Took my first helicopter trip today. We took it to Fox Glacier, which is situated above a rainforest, for a morning hike, which was gorgeous. The geography of this place is insane. The helicopter ride was smooth. The pilot banked kinda severely to show us a waterfall, and I had a little lurch from the g-force. But I got used to it and rode out the next few banks.
But I actually had two separate sessions of aerial activity today. The first was the round trip to Fox Glacier. The second was when our bus driver drove (a little quickly) over a little bridge that was recently paved. The bus (38 people and all their luggage) went airborne as we hit the joint of the pavement. Did the same thing when we reached the other side, two seconds later. That’s an adventure tour for you.
Now I’m down in Queenstown. Tomorrow, I take the Shotover jetboat in the morning for 20 minutes of zooming around. In the evening (5:10pm), I leap off of The Ledge for a 47m (155 ft.) bungy jump. I’m scared, but I think it’s more fear of embarrassment, rather than life-and-limb. I spend too much time inside myself, making cosmic explanations for things that are really just childhood neuroses. Spending two weeks without talking to a single person who knows me, I’ve come to realize that some dumb aspects of my behavior are just contingent on my need to please present company. That’s not happening as much here.
So I’m going to jump off The Ledge tomorrow, and if I don’t do a beautiful swan-dive, it’ll still be a great experience. I’ll have a video of it, and a bunch of pix that’ll make their way into the Big Slideshow.
Speaking of which, the camera is well and truly shot. I’ve been using disposable ones here, and I’ll have to grab a new Minolta when I get home. Grr.