Fjordlands Ahoy!

Today was a day trip to Milford Sound (cool fjordlands). On the way we went through a valley with a few waterfalls, that apparently is amazing in the rain. Every single little ledge all over the valley walls turn into a waterfall, and there are tousands of them. I'd like to see that.

The sound was cool, we went on a ferry. Lots of little (well, far away) waterfalls, and really awesome rolling clouds.

On the way there and the way back, our bus driver kept whispering "...fergburger..." under his breath. It made me want to chow down on one when we got back to Qweenstown.

Elastic Can Be Your Friend

Today I went bungy jumping at Nevis Highwire Bungy. It's basically a 20-ish-person pod suspended over a valley (ravine? What's the difference?) on big wires, really big wires. Unfortunately for me, bungy jumping is a bit of a let down after skydiving. The first few seconds are awesome. It's still-air freefall, just like if you jumped off a building (at least, what I imagine it would be like), the rush from that was pretty amazing. Then the cord starts slowing you down, and it gets boring.

In other news, I left a battery in a charger at the hostel in Franz Josef, fortunately the camera I bought in Auckland uses the same stuff, but I was planning to give the camera to my folks if they wanted it, so I was trying to find camera stuff today. It's all ridiculously expensive. I never thought a battery and charger could cost so much. Needless to say, I skipped that particular purchase.

Hmmm, what else... I bought too many groceries. The hostel kitchen's fridge failed, and there wasn't much room in the room fridge, and didn't seem like it was keeping anything very cold. I survived.

It's a Puzzling World

On the way out of Wanaka we stopped at a place called Puzzling World. All manner of optical illusions and small puzzles littered the inside. I tried to bend my mind around some of the puzzles, got a few. I couldn't unsolve one of them. After that, on to Queenstown. There was an awesome burger place (I only had the veggie options) in Queenstown called Fergburger. They had a delicious tofu burger they called "Holier Than Thou", and a falafel burger branded "Bun Laden".

The Ground Isn't the Place for Me

I think I should have been born with wings or fins. I feel more at home in the sky and water than I ever really have on land. And I certainly drink like a fish (as many a friend will attest to). I went on my second skydive (in two days) today; it was awesome, again. Side note: one of the disadvantages of skydiving with a big stupid grin on your face (like I did both times) is that your teeth get really really cold, and are sensitive for a few days afterward. The skydive today was to 15,000 feet, a full minute of freefall. I went with the option where a second person jumps at the same time as you and records everything. It came out pretty well. The people at this skydiving place felt a little more professional than the ones by fox glacier. The office was nicer too.

A Cold Wind Blows

Helihike canceled! !!! The place where the helicopter lands gets winds funneled through it and it's dangerous for them to land when it's windy. Bah! And the day was so beautiful, I didn't think there was even a chance of the hike being canceled. The front desk person at our hostel was really nice and planned a mini hike up close to the glacier so we could at least get a good view of it. Fortunately my skydive came to the rescue. No, we didn't skydive onto the glacier, but it was super fun, the best rush I've had in a while, and made the day a success in spite of the failure of the helihike.

I really liked skydiving. A lot.

Heli-Deer-Tackling

Yes, you heard right. We went to the Bushman's Centre, and as part of the admission price, they showed us a video all about deer hunting/control in New Zealand. At one point, there were guys who rode helicopters right up next to the deer, and then jumped onto them, bringing them to the ground. It was pretty cool to watch. They also talked about the other live-capture methods that the kiwis came up with, some of which were used in America to reintroduce animals to some areas. There were also some possums and a really big wild pig.

Were staying tonight and tomorrow night in Franz Josef, a town right by the Franz Josef Glacier. I'm planning on doing a helihike and a skydive tomorrow. I'm pretty psyched.

Pancakes, Rock and Otherwise

I almost missed the bus yesterday. I really wanted some breakfast, but I didn't really have time for it, but I tried for it anyway. Egg on avocado on toast. It was good, despite the fact that I ended up having to eat it out of a plastic bag. After breakfast we stopped at the Pancake rocks (they weren't terribly exciting), and a seal colony (I think I saw maybe 1 seal, must have been an off day). I had some pancakes at a cafe nearby and they were good.

Next on the agenda was a stop at Greymouth for shopping to create costumes for the night's bad taste dress-up party. I went as overly-holiday-themed-when-it-isn't-even-the-holidays guy. Sunglasses, holiday hat with antlers, red shirt with blinky Christmas tree on it, green striped thermal undershirt, musical blinky holiday tie, board shorts, and flipflops. I made the Christmas-tree shirt myself. I later found out that a kiwi experience ahead of us had a holiday theme for their party. I must be on the wrong bus! Also, I didn't win the contest (oh, I didn't mention the party was also a contest? Sorry...). I think I definitely did better than the second place guy, maybe not first place, but definitely second. Oh well... It was fun to hang out with everyone.