SYDNEY/KIWI ADVENTURE-9: A relaxing, lazy sunday: Hot pools, massages and hang gliding!

Well the weather forecast suggested that the weather today would be bad but it seems that Queenstown's weather is less than reliable and the predictions are not meant to be taken as seriously as you might do in another part of the world. It was indeed overcast but the rain was nowhere to be seen.

Anticipating this weather, and due to the fact that it was Sunday and therefore a good day for goofing off, I had booked a couple of appointments for myself to wallow in total self indulgence. First things first was a trip to the Queenstown hot pools, a rather wonderful place located just outside town that provided spectacular views of the shotover river (a place I seem to be returning to many times) and provides the customer with their own delightful open air private hot-tub. Since my legs were still aching a little from my spirited downhill run I felt like treating myself. I had also suffered a minor case of whiplash from jumping into water from a great height in the Waitomo caves so it was time to lounge around and let my body relax. Sadly the place didn't provide any naked young women to entertain me so I took a book with me instead.

I brought along a copy of Bill Bryson's book Down Under. Anyone who hasn't read any of this man's travel writing would do well to give it a go. I walked into a bookshop in Auckland a little over a week ago and randomly picked up a book on Australia (after all I had just been traveling around there on the Sun Princess) and it happened to be Bryson's book. After reading about 3 paragraphs I took the book to the counter and slapped down my money. I've never had a book sell itself in it's first few paragraphs but there you go! His writing style is wonderfully dry and he manages to make the most mundane things incredibly hilarious. The funny thing is he never really actually does anything when he travels to another country. He just ambulates around town at a leisurely pace looking at random things and then chats to a few locals then has a pint. Yet he somehow turns these seemingly insignificant non-events into brilliant, pithy little anecdotes.

I didn't get too far before I had to leave, my hour passed too quickly so I sojourned to the nearby health spa for my one hour massage. I had asked for the most punishingly violent massage available, one that felt more like grievous bodily harm than body therapy. Still that's the way I likes 'em.

And what better way to finish off a nice quiet day than hang gliding? In keeping with the laid back nature of this particular Sunday I booked a flight when I noticed that the weather was in fact getting better not worse. After all most of my previous activities had been pulse pounding, heart pumping adrenaline rushes, this time I wanted something nice and relaxing. I didn't have to look too hard to find a company that had some short term spots left on their tour.

We drove up to Coronet Peak, a really spectacular ski resort just outside town. Of course it's summer here so there was no snow but the view was still very beautiful (as just about all views from just about anywhere in New Zealand tends to be). This is real Lord of the Rings scenery right here. The take off sequence was very simple, running towards the edge of the nearby cliff and hoping that the giant triangular sheet of polyester we were attached would catch the wind and take off. Incidentally it did and we were airborne in seconds.

Now all I can say at this point is I would recommend hang gliding to all but those with the most intense and terrifying phobia of heights. It really is the closest you will ever get to flying. Previously I had only tried powered hang gliding (ie. a microlite) and although fantastic fun you still realise you're strapped to a big noisy engine, albeit a small lawnmower sized one). When hang gliding all you hear is the wind rushing gently past your face and you can easily talk to your pilot. It's quiet, relaxing and really quite sublime. Another reason I chose to hang glide today was that I knew it wouldn't be over quite as quickly as skydiving (which lasts about 380 seconds) or Bungy Jumping (which last about 7-12 seconds!). This was a nice leisurely float down from the mountain that lasted about 15 minutes before landing in a field. Very nice!

So now I've only got one more day left in Queenstown. I think I'll probably just save my money and have a couple of rides on the skyline luge again. After all it's probably the only cheap ride in the whole town. Then I'm flying back to Sydney to spend a week before returning home to Blighty for Christmas. Bloody hell it's going to be so goddamn cold there.

Right after takeoff

...and a few seconds later