My new site is: http://www.laurencefavrot.com/

Anything new will go on there.

You don't have to jump, I'll just push you

I went skydiving from 15,000 ft (16,000 ft above sea level)! We were planning on going tomorrow but the weather was so good that we decided to jump this afternoon. No sweat.

 

As a first-timer I am only allowed to jump tandem and here you can see my goofy Hungarian buddy getting us prepped to go.

We had over a minute of freefall! That was followed by few minutes of floating under the parachute.

Two happy dudes.

Glay-see-uhrs

The Franz Josef Glacier proved different from anything we've done so far. We got to hike in crampons which I've always wanted to try and witness huge ice falls, glacial rivers, and surges.

The glacier appears right in the middle of a thick rain forest and the contrast is remarkable.

As has been the case for much of our trip, our guide through the whole ordeal was a foreigner. Bruce is from Bristol, England - a mechanic who got tired of his boring day job and decided to try his hand at glacier guiding. No kidding...

In an ice cave. Check out the cool blue ice.

Qtown

Although it tries a little too hard to be a European ski town, Queenstown is great fun. I can't exactly call it a strongly Kiwi experience, since everyone here is a tourist or on a working-holiday visa, but it's fun. If you're into beautiful scenery, adventure sports, and nightlife, this is the place to be. Matt and I spent five days enjoying the activities and nightlife. We spent most mornings slowly recovering.

Even skipping stones in Queenstown is epic. Why am I holding milk though? And no, I didn't bring a belt...

Emo over queenstown. The gondola ride takes you up to a good view over the city. However, it doesn't compare to...

...the view at the top of the Remarkables. Matt's position really is as precarious as it seems.

Wee!

I jumped off a 43m-high bridge yesterday!

There's a little me somewhere in there.

Matt and I also tried river surfing again, although this time with boogie boards instead of the awkward sledges. It was fun BUT not nearly exciting enough. The only thing serious about Serious Fun's trip yesterday was how controlling they were about going down the river. For two surfers, one of whom is an experienced ocean lifeguard, a tame category 3 rapid is just not that exciting unless we are free to play around in it. A second annoyance with these trips are the out-of-shape dolts who think they can handle frigid, choppy water despite being 50+ pounds overweight and lacking any coherent swimming ability.

Milford Sound

We were lucky to catch Milford Sound (actually a Fjord, spelled Fiord out here) with such good weather.

This picture doesn't do it justice. The place is a massive glacier-cut with water pouring out of every conceivable place in the cliffs. Lord of the Rings indeed!

Vagabonding

After walking up the mountainous area outside of Christchurch ($25 for the dang gondola) Matt and I decided to work our way up some steep rocks, the howling wind threatening to heave us to our deaths. Only Matt made it all the way out. Here he exhibits his conquering pose.

Once my hands finally stopped shaking, the day got a lot calmer.

Here I am asleep on a park bench outside Canterbury Museum. Immediately after this moment a deranged homeless man dangled some meat over Matt's head and offered it to us. We politely declined his offer.