Picked up the rental car. Almost got broadsided by someone coming from the right when we made a right turn onto Highway 6 from the Airport. Rich doesn't own a car in Auckland and hasn't done much left-side driving. Kiwis, like the Brits and Aussies, drive on the left side of the road. When crossing the street and making a right turn in an automobile, remember to look right. Fortunately, our potential collision wasn't that close.
We checked into the Lakeland Hotel. The room was a disappointment. It was old and dingy with chipped, scuffed paint and three tiny twin beds in a space that would have been tight with one full size bed. Rich had been under the impression we would have much more spacious accomodations. After considerable time spent negotiating with the tour company from whom our package was booked, and the hotel management, we were given a much nicer room on one of the newly rennovated floors at no extra charge. When reserving accommodations, be very clear about your needs and leave no stone unturned when questioning amenities that come with the room.
Although the Lakeland Hotel supposedly had the reputation as a "party palace," their bar does not open until 5:00 PM, something of a paradox, and an annoyance when we came off the slopes thirsty. There was a frig with beer in it in the room for $4.00 a pop. The mini-bar was also stocked with "After Alcohol" hangover relief, for $10.00. Had we known about the Lakeland's so-called party reputation (after 5:00 anyway), we would have opted for quieter accommodations. In the Lakeland's favor was the fact that central Queenstown was a 5 minute walk, the buses to the ski areas stopped in front of the hotel and the hotel has a very nice view of Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding Remarkables mountain range.
We ate at Saguaros, probably the only Mexican restaurant in town, and discovered a fellow American as one of their employees. Our waitress was originally from upstate New York. When asked the derivation of her accent, she shot back, "Where do you think I am from?" and as a hint, mentioned she had been in the Mangy Moose, a bar in Teton Village, Wyoming, whose name was printed on my t-shirt. As it turned out, she had worked at Jackson Lake Lodge, where I had once worked, albeit many seasons before (before 21 became the national drinking age in the US, and Wyoming's was 19, allowing me to drink there before I was legal in California.) The food was fine, even with Erin, the pickiest eater out of all of us, although if you order the margaritas, be prepared for a concoction slightly different from what you get Stateside (due to the addition of vermouth, we suspected.)
On the walk back to the hotel, we were treated to gusty wind and snow flurries, the first time I have witnessed this phenomenon in the month of August. (Although it did snow overnight in late August at the Big Mountain Ski Area near Whitefish, Montana one summer I was there.)
After our first fruitless discussion with the ski package operators, Rich and I reserved bungy jumps that afternoon with AJ Hackett. Prior to Rich's departure from California in 1991, we had made an agreement to go bungy jumping before he left California. Due to conflicting schedules, that never happened. It was now time to honor our agreement in the country which modern bungy jumping originated.
The natives of South Pentecost Island in Vanuatu, a nation of small islands in the South Pacific, have been doing a much more primitive form of "land diving" off of crudely built towers using vines tied to the diver's ankle for centuries. This was the inspiration for a few adrenaline junkies to try it with what are essentially giant elastic ropes from bridges, helicopters, balloons, cable cars, the Eiffel Tower, etc. Note: on October 5, 1998, AJ Hackett set the bungy jumping record off of a fixed structure by jumping off of the Auckland Sky Tower, 590 feet.
Our jump was from the Kawarau River Bridge, about a 15 minute drive out of Queenstown, and the World's first commercial bungy jumping site. The jump is 43 meters, or 141 feet. I will skip detail on the jump, so as not to spoil it for any readers who haven't done it yet. Suffice it to say, it's not for the faint of heart or acrophobic. I will add that the gorge where the jump site is located is spectacular, and that before jumping, it is best to look straight ahead rather than down. AJ Hackett has 3 sites in Queenstown, ranging from 43 to 71 meters. Additionally, for the true adrenaline freaks, Pipeline Bungy operates a 102 meter jump (335 feet), the highest commercial bungy site in the World, and there is the option of bungy jumping out of a helicopter 400 meters above the ground. AJ Hackett can be contacted at 03.442.7100, Pipeline Bungy at 03.442.5455. Jumps packages range in price from $85 to $154, depending on whether or not you want the jump recorded with photos or video. In addition, for an additional fee, operators will arrange packages that include whitewater rafting and jetboat rides. AJ Hackett charges $25 for an additional jump taken at the same site the same day.
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