Hello! This is my final blog post, and I’m writing it on my flight back to the United States. 12 hours down, 2 to go!
Going into this study abroad trip, I knew we would be travelling to quite a few different cities in New Zealand, but I didn’t have a good idea of what each city was like. So, I figured I would use this post to tell you about one of my favorite cities we visited on the South Island: Queenstown!
Queenstown is known as The Adventure Capital of the World, and that’s exactly how I would describe it! We stayed in small houses just a few minutes walk away from downtown Queenstown, and even from our lodging we could see the many activities offered in the city! There’s a company in Queenstown for any activity you could imagine — Jet Boating, Indoor Skydiving, Outdoor Skydiving, Canyon Swinging, and more. The one I was most excited about, though, was bungee jumping.
I had heard from the professors that several students had bungee jumped in previous years, and I was thrilled for the opportunity to do so myself! About five of us walked down to the bungee jumping company early the first morning to make a group reservation. They offer several bungee jumps from varying heights, but they were all sold out except for the most extreme one – the Nevis Bungee – 440ft high with an 8-second freefall!
Bungee jumping isn’t cheap (I think it was around $150 U.S. Dollars), but it was definitely worth it! The thrill of jumping off a ledge and freefalling over beautiful scenery was the experience of a lifetime. The price also includes a bus ride to and from the bungee jump site, and a free t-shirt, so all-in-all, it was worth it for me!
So, if you come to New Zealand, I would definitely recommend trying an adventure pursuit in Queenstown! Even if you don’t want to bungee jump, there’s plenty of activities to fit all interests, and it’s a great bonding experience with the other students!
On our way to skydiving – we rode a 4×4 bus to the top of mountain where we would jump. It was a steep climb, but understandable since we had a 440ft drop!