Got up early today to confirm the afternoon canyoning trip. Not much was happening in town, so I grabbed a coffee and came back to the van for some brekky.
Afterward I took a walk to the cemetery. I don't know why I'm always drawn to cemeteries, but I love going and reading the headstones and thinking about what these people were like when they were alive. Also, while I was there I came up with an idea to make a historical cemetery book (with lots of pictures). It would allow me to travel around the world to all different types of cemeteries and gain some insight to the people who were there. It would almost be like a history book (but much more interesting).
The people at this cemetery seemed to mainly be Irish. The cemetery started in 1866 and is separated into specific religions; Presbyterian, Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, Jewish, Chinese unmarked graves and an Open Area. You could tell where the separation lines were just by the different headstones. The Presbyterians were big on a family burial. They would have the large headstones with the extra room built in for all the other family members to be included when their time came. I've never thought about it much, I just always figured that I would be cremated and that would be that - but lately I've been thinking that maybe I do want to be buried. Only I don't want to be buried alone. My family would have to agree to be buried beside me (because they've been with me from the beginning and I want them there in the end).
But enough of the morbid stuff - the cemetery was next to the Queenstown gondola. Here you can pay $22 to ride up and down the gondola, or there is a little trail that you could hike up (take about a half an hour). I didn't have the time to hike and I wasn't going to pay for the trip, but it made me start to think with all this beautiful landscape around me it would be a shame to not enjoy a hike or two on this trip. So off to the Department of Conservation where I picked up two maps of the areas I would be in and around on the trip and started to read up on the hiking trails.
Then it was back to the van for a quick power nap and change into my swim suite for the canyoning trip. We met at the shop where they divided us into three groups. There were about 9 of us in my group and we headed out in the van up to the canyon. We got all geared up, which consisted of an old raggedy wetsuit, water boots, a harness (with a plastic bum seat for sliding), a life vest and helmet. Each helmet had a predetermined name on it - I was called Homer the rest of the day.
The first section were four (maybe five) zip-lines going up the mountain. These were pretty good (but if you have done them in Costa Rica I'm not sure anything else compares). There was one that I quite enjoyed where you got to run off the cliff and sail through the air on the line just to reach the other side and have to run up the side of the cliff. That one was pretty sweet. Then it was a 25 meter rock repel down into the river.
We walked for a bit down the river to a slide. It was one that they made you go down backwards, which in turn flipped you on your head. It was more like a natural dunking machine to make sure everyone got nice and wet. Then there were some small jumps in to the river (which I believe were just being used to get you comfortable with the canyon walls and the water).
Next up was a 7 meter waterfall slide - which was awesome. You got up to the edge and one of the guides held onto your life jacket. You kept creeping up and then BAM!, he just let you go and you were falling down the waterfall into a pool below. Yeah it was awesome.
We climbed back out of the canyon and I thought that the trip was over...Little did I realise that the fun was just beginning. We got back on the zip line where we sailed halfway out directly over the river. From there we were responsible for unhooking our safety, releasing the belaying rope and lowering ourselves down. From about a meter above the water you could just let go and slide the rest of the way into the water. Then there was a big jump (about 6 meters) which I opted out of (I have a think about jumping off cliffs for some reason).
Then there was some more "white water" walking until the final belay. We were lowered down by one of the guides, which I would describe as a free fall repeling
Luckily, I wasn,t the only single on the trip. There was a MBA student from LA, a preschool teacher from Denmark who was currently living in Christchurch, and a guy from Queensland (who couldn't go back home even if he wanted to b/c of all the flooding). They were good people and made the trip that much better.
After changing and getting the pictures, I headed back "home." It was raining which is a bummer, but I was able to put my awning up on the back of the van so I could cook in dryer weather. It was a great day and I couldn't wait to see what was coming up next!
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