Day 24 - Shotover Canyon

This was our second day in Queenstown and we thought we’d keep going on the adrenalin buzz that seems to be the natural state of the town. We had booked up a combo deal of a ride in a boat and a go on a swing.

The boat was the first event. Now being Queenstown this wasn’t a normal boat trip but the Shootover Jet boat. This is an 80Kph jet boat that skims very very close to the side of the canyon and the shallow river bed. The ride was a great as it really got the adrenalin going as you passed the rocks by at very close range. It was also quite a wet trip as the boat would do a 180 degree spin spraying cold water all over us. We both ended up with very numb faces from the wet and cold winds but was a really good laugh.



Our second event was a swing in a canyon. Now this isn’t what you’d picture as a normal swing. It’s a 109m drop to the canyon floor and the swing has a 200m arc after a 60m free fall! (As expected from this part of the world!) We where both fairly nervous about doing this as it is the biggest swing in the world and defiantly the biggest drop either of us has ever done.



As we where harnessed up and walked out on the platform the staff where extremely helpful about settling our nerves with comments like ‘It’s the fastest way to die.’, ‘The other people have a much better safety record’ and ‘Hope cord isn’t too frayed!’ and the best of all ‘You’ll jump how we want you to jump!’. This swing has a list of different styles that you can jump with pant ratings to give you an idea of how scary they are. Bev was first up (still not sure if that was completely of her choice!) and was trying to go the easy way by being suspended and let loose by the jump master. He had a different idea and convinced her that if she stepped out over the ledge she would hang in the harness until ready to go. So she stepped out over 109m and fell with the shock of her life. This is the forward style although I’m sure that it’s normally supposed to be done voluntarily!




After the rest of the 4 people in our group had gone and my nerves where starting to show it was finally my turn. Having seen everyone else go in a normal style I thought that the look of the garden chair was a curious alternative. This involved me sat with my back to the 109m drop secured to a garden chair and all I needed to do was rock backwards. I’ll admit that, for some reason, I thought this would be an easy way to go but proved to be a bit more mentally challenging then thought. Having plucked up the courage to push back beyond the point of return the helpful jump master decided to catch me mid tilt and pull me back in for no more reason than to see me go through that again. The Git!! The second push was a little less interrupted and I plummeted down sat on a garden chair and had an amazing buzz.




We both enjoyed our first drops so much (or we were still high on adrenalin from the first go) that we went for a second jump! Bev was first up and after a bit of indecision she opted to jump/fall backwards off the ledge. She had to stand with her heels on the ledge and her hands behind her head and fall backwards constantly looking at the people on the ledge as she fell 60m. Without hesitation (and no pushing involved) she fell straight off on que and loved every minute of it.




As all the others had chickened out from doing a second jump it was my turn up. Being a little unsure of what style to do the jump master made the decision for me. For this jump I was to be Gimp Boy. This involved hanging upside down above the 109m drop with my legs wrapped around the rope above me and then let loose. This was an amazing way to go looking face first down the canyon. Look out for the gimp teddy bear in the video, strapped to my bum which was very amusing to watch according to Bev!




The canyon swing is probably one of the best things we’ve done so far it was such a rush it would be easy to get hooked to it. I think it’s also helped my confidence in doing the Nevis bungee as what’s another 30m when jumping off a ledge!

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