Queenstown, New Zealand (videos)

1/23/07

Today was AMAZING! We got to see a ton of the Lord of the Rings filming sites in Deer Park Heights! There were spectacular views of the city (although they were edited out for the film) as well as the vast countryside...





and there were cool animals along the way too...

Like the overly friendly deer...


The cute and cuddly lamas...


The crazed horse...


The aggressive donkey...


The stoic mountain goat...


The intimidatingly large, and horned, Tibetan Yaks




There was also a defunct movie set made to look like somewhere in China...

If I remember correctly the sign said something about a Disney Movie!

Next stop, Canyon swing! But not before we refueled with a quick bite to eat!


Its Canyon Swing time!!! After much debate, Colleen finally decided to make the leap, literally, but Liz decided she was going to stay on solid ground and observe!


I was of the "Go Big or Go Home" mentality and did 2 of the highest scare level jumps.
For the first I basically leaned backward off the platform and watched the canyon rush by me.



For the second they had me hang upside down and wrap my feet around the bungee so my head was facing down and then let me go without warning!!! The 2nd was much more scary than the first (in my opinion!) They even gave me a little Care Bear to hold!



It was SUCH a rush...a must do for anyone visiting Queenstown...I have been bungee jumping and I thought this was WAY more fun, exciting, and lasted a bit longer as you got to swing back and forth over the floor of the canyon after the initial rush of falling!



Colleen and I finally exchanged the bone carving friendship necklaces we bought earlier in the trip! And headed to Mt. Cook for the night.