New Zealand - Milford Sound (Pictures)

New Zealand - Queenstown (Pictures)

New Zealand - Queenstown

Unlike Auckland, I had no problems finding activities in Queenstown. Similarly to Aspen it’s a hotspot for skiing in the winter and in the summer, many other outdoor adventures become readily available. There is plenty of hiking, mountain biking, jet boating, paragliding and skydiving. More importantly, it’s the mecca of bungy jumping.

Bungy jumping was first devised and attempted by New Zealander A.J. Hackett in the mid 1980s. It was in Queenstown that the world’s first commercial bungy jump was set up. Therefore, it is where I wanted to do it. I’d been skydiving in Hawaii, zip lining in Costa Rica and hang gliding in Rio. It was time to add another extreme adventure to the list.

There are three jumps in Queenstown, all run by A.J. Hacket Bungy. Two of the jumps, including the original one, cover a drop of around 150 feet. That’s cool, but not big enough. The third, and largest in the southern hemisphere, has a drop of 450 feet. Go big or go home, right? So that’s what I signed up for.

Before I took my leap of faith, I had a day and a half to kill and I went for a mountain bike ride.

Bad decision.

It had been several years since I’d ridden a mountain bike along any set of trails. Since I was rusty, I’m not surprised I crashed and burned. I took two hard spills. Once was because I was trying to pedal uphill over a rock with no momentum. That one sucked because I got stuck in the handlebars. The other was just a harmless turn where I lost control, mostly because it was the end of the trail and I was tired. After my failure on the dirt trails, I was in some bit of pain. I’m pretty sure I sprained my wrist because it didn’t actually heal for another month and a half.

I still had the bike for another two hours and I didn’t want to return it too early. Therefore, I took a more relaxed ride along the lake. It was much more flat. And paved. Once the pain became too much to bear, I returned the bike and took it easy the rest of the day.

The next morning I literally got a jump-start to the day. My bungy jump was at 9am. I was bussed about a half hour out of town to the Nevis gorge. I’d managed the entire morning keep from psyching myself out by thinking about other things. It wasn’t until I’d signed in and walked out to see the platform that I started to get some butterflies.

The Nevis bungy is basically a large gondola hanging in the middle of a huge canyon. You’re send on a small cable car out there to face your fears. As I’m about to get in with five other people, one of the workers said “which one of you is Matt Porter?”

“Me,” I say.

“Congratulations, you’re up first.”

In hindsight it was probably for the best, but at the time it didn’t help; the ride out to the platform beceme that much longer. The minute we got into the gondola we were buckled into our leg harness and attached to the bungy cord. I was led into a chair and the guides quickly ran through what you’re supposed to do. They barely give you a second to ask questions or hesitate before you’re strapped in, stood up, and waddled towards the edge.

The entire time, I’m thinking “don’t look down, don’t look down.” The only time I did was to take a brief glance that I was at the edge. I didn’t need to; the guy was guiding me the entire way. Within a split second it’s “ready, three, two, one, bungy!” And I lept.

My goal in doing a bungy jump was to overcome any fears I might have. I’d seen several videos where people freak out and flop off the edge or worse, get pushed. There was no way in hell I was going down like that. If I was going through with it, I was going to make it look graceful.

My initial reaction was “holy shit I actually jumped.” It wasn’t until halfway through the fall that I realized “HOLY SHIT I ACTUALLY JUMPED!” A few seconds later the cord became taught and I was yanked back up. That’s when I started screaming. I’d just experienced one of the most incredible adrenaline rushes of my life. The second recoil came and on my ascent, I pulled the cord to detach my feet and get back into a seated position where I was then hoisted back up. From that point until well into the evening, my endorphins were spinning. I didn’t do anything the rest of the day. I didn’t need to. All I could think about was that jump.

My last day in Queenstown was spent on a trip to Milford Sound, one of the natural beauties of the world and a must see for anyone travelling to New Zealand. It’s one of several sounds the line the coast of southern New Zealand, but one of only two that are easily accessible. I had found a deal for a flight out to Milford and a bus ride back. Over the course of an afternoon, I was able to see much of the countryside from several different perspectives.

I was put in a little six seat prop-plane and, as the only person flying solo, was put up front. The views were absolutely stunning. Snow capped mountains as far as the eye could see, glacier lakes of ice blue in between and the ocean surrounding it all. Then there was the actual flight. It’s completely different flying in an itty-bitty plane. You feel everything, which only adds to the excitement.

After our 20-minute flight, we were put on a boat that takes us for an hour and a half ride out to the ocean and back. The sound is massive. Mountains jut straight out of the water and surround you on all side. Barely a single bit of flat land to be seen. Some of the mountains are even capped with glaciers, permanently covering them in an icy white. Best of all, there was plenty of wildlife. Shortly after departure our boat was followed by a school of dolphins, most coming within feet of the boat. Immediately after we spotted a harem of sunbathing seals. Near the end of the ride we spotted a lone carrier penguin. That was a first for me. The bus ride back to Queenstown took six hours and offered some great views of the mountains and glacier lakes, but wasn’t quite as spectacular as the plane ride.

My last two days in New Zealand were spent getting to and killing some time in Christchurch. There wasn’t a whole lot to do there, as it had been devastated by two major earthquakes over the prior18 months, and I wasn’t in the mood to really pursue any major day trips outside the city. It was sad to see the state in which the earthquakes had left the city. Many buildings were condemned and the constant threat of aftershocks kept any rebuilding from happening.

One thing that did shock me is how many of the cities buildings were crafted out of brick. For a city lying on a major fault line (and they have a history of earthquakes), it seems like a stupid material to use as building material.

New Zealand - Auckland (Pictures)

New Zealand - Auckland

My flight from Santiago left at 1130pm on the 27^th of February. I landed in Auckland at 430am on the 29^th of February (leap day). I skipped a real day and landed in one that exists only every four years. It’s a strange feeling knowing that there’s a day in your life that never truly existed.

I arrived at my hostel just past 5am to find everything locked up and shut down. I was completely unaware that their reception didn’t open until 730am. Luckily for me, a British guy named Adrian was still awake and was, of all things, doing stretches in the lobby. He was kind enough to let me in. Adrian is one of the more bizarre characters I’ve met while travelling. He flirts with everything that has two legs and has quite the effeminate personality. Yet he’s quite the homophobe. He also has loads of wild stories, which we exchanged a number of while I waited for reception to open. And apparently he was using some of my stories later on as if they were his.

Cheeky bastard.

By the time I checked in, I was hardly tired. I’d gotten enough sleep on the plane to keep me afloat, so I spent the day walking around and exploring the city. It reminded me a lot of Seattle. Cool weather, constantly overcast and rolling hills surround a beautiful harbor. The Auckland tower is also eerily similar in both size and shape to the Space Needle and dominates the skyline.

Auckland is a cool city, but New Zealand is best experienced in the wilderness. Therefore all of the big things to do were located well outside the city and required a full day commitment. I wasn’t in the mood for something that involving every day. There were three things I really wanted to do while in Auckland: see a rugby match, go whale watching and sail on an America’s Cup yacht. I guess two of the three ain’t bad. It just meant I had a few days of filler in the middle. But that was okay. At this juncture I was really just happy to be in a country with no language barrier. The simplest of things were enjoyable because they weren’t such a struggle anymore.

Early on I bonded with Ryan, a guy from Colorado, and Lina and Madita, two sisters from Germany. On the second day I went with Madita to Rangitoto island. The island is a nature preserve and only a short distance from downtown. It was a nice walk and offered breathtaking views of the city and surrounding harbor. The last return ferry left at 330pm, so there was plenty of time to kill before we all went out for the night. I took a nap. I was still jetlagged. The evening offered plenty of debauchery, drunken shenanigans and apparently some drama that I was not privy to. It was loads of fun, albeit expensive. Drinking in New Zealand was a far cry from the cheap bottles of beer that were being tossed back in South America.

Means I drank less. Probably for the better.

My sailing adventure almost didn’t happen. I got an email early in the morning informing me that a major storm was approaching and I could do one today but would have to cancel the other. America’s cup yacht it was.

There were about 15 of us on board and each of us got the opportunity to operate the grinders,which raise and adjust the sails, and steer. The weather may have been dreary, but the experience was well worth it. We zig-zagged across the harbor for over an hour, maxing out at a speed of about 8 knots. However, as we get back on the grinders to bring the sail down, it got stuck. One of the crewmembers had to be strapped into a harness and pulled to the top of the mast, where he spent over 20 minutes trying to manually release it.

Apparently this happens all of once of twice a year. Kinda lucky if you think about it.

The massive storm made landfall on Friday night. There was no rain, but the wind was howling all night. It was awesome. By morning things had cleared up and it actually turned into a rather pleasant day. The whale-watching trip probably could have gone on, but it had already been cancelled. Because of it I had no plans. So I did some laundry and went to the movies.

My last day in town was spent at the Rugby League match. Ryan and I walked to the stadium and, even with our limited knowledge of the rules, enjoyed the game. It was the opening match of the season and a rematch of the previous years championship, pitting the Auckland Warriors vs. the Manly Sea Eagles (from Sydney). The game was very exciting; the second half especially. Auckland was down by two scores and came roaring back to within a point in the final minutes. On one of their final possessions they moved the ball within scoring range but were unable to convert.