someone points out someone is missing).

As we got closer to Queestown, we made another stop just outside town at the Kawarau Bridge, home to the world's first commercial bungy site and standing 42 m over the Kawarau River. Of course I did it! And just in the nick of time too (I was the first from our bus that went) - shortly after I went, it started to suddenly pour hard and they had to postpone jumping (by that time most of us were running back to the bus already). It was an amazing thrill - way better than any roller coaster I've been on (yes, even the Behemoth at Wonderland). People asked me if it was better or worse than skydiving, but it's hard to classify that way because it's 2 totally different experiences. Absolutely thrilling! I was actually a bit nervous just before jumping as I stood there at the edge of the platform (if you ever see my jump video, you'll see I took a few quick breaths to prepare myself before jumping hahaha).

The viewing balcony and the jump platform on the side of the bridge.

The next few photos are the ones I paid for. You'll notice I was wearing my swimming goggles - they're prescribed and I wanted to see everything clearly (instead of missing it in one big blur). Strangely, the people working at the bungy found it surprising I wanted to wear them (there's no way I'm the first person ever to jump with prescribed goggles?).

I asked if I could touch the water with just my fingers (thus the splashes in 2nd last photo) - it's amazing how accurate they are adjusting the bungee rope.

It continued to pour for the rest of the drive to Queenstown, and I got soaked running with my big pack to Bumbles Backpackers hostel when we finally pulled into town late in the afternoon (I didn't stay at one of the recommended hostels, so even though the bus passed by the hostel along its route through the surprisingly small town, I had to get to the hostel from one of the drop-off points). After settling in a bit, I ran into the British guy (who had jumped in the late) and his girlfriend, who were staying at the hostel too (and I thought I was the only one that didn't stay at Magic Bus' recommended hostels...). Back in my room, I met 2 Canadian girls (one from Toronto(!), the other from Vancouver) who were doing a short trip through some parts of NZ. I'm surprised by how many Canadians I ran into NZ (as Richie put it, it was a "Canadian invasion"). I ran into them again a little bit after in the kitchen, and they offered for me to join them for their supper (they had cooked too much). Just veggies and pasta (cooked fresh veggies were an awesome change of pace), and it wasn't that filling (I didn't want to finish all their food haha), but a free meal is a free meal!

I was too tired after the wet run to bother taking out my DSLR, so I explored the town a bit with my compact (and wouldn't you know it, it finally stopped raining when I went out). I'll apologize now for the blurry and off-coloured photos (except for the second last one, which turned out surprisingly sharp and accurate, even though I was shooting at 1/29 seconds), it's what you get when trying to take natural light photos in lower light conditions (flash doesn't do anything and doesn't expose the photos properly...I really should have used my DSLR hahaha). For some reason, I pictured Queenstown to be bigger than it turned out to be, since it was known as the unofficial adventure capital of NZ. Honestly, the town would collapse if it weren't for the tourists. I made a brief stop at Subway to grab a sandwich for dinner (I needed some meat!), which was sadly pretty much the only place to grab a healthy meal for a cheap price.

The view of the town from the hostel's parking lot.


Down the road towards town.


Gorgeous sunset from the heart of town. I really wish I could have captured it with my DSLR.


Night shot from outside the hostel (if I shot it with flash, it'd be pitch black).

Then the best part of the night, the partying! I wandered into a bar called The World Bar, one of the handful of bars in town (mainly frequented by the backpackers). The night started off slow (I got there after 10 pm too, and Kiwis seem to party relatively early) - the crowd was small, everyone at their own tables, the dance floor empty... And then all of a sudden, when it was almost 11, the place suddenly exploded with people. One thing I should point out about NZ is that there aren't any dance clubs like we have in Canada or the US (not even in the biggest city and most international city, Auckland); rather they have bars, that just happen to have a small dance floor (usually in a corner) with a "DJ" playing older hits (the Pacific region in general has a big lag in terms of catching up with the Canadian/US/UK/European hits). But once the party got going, it really got going. Richie even bought me a drink and we split a teapot; like I said before, an awesome driver!

At the beginning of the night - empty dance floor.


People starting to pile in now. Apparently a few thought it was toga night or something hahaha.


With some of the German girls I met on the bus. I can't for the life of me remember their names hahaha.


I saw this on the way to the washroom and had to take a picture hahaha. It's a cigarette machine (there's more than one meaning to fag). What I find more hilarious than the title "Fag Machine" is the picture of the guy...I have no clue what he's doing there?!


The typical blurred clubbing photo - compacts stink in the dark without flash.


Me, Markus, and Corinne.


Pretty full now (I don't remember there being that much fake fog).


Classic hahaha. Markus in the middle of one of his hilarious Euro-inspired dance moves.


Taking a picture of someone taking a picture...it seemed like a funny idea at the time hahaha.


Dancing the night away. In the first photo is some other Canadian girls I met on the bus (it's a bad angle, it looks like there's no one else there but there were a lot of people around haha). It was just a coincidence that we bumped into them in the club. Again, I can't remember their names either!