The adrenaline junkie’s guide to Queenstown
Looking for an intense kind of thrill? Over four days, experience Queenstown’s highestflying adventures – bungy jumping, skydiving, ziplining and a very very big swing. Some days in life you just have to take a deep breath, trust, jump and feel the thrill. There’s no better place than Queenstown in New Zealand’s South Island for high-flying adventure-seekers who like to live life on the edge. Set four days aside and prepare to be uplifted (literally).
Day One
Enjoy a first morning sleep-in, then, after lunch take a Ziptrek eco tour through the mid-mountain forest canopy, just below the Skyline Gondola, with views back to Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. You’ll climb and explore purpose-built wooden ladders, stairs and floating platforms high in the pines, then zipline from tree to tree. Tours range from one to three hours, on two, four or six ziplines. The new Kereru tour finishes with a hair-raising 21m drop to the forest floor. Ziplining. Tick. Now it’s time to take the Gondola (you’re there anyway) back up Bob’s Peak and hit the Ledge Bungy at dusk, or even after dark with the lights of Queenstown twinkling below. Who said you had to start small? This is no ordinary bungy – your feet are free and you jump with a body harness so you can run, skip, flip and freestyle it. There’s even a ‘‘jump menu’’ to help you choose your moves.
Day Two
Today’s a big day, and we mean big, so make sure you’re fuelled. The 4WD Bungy Bus will take you from downtown Queenstown to the remote and wild Nevis Canyon. Go big and start with the Nevis Swing, a 300m arc of serious scream-inducing adrenaline. Swing forward, backward or upside down. Don’t leave just yet, because next up is the Nevis Bungy. Gulp. It’s a 134m, 8.5-second freefall from a glass-bottomed cabin suspended on wire over a canyon. You’ve been warned.
Day Three
By now, you’ve got your adrenaline boots well and truly on. So you’ll love the swing menu at Shotover Canyon Swing, a 15-minute drive from Queenstown. Plenty of time for breakfast before you swing 200m, with a 60m freefall, all while suspended 109m above the stunning Shotover River. Choose from the Chair Jump, Jump and Flip, Side Jump or even an Elvis Cutaway Jump and enjoy the ride. And while you’re there, why not try out their latest contraption, the Shotover Canyon Fox, designed to hurl you across the canyon in the most insane way possible. Now test your mettle at the original home of bungy jumping, Kawarau Gorge just outside of Queenstown towards the Gibbston Valley wine region (just saying). Jump the mere 43m Kawarau Bridge Bungy freefall solo or go tandem, strapped to a friend. Either way you’ll have an audience from the viewing deck, so make sure you smile on the way down.
Day Four
If you still haven’t had enough hairraising, blood pumping or fear inducing activity, make sure you finish on a high. Take to the skies above Queenstown and jump out of a plane at 15,000ft with NZONE, New Zealand’s first tandem skydive operation. Surrounded by the Remarkables mountain range and harnessed to an experienced jumpmaster, experience sensory overload as you plummet towards the ground at 200kph, reaching terminal velocity! For more information about things to do in Queenstown and surrounds visit https:/ /www.queenstownnz.co.nz.