Middle Earth, a.k.a. - New Zealand

I recently celebrated my 26th birthday (a-thankya) by heading down to New Zealand for a week to do some driving, skiing, and generally to have a good time. Some of you may recall my earlier trip to the north island last year. Having heard excellent things about the south island, I had made a mental note to head back there at some point to check it out. I suppose this is me actually following through with that mental note.

I would also like to add that I will try and make as few Lord of the Rings references as possible. Apologies in advance.

I flew out mid-week into Christchurch, which would be the starting point for my 470 km drive across the south island to the holiday town of Queenstown.

My driving route - from Christchurch (A) to

Queenstown (B).

Along the way, I stopped for all manner of zoos, giant fish, huge fruit, beautiful lakes, and anything else that was shiny / caught my attention.

See the full album here.

Additionally, here are a couple of videos from my visit with the lemurs at the Orana Wildlife park.

Additionally, I figured that while I had taken the time to go to New Zealand, the global capital of all extreme activities, I should do something I'd always wanted to do: skydiving.

Sitting in the plane strapped to my instructor

Marcus, just before the jump.

Nothing like dangling one's feet out of

a plane 15,000 feet in the air to awaken

one's senses.

No warning - suddenly there's nothing

but three miles of sky between you and

the ground.

60 seconds of freefall.

Despite my jowls' best attempts to cover them

up, my eyes are, in fact, open.

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane!

No, it's *flappuh flappuh flappuh*

Little-known fact: skydiving has an 86%

chance of turning you into Michael Jackson.

Coming in for a graceful landing. It looks like

even the Russian judge can't score this one low.

Success! Not shown: soiled underwear.

The entire trip was an incredible success. New Zealand is such a spectacular country, whether you're looking for food, fun, or just a place to unwind. I will definitely be going back.