Do you fancy planes? Do you like heights? Are you keen on pounding water? If you answered “yes” to any of those, join me will you?

Queenstown is not for the light hearted nor for the weak. It’s where all the thrill seekers go to get their adrenaline pumping so hard, they have to go delight themselves with some tasty herbs to calm themselves down. But before I get ahead of myself, I must pull the reigns right quick and inform you all that this heart pumping adventure started in Abel Tasman, ten hours away from Queenstown. My to-do list was the most articulate.

1. Skydive in Abel Tasman
2. Bungy-Jump at Nevis Gorge
3. go Canyoning

That was my list. Short, yes; but money was definitely a huge issue. I came over to New Zealand with about 500 AUD, which then got exchanged for 600 NZD (hoozah!). Now, that 600 NZD alone was the cost of my skydive… but I did all three ventures. Did I charm the living daylights out of the employees, or did I just skidaddle after I completed the task? I did do some charming, but not on the employees, but on my lovely cousin. As we sat on the benches, waiting to be called for a suit fitting, I looked up at him and made some casual chatter and “jokingly” asked, “wanna pay for me?” He of course said “no”, but I proceeded to look down at my hands and say, “but I have no money… ” This went on for a few more minutes and then I exclaimed, “christmas present???” and he agreed. Oh yes. This worked out perfectly. He paid for the skydive, and the money I possessed, I split it amongst the remaining two items.

SKYDIVE

My booking was set for 1:00pm but I didn’t actually get fitted for a suit until 1:45 (ish). I arrived at the site 30 minutes early because I was just a bit too keen. So I had a little over an hour to get myself hyped up. When the time finally arrived, me and four other people were brought into a tiny T.V. room to watch a short video and to go over prices and such. Max, an undeniably, dashingly handsome, (english?), skydiver gave us the details of our jumps. I chose the highest jump (16,500 ft). Initially I was the only one that ticked it, but after the other four did their own pondering, the other two guys decided to join me for the ride; the two girls settled for the 13,000 ft. Finally me and the other two guys were called to be fitted. My nerves at that point were still calm. After the fitting, the camera men introduced themselves to their assigned diver and started the personalised video monologue. The next thing I know, I was shaking hands with my Tandem Master – Scruffy, and we were wobbling our way to the plane. Scruffy and I were the last to board, which meant I was the first to jump. Brilliant. We boarded up the plane and it was uncomfortably tight at first, but after lift off, I settled comfortably in the constricted area I was situated in. My camera man- James, sat on a seat in front of me, and as I climbed into the plane, he pulled my legs towards him. Easyy buddy, you gotta wine and dine me first. If I had a choice to scoot back, I would’ve, but Scruffy then climbed on in and I was stuck in the middle. Beautiful. As we began to fly, James was snapping shots of me and Scruffy and videoing the cloudless sky, the baby blue coloured ocean, and the landscape. When we reached the 15,000 ft mark, we had the opportunity to inhale some nice, crisp oxygen. I have always wanted to breathe through a breathing mask on airplanes; you know the ones that drop out above you when the planes is crashing. Don’t worry, the plane wasn’t crashing. The oxygen was there to “calm” our existing nerves down. Dodgy? Sounded like it when we were told we would be taking it whilst on the ground. The doors opened and I swung my legs out. James climbed out of the plane first and was dangling in front of me. My eye-mask was on so tight, I could hardly blink. Whenever I did, my eyelids would get stuck and the only thing you would see would be the whites of my eyes. In case you were wondering, that is exactly how I attract the opposite sex.

3,2,1, free fall. We were free falling for about 70 seconds before Scruffy deployed the parachute. Those 70 seconds were just the best. I felt like I was flying. That feeling wasn’t a ‘drop in the stomach’ kind of experience, but what you imagine of weightlessness. In my head, I was Peter Pan. Never aging, never growing up, always flying about. When the parachute opened, we whipped around in circles and glided down to landing. The view was incredible. A clear blue ocean was located behind me as I was twirling down towards a green patched quilt.

“abs ❤ u! mom + dad”

Once I landed, James hurriedly  came over to document my facial expression. I was completely glazed over in awe. Then when Max walked me back to the office, I felt like Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality; the part where she walks out of the warehouse, all dolled up (minus the heels and tight purple dress).

BUNGY-JUMP

Second day = bungy-jumping at 134 metres. The highest bungy in Australasia. I was again excited as can be. I arrived in Queenstown at 1 and checked in at the hostel. As the receptionist was idly asking me of what my plans were, I told her I was going to bungy jump that day. She proceeded to look up the times and told me, “they are all booked.” I looked at her and told her that that was not possible, seeing how I recently made a call to the office and they said I could just walk in. So she called them up and they had a spot at 2. I rushed over and proceeded to wait. I reckon waiting is the worst. Me and ten other people boarded up the bus and we were on our way to Nevis Gorge. This place was located on private land. The charter bus drove up a long winding hill and out of everything that I had done, I was the most scared on that ride. As the bus driver was driving up the narrow road, I was looking out the window, digging my nails into my seat. We finally arrived on site and the driver goes, “Once you get off the bus, head on in and make a left. The toilets are waiting for you.” I did exactly that. Not because I was nervous for the jump, but because the ride up there was scary enough for me to need to relieve myself. We got our harnesses on and walked out onto the wooden platform. As I looked out into the distance, mountains were surrounding me, with a clear stream of water running through. Then on eye level, I saw a dangling shed. I was about to jump out of it. Awesome. A little cable cart was our transportation from the platform to the shed. Five people, including myself boarded the little cart and we were on our way to our potential deaths. The cart moved at an uncomfortably slow pace and shook whenever someone committed to moving their stance. When we arrived at the shed, club music was pounding and it seemed like a party. If it’s anything, A.J. Hackett knows how to distract jumpers’ nerves. As one person leapt and another went, it was finally my turn. Now, this shed was split into two parts; one half was the waiting area, and the other was the preparation and ledge. Once you cross the line, your former feelings change in an instant. Whilst I was waiting, I was dancing and cheering people on. Then when I was sitting in the chair, getting the bungy cord latched onto me, my eyes were becoming cross-eyed and my face changed from the nice asian yellow, to the preferred pale white.

Alan, oh Alan. What a great guy. Alan helped me onto my feet and guided me towards the ledge. As I stood up, that moment of terror hit me. I nervously said, “oh my god.” I repeated that for another fifty or so times. He led me to the ledge and that was when I said, “I can’t do it.” Alan, the great guy he was, supported me and encouraged me. He got me to believe in myself. He counted down, “3, 2, 1,…” “nonononono”. A moment of silence came over me and then I looked out to the mountains. Everyone in the shed that had gone and were about to go were cheering me on. I unleashed my arms and Alan repeated, “3,2,1… BUNGY!” I jumped. My arms were spread open like an eagle and I was falling. To my surprise, I thought I would have felt the ‘drop in the stomach’ feeling, but it felt like flying again, only this time I was on my own. It was wicked. The first bounce up was like a mini-bungy jump in itself. I came up to a perfect horizontal and dropped down again. After I was finished bouncing, I was brought back up to the shed. Incredible. I wanted to jump again! This is what I share to you all, those first 3 seconds on the ledge was the absolute worst. That’s when your legs go numb and your bladder has a mind of it’s own.

After the bungy jump, we headed back into the city. It was about 5 and I hadn’t eaten anything at all that the whole day. So I marched myself to Fergburger and purchased myself a Holier than Thou burger with some chips. Now, before the noming began, I befriended a guy-Jamie, who I met at Nevis Gorge. He told me how he finished the burger but only ate half the chips. Well, when I got my hands on the meal, I inhaled it. Finished it all. Talking about it now, makes me reminisce the savoury burger. Oh it was hands down the best burger I have ever laid my taste buds on.

CANYONING

I have never done this before, nor have I really heard of it until one day, I googled into deep canyoning in Wanaka. This is the most legit adventure I have ever done. A complete package of abseiling, climbing, cliff jumping, swimming, and prancing around in wetsuits. Canyon guides are the badass of the badass. Little did I know, I saved the best for last. The canyon I initially wanted to do was the Leaping Burn Max, but because it has been an extremely rainy season, I couldn’t do it. So I settled for the Big Nige. Out of the five, I was the only one who did the entire canyon. The tour guide- Millie and I dropped the other four off halfway, and we continued to climb the mountain. The climb was steep as. There were multiple occasions where I thought I was going to fall backwards. Luckily I didn’t.

side note: As clumsy as I am, I choose to do things that require excellent balance skills.

Millie and I finally made it to our entrance of the canyon and we began to put on our wetsuits. The pants resembled overalls, and the jacket had an attachable nappy (diaper) padding to it. Then the harness itself was a nappy. So if I did need to pee, I could’ve, but of course I didn’t… though it did become real tempting towards the end. This was my first time ever abseiling and it was such an adrenaline rush. Whenever I had a slip of hand, I would go dropping down the rocks. The first time I did that, I nearly peed myself, but afterwards I started to do it on purpose. During the first half, it was just Millie and I, waterfall jumping, abseiling under and sliding through waterfalls. It was brilliantly wicked. The second waterfall we encountered was the largest one in the canyon. As I abseiled down, the water pounded onto my head while I was vigorously feeding the rope through. Intense. Then there was one case where I had to abseil a mini drop and then inch my way over to a flat rock at the end of the route. I did so, but I ended up on my bum and slid towards the rock. One problem though: the water was so rough, I was nearly swept away. Luckily Millie was there to catch me, but I was flopping around like a fish out of water. She kept saying, “you’re not going to die.” I didn’t think I was, but I guess the way my body was reacting said otherwise. Another funny story; at one junction, Millie tossed me a rope to Tarzan swing onto the rock she was on. I grabbed onto it and as I jumped, I knew it wouldn’t end well. I Tarzan swung into the rock. Good job Abby.

I must interject here and say that if it weren’t for Millie, I probably wouldn’t be writing this post.

Anyways, we finally met up with the other four. They were as dry as the Sahara Desert and I was well, clearly wet. We then continued on with them. This last portion was mostly sliding on rocks and jumping. By this point, I was a pro at sliding.

1. if all else fails, sit on your bum.

We slid and jumped and then we reached a wicked drop. On this particular waterfall, we had to lay on our backs, keeping our legs straight and our arms pinned together and tucked on top of our stomachs. This slide would start on the rock and end in free fall. I normally steer clear from rides similar to this at water parks, but I wasn’t about to opt out and settle for abseiling. Before we took our turns in falling, Millie warned us not to go down the next drop. I was the last one to go. I thought, if anything bad were to happen and did end up near the next drop, the other guys would see me and help me to safety, IF it happened. Well, I went and when I popped up, I saw the drop right in front of me. What happened to the people? They were busy chattering. All I heard was Millie screaming at them, and then the 14 year old German boy- Leon, exclaimed “scheiße!” and held out his hand. I was fine. That near death experience was quite exhilarating. Honestly, I wasn’t worried at all. A few slides and jumps later, I had to be saved by Millie…again. I jumped off a waterfall and was suppose to swim to the calmer part of the pool but got stuck and couldn’t escape. I clenched onto the rocks nearby and tried to swim, but I kept getting pushed back into the same spot. If there was any time that I was scared during the whole canyoning experience, it would be that moment. I had convinced myself I was going to drown. The next thing I knew, I felt a tug on my harness and was wafted over to the calm side. Millie to the rescue! Goodness gracious. Nearing the end of the trip, we zip-lined through and I made it through with no help. Wooo, brownie points for me. After we finished the canyon, we headed back to safe grounds and had lunch. Everyone ate about three sandwiches. Hungry is an understatement.

two Persians, me, two Germans.

I feel accomplished and somewhat younger. Throughout the four days of my stay in Queenstown, I met heaps of people from all places in the world. Whenever I talk to new people, for some reason, I always think they are the same age as me… and then I find out that I am, again, the youngest one in the group. Not by one year, but the norm seems to be by three years. As we all exchange stories and experiences about the places we have been, I feel underachieved; but then I have to remind myself that it’s alright because I’m only two months into being 20. I’m doing just fine…? Hearing strangers’ stories always ignite my love of travel over and over again. It never gets old. I believe New Zealand has taught me to live my life to the fullest. If I am afraid of something, I must run full on towards it. There are no regrets. If I smiled during an event or smiled at something, I cannot regret it or think of it as a mistake later on. So the next time I binge on kilos and kilos of chocolate, I will (try) not hate myself afterwards, because I obviously am the happiest person alive when I gorge on chocolate. Anyways, fear is nothing I can’t handle. Easy.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” – Nelson Mandela