Go big or go home

Queenstown brashly bills itself as “the global adventure capital” and as the birthplace of bungy jumping has a legitimate claim to the title (though Moab, Utah might take issue with this, and they do have BASE jumping, by far a more insane “sport”).

Spread along the shores of Lake Wakapitu and backdropped by the Remarkables mountain range, this town could have become a soothing Alpine resort catering to sedate retirees and Asian mass tourism.  Instead, it is teeming with adrenaline junkies intent on having the biggest thrill of their lives.  It’s a college student’s party town and the number of bars and burger joints attest to this but first they have to get their fix from some offering that promises to be the highest, fastest, longest, ultimate, extreme, biggest drop, wildest ride, first and finest, etc.

The variety of activities available to get your heart racing and give you serious vertigo is pretty mindboggling: bungy jumping, bungy swinging, skydiving, highwire diving, jetboating, paragliding, whitewater sledging, 4WD safaris, heli-biking, ziptrekking, canyoning, and on and on.  Even the golf is “over the top” (players are flown up by helicopter to drive, chip, putt on a par-3 hole at 4500 feet).

So what am I, dedicated seeker of serenity, doing here?  Just passing through on my way to a much more peaceful place of aroha….

I could've bought the t-shirt & bragging rights

This is me -- not tempted for a nanosecond