BOING!!!

Can you guess what was invented in Queenstown? Yep! Yesterday we had 12:00 appointments to jump off a ledge over the city:) That morning we decided that breakfast probably wasn't a good idea so we skipped it...but then when we got to the top of the gondola, the cafe near the gift shop had donuts that looked REALLY good, so we each got one. Probably a bad idea, didn't feel so good, but we still had a little time to digest before we jumped.

The bungee opened at 12, so we let a couple people go before us so we weren't the first jumps of the day. "Oops, they didn't bounce, we need to adjust something"...I don't think so. Katy went first while I videotaped. Her technique was to kind of just run off the edge. She survived! I talked to her after she came up and she said it was "ok" and "kind of scarier than she thought...but good." Umm, ok, well, I'm next. I really wasn't scared...mostly excited. They strapped me in and I was ready to go. Of course the guys working there were saying stuff like, "we're only a little bit drunk" and "your harness MIGHT be tight enough." Cool. I asked one of the guys about which technique to use, and he said "dive for the mountains", so I did...and it was awesome! It wasn't scary, just all fun. And I survived! As you can see in the pictures, I really couldn't have asked for a prettier place to bungee jump. It was a great experience. There is video of me jumping...I'll see if it will let me upload it on here. Skydiving next?

After not jumping to our deaths, we grabbed lunch in town, walked around a little bit and then started driving towards Milford Sound in fjordland. It was a pretty long drive, so we stopped to camp along the way. Katy somehow convinced me to camp at a "real" campsite, not the nice ones we've been staying at, to save some money. I was willing to give it it try, so we did, and it will be the last time. No shower, just a port-a-potty in the forest and nowhere to do anything. I had to change in the car, "wash" my face with a towelette thingy and brush my teeth in the woods...no thank you. I'll pay the extra $10NZ to take a shower and be comfortable, thanks.

Anyway, this morning we drove the last hour out to Milford Sound. It's basically just a bunch of mountains with waterways in between. It was definitely pretty and impressive and all that, but I think people had hyped it up so much to be the best place ever that I was a little let down. And it was cold and out of the way so all that didn't help either. We took a short boat cruise out into the sound since that's the best way to see the landscape. I think it was more of a geriatric attraction so maybe I'll appreciate it more if I go back in about 50 years.

Then the rest of today (ALL day) we drove across the bottom of the south island into Dunedin. The Cadbury chocolate factory (aka Katy's mother ship) is here so we're taking a tour of that tomorrow. Not sure what else...we'll see! We still have a lot to see before we turn in our van in Christchurch. AND we want to do a farm stay. Lots to do and not too much time left...leaving for Sydney on the 15th!