New Zealand

02/04/2017 → 16/04/2017

The Luge

April 03, 2017 | 6 Minute Read

Today our main plan was to go to the Luge at the top of the mountain near our hotel and see how we go for time after that. It was about a 5-10 minute walk and we arrived at the base of the mountain where there was the Skyline Gondola terminal. We paid about $59 for tickets that included the gondola up the mountain, seven luge rides and chairlift access.

Because our hotel is so close we got there fairly early and there weren’t many people so we were at the top in no time. The way up was nice and calm and we even saw mountain goat along the way! At the top there were stunning panoramic views of the lake and para gliders launching from behind us and gently circling around in front of the viewing area.

We got some food and drink at the cafe before making our way to the top to do our first luge. Rob has a fear of heights but he did pretty well on the gondola ride up. The chairlift however was a different story, that freaked him out a little so he decided not go on that one and walk up the mountain instead. Surprisingly he actually made it to the top in a similar time to us.

For the first luge down the mountain it is compulsory to get a short tutorial from an assistant and to take the “scenic route”, also known as the slow track. Even on our first go we were pushing the limits of those little carts a bit, some of the corners are pretty sharp and with enough speed you end up on two wheels. It was pretty fun!

The next time around Rob and Chris walked up the mountain and we took the chairlift, but this time we took the fast track! It was actually a little shorter but there are some extra drops that let you pick up a bit more speed.

At a couple of spots around the track and on the chairlift there are cameras that take photos of you as you pass. We tried pretty hard to get as many people in a photo as we could. After about three or four attempts we managed to get about five of us in a single photo!

About half way through we stopped for lunch at the cafe again and finished off our last few laps. After seven laps with a group of seven people, we had accumulated a lot of photos so we spent a fair bit of time with the assistant going through and picking the ones we wanted prints of. It was kind of expensive and they wouldn’t let us buy just digital copies, but we did get a digital copy with each print we bought.

Chris bought some plush sheep from the gift shop and we headed back to our hotel. We still had a fair while left of the day so we decided to go for a drive to a nearby bridge where they do bungee jumping.

There are two activities to do here, the zipline and the bungee jump. We sat at the viewing area to watch for a bit and then walked over to the bridge they were jumping off. Rob had a pretty hard time trying to cross that bridge with his fear of heights but after some persistence and some help he got across! Well done Rob!

Joseph almost did a bungee jump but we were talking to the assistant on the bridge and she explained that the impact on the body is somewhat similar to jumping of a meter high platform but with potential twisting but with an ACL injury this would probably not be a good idea so that didn’t happen.

On the way there we saw a lookout over a lake, we didn’t stop on the way there but we did on the way back. It was a little windy, but it was an open enough area I thought I’d try the drone here and see how it handles the wind. It actually did really well! It’s so much better than my Phantom 1! I’m still not very smooth with the recordings, but the practice is good.

From here we drove back towards town and stopped by a dried up river bed for some photos. It was a nice walk along the river with an awesome view of the clouds going over the mountain and a really impressive rainbow. At one point there was even a double rainbow!

While everyone was skipping rocks over the water, I couldn’t help but think it was a great location to go for a fly with the drone but the same clouds that were over the mountain had started making their way towards us. Just as some light rain started we headed back to the car and back to town for dinner.

We ended up stopping at Erik’s Fish and Chips for dinner. I got a Hoki and chips meal for about $10 and most others got a “hot dog” but it was actually like mince meat wrapped around a stick which was not what they were expecting.

From here we went back to the hotel to get some towels as all of us (except Chris and Joseph) had booked a session at a local onsen! We got our stuff, gave the key for the smaller car to them and we took the van about 5-10 minutes to the onsen.

Anthony and Amy got one pool and Rob, Tom and I got another one - very romantic! The pool was like a giant wooden wine barrel with a bench on the inside. There were controls to dim the lights, activate the jets and open a huge door for a view of the mountain and the stars! Unfortunately it was a pretty cloudy night so you couldn’t see any stars (or anything else for that matter) but it was a nice and relaxing way to finish off our day.

After soaking for about an hour we left the place in a very calm and sleepy manner. We stopped by a grocery store to pick up supplies for our early 6AM start tomorrow to go to Milford Sound! We ended up buying bread rolls, cold meats, etc. to make breakfast/lunch on the go.

One more stop before going back to the hotel. It’s Chris’ birthday today and we wanted to get him a cookie cake from Cookie Time. We stopped by but it turns out those cakes aren’t pre-made and it was too late for them to make one so we ended up getting a bunch of cookies instead. Back at the hotel we all went to Anth and Amy’s room, gave him a surprise set of glow sticks as a present (Chris loves glow sticks, checkout the maid cafe blog post from our Japan trip), broke up the cookies for everyone to share and sang him happy birthday.

We all went to bed soon after that, we’re all pretty exhausted by this point!