Three years ago we traveled to Fiji, New Zealand and Australia on our honeymoon. At the time, we thought that the main attractions in that region were Fiji and Australia, and so we spent just five days in Queenstown, New Zealand. We seriously underestimated New Zealand. Five days was not nearly enough time to experience the magic of one of the most beautiful places in the world.
When we were choosing the route for this trip, we avoided any city we had already traveled to as a couple. The picturesque lakeside city of Queenstown, New Zealand, was the sole exception to this rule.

We arrived in Queenstown just in time to celebrate Erin’s birthday.
Jeff: I had been wracking my brain trying to think of a good gift for Erin’s birthday. She had set the bar pretty high when she bought me a sheep for my birthday in Ethiopia, so I had to come up with something good. Surrounded by the Remarkable Mountain Range, Queenstown is one of the most spectacular jump sites in the world. What better way to celebrate her birthday than to jump out of an airplane at 12,000 feet?
Erin: Some ladies might question whether it’s a good thing when your husband says he wants to push you out of an airplane on your birthday. But after eating 1,000 consecutive meals with this man, I was quite sure that his heart was in the right place.
After several delays because of wind, we finally boarded the van and made our way out to the airstrip. We should have been nervous about the jump, but we hardly had any time to worry about it. Jeff was distracted because he had left his wallet in the van and was worried about the safe return of his cash and cards (he got everything back). Erin was distracted because she was turning 32. Sam was distracted by how good he looked in his flight suit.


As soon as we arrived at the hangar our instructors were helping us into our flight suits, checking our gear, and pushing us toward the plane.

The three of us boarded the tiny propeller plane and climbed quickly to 12,000 feet. With a professional skydiver strapped to our backs, we crawled our way to the open door of the airplane. We each dangled our legs over the side, rocked slightly, and then tumbled into thin air.
The first thing we did was let out a big scream. For the next 45 seconds we took in the awesome scenery while falling at a rate of 140 mph. The laws of physics seemed inverted as we watched Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkable Mountain Range rush up toward us. Then the parachute opened and we spent about 7 minutes slowly flying down to earth.
It was awesome!


Ever since A.J. Hackett opened the world’s first commercial bungee jump in Queenstown, the town has been known as the adrenaline capital of the world. We took a cable car 1200 feet up the mountain to jump off “The Ledge,” a 150 foot free-fall bungee jump with spectacular views of Queenstown.
Sam made friends with the girls running the skydive and bungee, and he was able to negotiate the “local deal” on bungee jumping: unlimited jumps for the price of one.
Erin: For those of you who don’t know Sam, he is one big bundle of energy. He’s the kind of guy who can run/bike/swim a triathlon during the day and then go out for a night on the town. When he found out about the unlimited bungee, his eyes got very wide. I knew he was going to get his money’s worth.
Jeff: Sam was the first one to go off the bungee. I’ve never seen him more scared in his life. He was wringing his hands, his face lost all of its color, and his mouth was dry. But he overcame his fear, let out a conquering scream, and threw himself off the ledge.
Erin: Sam fell hard for the bungee. I watched as he did front flips, back flips, and then the ultimate “Matrixjump” with guns blazing. Eventually I lost track. Sam jumped off the ledge EIGHT times before he was done. The man literally bungeed to exhaustion.

Jeff: Bungee jumping is actually more scary than skydiving. For our skydive we had a professional skydiver strapped to our backs so we didn’t have to throw ourselves out of the plane — we paid someone to do it for us. On the bungee ledge you stand alone paralyzed by fear. You look down and your brain screams: “Are you insane?!?! DON’T DO IT!” You have to overcome that intense fear and throw yourself off the ledge. After four jumps my body didn’t have any adrenaline left. I was exhausted just watching Sam jump four more times.

When Jeff told his college buddy Blake Nixon that we were in New Zealand, Blake put us in touch with his father who has an apartment in Queenstown. The smartest thing we did when we arrived in Queenstown was to meet up with David and Dada Nixon.
Less than 24 hours after we contacted them, we were climbing into the back of their car and heading out to the Central Otogo Valley for a day of wine tasting. Although they had never met Sam or Erin (and met Jeff only once eight years earlier), they welcomed us as friends immediately. We got into the car and Dada turned around to look at us from the passenger seat. “Jeff, Erin, and Sam,” she said to confirm our names, “Okay, let’s party.”
And we partied. We hit several wineries that day and tasted some of the best Pinot Noirs in the world.

After a full day of wine tasting, the Nixons invited us back to their house for more drinks and some food. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Nixons have the nicest view in all of Queenstown.


We drank wine, watched the sun go down, and had our own dance party on the balcony.




The Nixons were incredible hosts. We took a tour of David’s private wine cellar and then spent the evening sampling bottle after bottle from the best wineries in New Zealand. The sun finally set on this wonderful day, and we decided to take our leave before Jeff did any real damage to the apartment.
On our last night in Queenstown we went out to experience the local nightlife. It was Saturday night and Winnie’s was throwing their annual Pimps and Pornstars Party. We picked up costumes at the dollar store and went out to paint the town bright pink.

The DJ was spinning some killer tunes, Sam was dancing up a storm, and the beer was flowing like water. It was a great night, and of course the Wertkinborns won a bar competition and we went home $50 richer than when we arrived!