With the exception of Greymouth, New Zealand gets more and more beautiful as you head down the west coast of the south island - from sunny Nelson, Abel Tasman and Golden Bay, to the glaciers at Franz Josef and Fox, culminating in Milford Sound, which is pretty much the most naturally beautiful part of the world I've ever seen, narrowly beating Rishikesh, Fraser Island, Algonquin in Canada, and of course Betws-y-Coed.
We went on a boat trip through the sound, which is surrounded by huge mountains and tons of waterfalls, it was great and a nice break from the less tranquil activities of New Zealand, speaking of which...
Most of you who know me on Facebook, know I have bungied Nevis, which is 134 metres high, and - I think - the second tallest in the world behind one in Hong Kong. You jump from a small platform on a high wire, surrounded by mountains with a shallow and rocky creek below. In truth you don't get that close to the creek so never have the sensation that you're about to smash your head open (one of the many things that flashes through your mind in the minutes before jumping).
It was a pretty confusing jump and bizarrely I often wasn't sure whether I was going up or down. The idea is to dive, as if into a swimming pool, as that way your body isn't flipped at the bottom. The fall literally took my breath away and I didn't shout anything until descending the second time, when all sorts of profanities were let loose.
One of the things about Queenstown is, as the activities hot-spot of New Zealand, everyone is buzzing from a bungy, sky dive, Milford or something similar, so the nights out have been crazy and a lot of fun.
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