CROMWELL – KAWARAU BUNGY BRIDGE – QUEENSTOWN
And so at last, we arrive at our final destination… but not before I tried to recreate my own Final Destination! (I’ll show myself out)
Now, not many people would wake up and think that the idea of a fun filled day is to jump off a 140ft bridge over a fast running river, then travel to the next city and immediately get a needle smashed into their skin on repeat, permanently adding ink to it… but apparently, I do, so off we popped on the silly little bus to the silly little bridge that was actually really f*ckin high off the ground.
I said my prayers to the gods, and off I went trying to psych myself up. The nerves were out in force. I sank a very early beer (that tasted awful), and after some jumping and all those other little weird tics, I threw my jewellery, change, and jacket at Jon (it was cold af)…
Take it, if I stay, I’ll overthink it.
And suddenly, with a few well-wishes from Josh and watching of my fellow tour jumpers, I was having my ankles wrapped in a towel and various carabiners attached to my harness, wondering why I had just given Jon my jacket. Then… it was time.
Looking down wasn’t the problem, but when you’re told: “move to the edge,” you have to look at the edge. Depth perception is a real bitch.
BUT, after asking if I could shout and realising this was a ‘death before dishonour’ moment…
Well…
The initial plummet is unreal. There are suddenly pins and needles in your face as the speed grows, and then, the cord catches, boinnnng, speed is halved, and you’re dangling and swinging, and the rush of laughter kicks in.
It was amazing, and the sense of accomplishment was so fierce. I felt on top of the world!
So, photos and video sorted, free tee grabbed, I smashed back to the bus, and we made our way to our Last Homely House. Queenstown, otherwise known in my head as Little Norway.
Emma and I dropped our bags and followed Josh for a whistle-stop tour of the city centre before he flew back to his wife and on the brink baby-to-be in Auckland. Then, after a loving goodbye, the first, it was on to Zealand Tattoo. It was very kind and lovely to have Joseph (briefly), Jon and McKenzie for company too.
Fast forward several needles of ink, some niggling pain(?), visits from Jon and Liam, and a lovely chat about potential tattoos with McKenzie, and here we are…
My artist was Rod. Who came in on his day off after my OG artist called in sick and absolutely nailed it!
So, thank you Rod and thank you Zealand Tattoo!!
Marrying The Lord Of The Rings with Aotearoa New Zealand.
The Seven Stars of Gondor on top; below, two ANZ silver ferns and a pohutukawa flower for Kiwi and Māori culture.
In the middle, in Elvish. “ANZ” – Aotearoa New Zealand.
Afterwards, Jon, McKenzie, myself, and Joseph wandered happily around Queenstown Gardens next to our hotel and generally wandered. There’s a lovely vibe when the four of us wander, we’d met from the very first back in Auckland, and it’s grown into something very comforting and uplifting. It’s during this time that we discovered Queenstown to be The City of Screensavers, damn. That and McKenzie knows how to handle the paparazzi.
After that, finally, it was time to just relaaaax in our final hotel room before heading out for some incredible ramen at Ramen Ramen in central QT! It was a wonderful dinner that perfectly echoed a Tokyo side-street bar, and it was there, as the adrenaline dissipated, that it started to finally dawn on me…
This is the final weekend.
– Jake,
21 May 2024
P.S. Jon is also writing about his version of events over on his Tumblr page, Misplaced Midlanders! Check it out!
The Long Expected Journey 