The next morning, we had an early breakfast and were on the road again ... to Queenstown this time. We drove further south from Dunedin along highway #1 towards Invercargill (such Scottish names!) till be reached Milton from where moved on to highway #8. Pretty soon, the landscape changed and we appeared to be climbing some heights and the roads became slightly mountainous. Some distance on, we drove through the town of Roxburgh to Alexandra. We simply fell in love with Alexandra - there was bright sunshine streaming into this little town as the townspeople went about their daily routines - buying things from hardware shops and fruit stores. The fruit stores were apt - we were slowly entering the fruit orchard of New Zealand, a fact we couldn't help noticing when we drove by the town of Cromwell. This place announces its existence to the world with the help of a huge cut-out of fruits at the entrance to the town. We crossed Lake Dunstan, a man-made lake which turned out to be the reservoir of the Clyde Dam on the way from Cromwell to Queenstown. The road winded along the edge of the lake for several miles as we slowly approached our destination for the day ... QUEENSTOWN!! Check out our route.

Queenstown (www.queenstown.com) is regarded as the adventure capital of New Zealand. Set beside the deep blue sparkling waters of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables mountain range and with the Shotover and Kawarau rivers nearby, this town was originally settled during the Gold Rush of 1862. Don't believe the adventure capital spiel? Check it out for yourself - here's a partial list of things that you can do at Queenstown:

 Bungy jumping - The original bungers, AJ Hackett are based here, so is the world's first bungy site at Kawarau Bridge.

 Clay target shooting

 Fishing

 Four-wheel drive tours

 Goldpanning

 Golf

 Hang gliding

 Heli-hiking

 Heli-skiing

 Horse trekking

 Jet boating

 Kiwi watching (not just the human kind)

 Lake cruising

 Mountain biking

 Paraflying

 Parapenting

 Rafting

 Rides - Gondola, Helicopter, Motorcycle, Luge, Bus

 River surfing

 Sailing

 Skating

 Skydiving

 Tennis

 Thrill flights

 Underwater trout spotting

 War-gaming

 Wilderness touring ...

So, what did we do out there? Having checked into the Colonial Village Motel with its spectacular views of the Frankton Arm of the lake, we booked ourselves for the Shotover Jet and the TSS Earnslaw rides for later the same day and for bungy jumps on the next day. Then, we drove into town, found our car a parking slot at a paid parking facility and began exploring the town. The feel of downtown Queenstown is that of an Alpine town, not that we've ever been to one. The collection point for the Shotover Jet ride was at the Visitor Centre. From there, we were driven in a van to the base camp for the jetboat ride. The base camp is on the Shotover River which flows in a canyon with rocky cliffs on either side. We put on safety jackets, deposited valuable stuff like cameras into lockers and then got on to the speedboat. We took the two seats right at the front of the boat next to the driver. There were 13 of us including the boat captain (boatman? J) and soon we were off into the unknown. The trip began innocently enough - the first 50 metres were done at a sedate pace as our backsides got used to the seats. Then the boat turned and in a flash, we were literally shooting away along the river with water splashing all around us. As we crossed the jetty at base camp, all of us waved together for the benefit of the photographer standing on the pier. We sped further on with all of us shrieking as we missed rocky outcrops with only inches to spare, twisting through narrow canyons and doing the "Shotover Jet Turn" - where our boat spun through a full 360° in its own length! Obviously, the boat was in skilled hands - that guy knew his job well! He repeated the Turn on several other occasions - once, it was done so close to a piece of rock jutting out from the side that I almost felt that we were going to collide (and the safety equipment did not include helmets). After a 30-minute hair raising experience, we walked out of the boat with our clothes dripping wet. But it was only minutes before the afternoon sun began to dry us up. By the time we walked up to the base camp, our Shotover Jet pictures were ready - and they looked marvellous.

 TIP: Book your glow worm caves or Milford Sound tour from Queenstown itself.

Day 2 at Queenstown, and it was time for bungy! AJ Hackett operates 3 bungy sites in Queenstown at Kawarau Bridge, Skippers Canyon, and The Ledge. While the first two locations are more thrilling, with jumps from bridges into deep canyons, our primary objective was to experience the jump and so it didn't really matter where we did it as long as we did it. We chose The Ledge because of its proximity (Kawarau and Skippers' are a little way out of town). To get there, we needed to go to the Skyline by Gondola (cable car). On arriving there, several formalities were carried out at the Bungy office - height and weight measurement, registration, and the most important one - signing on the dotted line which insures AJ Hackett against any mishap that may occur to you. We then walked over to The Ledge where we were met by two other staff who wrapped a towel around our legs at the ankles and then put the harness and cord around it. From the sofa where our legs were tied up, we hopped to the edge of The Ledge, placed our feet on the foot marks painted therein (in blazing red if you please!) and then, one minute we were there and the next, we were gone... to a landing platform down below where another bungy mate was waiting to undo the cords on our feet. The entire jump would have been a couple of microseconds, and at the end of it all, wasn't exactly thrilling for us. Maybe it was because we didn't know how to jump - instead of diving down, we went feet first. As a result, our bodies were yanked 180° when the cord ran out and the painful effects persisted for 2 or 3 days after that. Anyway, we picked up our bungy certificates and the jump photos while declining the offer to buy the jumping video tapes, picked up our free T-shirts for jumping successfully (I wonder if someone who doesn't jump "successfully" ever makes it to the T-shirt collection counter), and went luging.

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