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Flying from Auckland to Queenstown direct is probably one of the most scenic flights I have ever had in my life. The flight is just under a few hours, but you wouldn’t even bother with the inflight programming if there was anything besides a trivia slideshow.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
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As you can tell from the pictures above, the weather today was just gorgeous. In fact, it will probably be the best weather we’ve had all trip. It’s been foggy, rainy, and hazy in North Island​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​. The weather was so nice that our uncle decided to take us straight up the gondolas after we landed on a tiny airstrip in Queenstown. When he asked if I wanted to go paragliding, I couldn’t refuse!

This was quite an experience. I’ll even step through it with you in case you ever want to go. First, you pay a ridiculous amount of money. Next, you meet your tandem partner – my guy was Dan. He was pretty cool. He definitely made me feel at ease. Here’s a picture of him in front of me with his gigantic parachute. I feel safe.

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I pretty much did everything Dan told me. We had to take a lift up higher and then he had to drive his parachute backpack up the hill. He basically told me – “this is really the hardest part. Just keep walking up – there’s a shortcut that looks like a bunch of steps on the left. I’ll drive back down and walk back up so just take it easy.“ I definitely underestimated him and New Zealand’s slopes. After 10 minutes of hiking up a friggin’ slope, I found this so-called shortcut. It was actually pretty steep – I felt like the Hobbit climbing Mt. Doom. Despite the cold and somewhat confusing hike, when I got to the top, I was FLOORED! I had an unobstructed 360 degree view over Queenstown. As I waited for Dan to return, I started getting really pumped!

Well, after waiting another good 5+ minutes, Dan shows up and we start putting on all the gear. I got to help him stretch out the parachute. He sounded very optimistic – I was going to be the first paraglide of the day and weather conditions were looking good. After strapping in, we took a picture with his nifty long-arm camera stick. If you can’t tell, I’m freezing my face off, but I’m excited! Well, until …. he told me what we needed to do next.

We scooted to the edge of the mountain and he basically said – just start walking and then running down the hill. So taking a deep breath, I started walking and then running for my life. There’s a sudden thrill when the parachute lifts you off the ground and you realize you are running on air. After liftoff, you just lean back and recline into this nifty little seat cushion. I highly recommend paragliding on a beautiful day – it is so worth the cost. Not only do you get to take in the view, but it’s a very relaxed journey. Dan took out his stick and took a number of unflattering pictures – I mean, seriously, who ever looks good falling from the sky? After a few pictures, Dan asked if I wanted something more exciting. After naively saying yes, we started swooping down towards the city. It felt like a roller coaster ride – this experience totally topped off the entire adventure. Before I knew it, we were safely landing on a soccer field. Considering how little time we had spent in Queenstown, I love this place already!

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You’d think that was the end of the day, but our final destination for the night was Te Anau. That post’s coming up: ”The Te Anau glowworm caves“.