Hangliding at Queenstown - me at the controls aaaaaagh!!!!!!

OK, Queenstown has brought out the worst in me. I think i may have undergone a personality transplant. Within three days i have gone jetboating, white water ratng, hangliding and paragliding. I am debating a bungee jump for tomorrow, seeing as i'm still here!

Hangliding in Queenstown was amazing - its such a different experience to paragliding. The take-off is seriously scary and you land lying down and skimming along the grass - Matt made us come in or a really fast landing to get a big ground rush! We did loads of dives and even a half loop. Amazing experience with incredible scenery (i'll upload some photos of it when i get through my card), but you're in the air for only about 10 minutes coz you're losing height all the time (no thermals here, sniff). Had a bit of a rush when Matt made us dive at a row of bushes on a sharp hill and pulled up at the last moment - great fun!

White water rafting was easily the scariest thing i've done though. I had one and a half hours on a grade 5 (out of 6 grades - 6 being unraftable!) river and prayed to not fall out the whole time. The girl next to me did, and it was really scary. I can honestly say i enjoyed not one bit of it - except perhaps the last rapid when we were allowed to stop paddling and actually hold on for dear life! I paid for a double package where i got to go on a shotover speedjet down a tight canyon. As a single traveller i got a front seat at the side of the boat. It was exhilarating. Every time we got within inches of a rock the driver would turn us into it so it felt like we would crash. You have so many 'i'm about to die' moments. It's really thrilling.

Today i turn down the pace and take a jet boat for a few hours up a river before disembarking for a bush walk through Lord of the Rings areas. I think my body needs this break! A few days ago i went for a leisurely daytrip to Milfrod Sound in the Fiordlands. It was a spectacularly sunny day and there were millions of waterfalls after several days of heavy rain. They hadn't sighted dolphins for months but we saw a pod swim with our boat and also got to sea seals and cormorants, so we were really lucky.

I definitely made the right decision coming back to the south island. I have had the fortune of stumbling into another excellent hostel with good company and an owner who has done every activity under the sun and really encourages you to embrace your fear and get the full Queenstown experience. I'll be sad to go in a few days, but glad to see Nelson again before leaving New Zealand for good.

I want to immigrate.