Queenstown and Wanaka

Queenstown

An hour and a half drive took us to the lively city of Queenstown. It was Saturday evening so we participated in a bar crawl where we visited among the many bars we went to, we visited the World Bar that sells mixed beverages in teapots! The following day we had class and then went bungy jumping, a few did the “Thrillogy,” which includes the Nevis (440ft), the swing, and the ledge where you can do flips, etc. As far as the bungy jumping is concerned, it was so awesome! Although I had done it before, this was easily three times taller than what I had experienced, and I was attached by my feet rather than a waist harness. We jumped by weight, so I was last, and had to have a double countdown because I looked down right at “1.” It was awesome though! I don’t know if I quite enjoy hucking myself off of tall things, but apparently my “Swan Dive” form was spectacular. I have a video. After everyone was done bungy-ing, we went luging and I am proud to say that I beat the group of competitive boys on the run I went on with them. That evening we discovered crates (12 bottles) of 40’s that we used to play beer pong because we also found large enough cups! The following morning we had class and then roamed the city. This was also the day the Christchurch earthquake happened. I was outside so I didn’t feel anything but some of our group members were in the shopping center and felt the building sway. All the restaurants with televisions had live updates. The country was called into a state of national emergency and the city we just visited was in ruins. We have plans to fly out in just a week. This was also my birthday where we had a costume party with the theme of Euro bros and Bike Hos. The second Pacific Challenge group also arrived from their hike and many of them came out to celebrate as well. It was so different not being with friends and family from back home, but everyone ensured that I felt at home with friends. I am so thankful! The following day we had an exam for a class and then practice rugby game against the other PC group. It was another short drive to Wanaka.

Wanaka

Wanaka is beautiful and has amazing access to outdoor activities. Heli-skiing in the winter, watersports, mountain biking, or climbing in the summer, Mt. Aspiration for mountaineering, not to mention the skydiving and other “extreme” available opportunities. It was a pretty lowkey couple of days. We did go mountain biking on a country gravel road where we keptrunning into herds of cows and sheep. The following day some people went to “Puzzle World” but I stayed around to lay in the grass by the lake and read. We also went climbing! It was easy top roping, but it was great to get on some rock! I got several comments about how it was great to see me “in my element.” I also watched a couple movies but stayed pretty close because I feel like I am coming down with something. Nothing serious and a cold type thing has been moving through the group unfortunately.