Queenstown is known as "The Adventure Capital of the World" for good reason:
My first Canyon Swing (I jumped backwards off the platform into Shotover Canyon)
Here is my reaction during the swing:
For my second Canyon Swing I decided to do the "Gimp Boy" position where they hang you upside down. You'd figure that I wouldn't be scared the 2nd time around but the guys there have a way of playing with your mind (definitely need the audio on this one):
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
March 24 - New Zealand Day 1
Najib, Danny, and I arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand late on Friday March 23. Since the NZ immigration authorities found it odd that a Moroccan, a Greek, and an American were traveling together they took the Greek & the Moroccan for interrogation while thanking me for my patience. After 30 minutes of questions about drug-smuggling they let us go. We drove into town and went out for a quick drink before retiring to the hostel since we had a long day of driving and hiking ahead of us.
We woke early on the 24th and drove 5 hours through picturesque countryside to the Franz Josef Glacier in the middle of the South Island to do a few hours of glacier hiking.
The beautiful NZ countryside:
We arrived at Franz Josef Glacier to do a heli-hike where they fly you up to the glacier in a helicopter for a few hours of hiking.
It was going well until we were in a crevasse and I took the wrong step, falling into freezing water up to my neck. Here is Rhino (the hiking guide) helping me after I've climbed halfway out:
And me freezing after getting out:
However, we remained in good spirits:
Najib even slid through a small tunnel to get wet himself:
After finishing the hike, we took the helicopter back to the base and continued our drive to Queenstown, NZ.
We woke early on the 24th and drove 5 hours through picturesque countryside to the Franz Josef Glacier in the middle of the South Island to do a few hours of glacier hiking.
The beautiful NZ countryside:
We arrived at Franz Josef Glacier to do a heli-hike where they fly you up to the glacier in a helicopter for a few hours of hiking.
It was going well until we were in a crevasse and I took the wrong step, falling into freezing water up to my neck. Here is Rhino (the hiking guide) helping me after I've climbed halfway out:
And me freezing after getting out:
However, we remained in good spirits:
Najib even slid through a small tunnel to get wet himself:
After finishing the hike, we took the helicopter back to the base and continued our drive to Queenstown, NZ.
March 20 - FINA Water Polo
Once again we were at Albert Park, but this time for the FINA Water Polo tournament. In an early round match Greece was playing Russia, which was a big deal in Melbourne since it is the largest Greek city in the world outside of Greece.
Greece thoroughly outplayed the Russians, which was not much of a surprise since they had their traditional pre-game meal of lamb souvlakis and baklava. Also because they are a top-5 team in the world.
We literally had front-row seats to the match so we were able to see how dejected the Russian coach was at the end:
Greece thoroughly outplayed the Russians, which was not much of a surprise since they had their traditional pre-game meal of lamb souvlakis and baklava. Also because they are a top-5 team in the world.
We literally had front-row seats to the match so we were able to see how dejected the Russian coach was at the end:
March 18 - Melbourne Grand Prix
Yes, I know its been about 2 months since I last uploaded some pictures. Anyway, here we go...
Formula 1 racing came to Melbourne on March 18! I've never attended a car race of any sort (NASCAR, Indy Car, or F1) but we luckily had trackside seats.
We were seated at one of the turns so the cars slowed down a bit by us, but they were still ridiculously loud:
One of the best parts of the race was when the Accenture-sponsored car was wrecked in a crash in front of us! This is the car that it crashed with:
After the race we ran onto the track to celebrate the massive amounts of fuel consumed in just a few hours:
And to re-enact famous scenes in F1 history:
Formula 1 racing came to Melbourne on March 18! I've never attended a car race of any sort (NASCAR, Indy Car, or F1) but we luckily had trackside seats.
We were seated at one of the turns so the cars slowed down a bit by us, but they were still ridiculously loud:
One of the best parts of the race was when the Accenture-sponsored car was wrecked in a crash in front of us! This is the car that it crashed with:
After the race we ran onto the track to celebrate the massive amounts of fuel consumed in just a few hours:
And to re-enact famous scenes in F1 history:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)