Get busy living or get busy dying

Last week I did a 15,000 foot skydive over the Remarkable mountains (1/3 of the misty mountains from LoTR).  Santmyer was the only person in the history of Queenstown to say, "I haven't spent enough money,"  and naturally, jumping out of or off of stuff is the quickest way to blow cash here.  We took the trip with 20 others, but a couple from Australia and we were the only ones doing the highest altitude jump. After suiting up and learning drop positions (hang like a banana!) we met our tandem partners.  My guy, a 6'6" Russian named Sasa, has a lifetime of experience and 22,000 jumps.  Everyone straddled each other for the 15 minute spiral flight up.

 The first group jumped at 12k feet.  WOOSH, gone! At 15k I was the first to lean out, look straight down at the NZ panorama, and plummet towards it.  It takes 12 seconds to reach terminal velocity (200 kph/ 125mph), but you have 60 seconds of pure free fall followed by a 5 minute canopy fall.  Pressure built in my head, my ears started aching, cheeks started rippling in the wind, and it got hard to breathe, but holy crap it was the most exhilarating thing! I have no words to describe it.  My ears didn't pop for the whole next day, but it was worth not being able to hear :) Pictures were $180, so I took mental ones.

St. Patrick's day was also pretty extreme.  Queenstown is a ridiculous town, but St. Pat's was another level.  I have no pictures from that day either so I'll just say,  you haven't done St. Patty's right until you've done it with a group of Irish men and women.

The season is changing really quickly.  It stayed  light till 9pm when I first got here, but now the Sun disappears behind the mountains around 5:30 and it gets cold. Very cold.  I'm working hard to get in all the outdoorsy stuff and hikes on sunny days between the rainy ones.  Packing a backpack for the day and trekking out somewhere new with my big camera is one of my favorite things to do in the world.  It's so simple.  You can hike into places you would never see otherwise, and in NZ you might be trekking where no one has been in 10 years or ever before.   It's a good feeling to be out in the wilderness...

Queenstown Hill with Zo

Erik on the way to Skyline peak

Top of Tiki Trail 

Sunrise from the Lodge

I meet new people everyday especially since living in the lodge... locals, backpackers, and folks on holiday.  Everyone travels for different reasons.  New experiences, escaping old ones; to meet new people or to be alone. Whatever your reasons are...  "Get busy living or get busy dying" (Shawshank Redemption).  I think that sums up the mindset of most travelers.  See the world while you still have the chance.