Queenstown

We made Queenstown our base for a few days as it had a lot to offer. For starters this town was home to the bungy jump Jonny had his heart set on doing. He wanted to jump from a 47 metre high bridge above a fast flowing river. I cannot believe he suffered with such bad vertigo when we left the UK. Jonny was so brave, an instructor took him to the bridge as I watched from below. They placed a towel around his legs then attached the bungy cord. Jonny then waddled to the platform and the instructor counted down “3 . . . 2 . .” Jonny looked down, big mistake “. . .1” he didn’t  jump. I was gutted, we had discussed that he has to jump first time as it would only get harder as the reality would set in. The instructor quickly told Jonny to take a deep breath then he started again “3 . . . 2 . . . . 1 . . . Bungy” Jonny through his self from the bridge with arms out stretched like rugby star scoring the winning try. He did so well and the first thing he said to me is “I want to do that again”. I think next time I will have to join him.

Queenstown is a ski town with many lovely restaurants, pubs and clubs to choose from.  When we decided to go for a few drinks we chose to stick to the snow theme and visited an ice bar called Below Zero. We were given extra warm coats and gloves and enjoyed the cocktails so much we somehow managed to stay in the giant freezer for over an hour.

The main purpose for being in Queenstown was to go skiing. It was my first time ever on the slopes and Jonny and I agreed that I probably wouldn’t benefit joining a busy ski school due to the limited time and funds we had. So we took the brave decision to let Jonny teach me. Most couple would advise against this as the disagreements and arguments could lead to divorce. But I am very pleased to report Jonny was a fantastic teacher, he was patient and taught me the basics. He must have been good as I managed to stay on my feet for the first 2 hours of our day. After a successful morning we decided a break was in order so we went for a well-deserved hot chocolate. I sat and chatted with a friend we had met while Jonny went back on the slopes to do some more challenging skiing. In the afternoon I returned to the snow with Jonny, I wish I could say things continued to go smoothly but things took a tumble and by things I mean me. The slope had become so busy with children and ski schools and I was unable to stop or steer myself properly. As I was heading straight for a 5 year old I panicked and through myself on the floor in a not so gracious way. My hat went flying behind me, my sticks went in another direct and I ended up in an emotional heap. Jonny collected the parts of me from down the mountain and picked me up, he tried to convince me to give it another go but I was too nervous about all the kids that were everywhere. I have not written skiing off completely; I will give it another go but I’m not in a rush . . . .

After Queenstown we drove to another sky town called Wanaka which is a situated on a picture prefect lake. We enjoyed an evening here as well as a stroll around the lake.