The excuse "I was trying to clean a dead bug off of my windshield and lost track of how fast I was going" didn't go over super well.  I was about to try "I still don't know the difference between kilometers per hour and miles per hour" but 133 mph is considerably worse than 133 k/hr so that wouldn't have been better anyways.  Luckily it doesn't really matter since I'm not planning to come back to New Zealand any time soon.  Thus there's no reason to actually pay the $300NZ ($200US) ticket.  It does make a lovely souvenir of the thousands of miles we've driven here though.

Now you may be asking yourself, "What is heli-hiking?"  Well, it's simplythe most amazingly, incredible ways to see Franz Joseph Glacier.  It involves taking a helicopter up to the glacier, landing on the ice, and hiking around for hours.  This was truly a once in a lifetime experience for us.  The sheer grandeur and beauty of the glacier is impossible to put into words - it left both Jason and I speachless (but we know that didn't last too long!)

Franz Joseph Glacier is one of only three unique glaciers in the world, since it flows into a rainforest.  Imagine flying over an incredible lush rainforest, viewing waterfalls flowing down the side of the moutain, and then landing on the ice of a majestic glacier . 

We had the absolute coolest guide for the hike named Goose - he allowed us do anything we wanted on our hike.  This would not have flown in the States.  We strapped our crampons to our ice boots, which kept us from slipping, and we were off.  Jason and I actually became "those people" on this adventure, since we were off like a bullet exploring every crevice, ice cave and free flowing water fall.

I was quite impressed to see that Jason was more graceful maneuvering on ice then dry land.  We were both climbing all over the ice formations, at times even taking up our guide's ...inappropriate... challenges to conquer some pretty risky stunts.  In a last second decision on the helicopter I decided to bring my water bottle with me, for which I was able to fill it up with the purest, most delicious glacier water. 

When the time came for our helicopter to pick us up I was quite sad to leave the magnificent glacier.  The images and memories will at least last a lifetime to remind us of our icy wonderland of Franz Joseph Glacier.

This town is so incredibly cozy and quaint.  It reminds us a lot of Lake Tahoe - it's surrounded by gorgeous scenic mountins and located on the edge of  the expansive Lake Watatipu.  We've set up camp here for a full week wanting some time to chill out after all the adventures we've had the past couple weeks.

We managed to find the Pounamu apartments to stay in.  These places are gorgeous - not only are the 2 bedrooms/2 baths more then enough space to sprawl out in, but the place is fully equipped with kitchen, washer/dryer, 3 plasma televisions, surround sound and best of all the most incredible view of the lake.  Check out the picture from our loft style bedroom above.

Now, being the adventure capital of New Zealand you're probably wondering what kind of crazy activities and dangerous stunts have we indulged in here - the short and easy answer is nothing.  We did take the luge down the moutain as you can see Jason doing - however that was pretty tame compared to the skydving, bungee jumping and river rafting the town is known for. 

We're enjoying our time to take in all the beautiful scenery that surrounds us, as well explore the historic towns of Arrowtown and Glenorchy.  Tomorrow we're off to Milford Sound for a day trip which should be amazing. . .

There literally are dozens upon dozens of tours to Milford Sound making it almost imposible to know which one to choose.  BUT, this one was a no brainer for Mr. foodcentric Jason Walker whom was all about finding the tour group that offered a bar-b-q lunch with the excursion.  So the Bar-B-Q Bus was our transport to the gorgeous Milford Sound.

Milford Sound, likely the most famous tourist site of the South Island is situated within the Fiordlands National Park - it is another natural wonder that New Zealand boasts.  The drive alone to get to it is 5 hours just from Queenstown (which itself is pretty remote in the S. Island).  It certainly is a trek getting to Milford Sound but certainly worth the effort.

Our bar-b-q bus made some really spectacular stops along the way, one of them being the most incredibly beautiful location to have the bar-b-q (most likely Jason's highlight of the day).  Our leader John was quite the master at the grill, which was just a bonus to the spectacular scenery we gorged ourselves in.

Since Milford Sound is not only one of the wettest places in New Zealand but one of the wettest in the world, there are dozens of waterfalls cascading down the cliff faces some reaching a thousand meters in length (check out the video).  On our boat ride we took around the sound that reaches out to the Tasman Sea, we got quite up close and personal with some of the raging waterfalls pouring down the mountainsides.

Although Milford Sound is very remote and at minimum a full day trip, I am definitely glad we got the oppotunity to experience it.  I don't know if we'll ever have a meal anywhere else in the world that holds a candle to our Milford Sound bar-b-q backdrop.

Although we considered skipping it, there was no way we could leave Queenstown without at least checking out the "original" bungee jump at the Kawarau Bridge.  In fact, it was on our drive out of town heading towards Christchurch.

Walking in the building, neither of us were at all committed to the experience. We were just going to watch a few people do it...  Maybe snap a few pictures...

Our first excuse was if there was a line and we had to wait very long we’d just skip it – there was no line. Hmmm, okay well how much does it cost? We thought if it’s outrageously expensive it just wouldn’t be worth the money.  Unfortunately, $100 USD/person didn’t seem unreasonable for an experience like this so that excuse was out. They neglected to even ask about any injuries or body issues, so I guess there was no excuse there.  In fact, as is the case with all adventure activities in New Zealand, they never even had us sign anything.  The decision was made. We were taking the plunge.

We decided I would jump first so that I didn’t get scared and back out of the experience after watching Jason – I’m glad we did it that way. The whole process happened so damn fast it’s hard to recount the details (I think that’s intentional so people don’t freak out and bail).

All I know is I was asked whether I wanted to touch water or not as my legs were being bound tightly with a towel. There was major commotion going on, with people radioing down to the raft below in the water. Then a harness was strapped onto my legs.

Next thing I know I’m shimmying out on a ledge.  To the left are about 3 dozen people at the observation point all cheering me on.  The instructor is standing behind me telling me to wave, look at the camera, take some deep breaths, but yet still no instruction on how to jump. All of a sudden he starts counting down five, four, three, two, one, jump.

All I know at that moment of faith, I thought I was going to die

Jason and I both agree that this was the freakiest thing we have ever done in our lives. I was proud of Jason who managed to touch the water on his way down. I didn't quite make it that far.  We were both shaking like leaves after the jump.

In hindsight, I’m certainly happy to have the “bungee jump” notch on my belt, however don’t know if I’ll be rushing off to do it again any time soon:)