Adventure Capital of the World

P7230018 This picture says it all about Queenstown, NZ.  I’ve been in the southern hemisphere for a little over 4 weeks now and two of those weekends have been spent with this gorgeous backdrop as my playground.  I shared this last trip with 30 international students who caravaned up to ski at The Remarkables, ride the jetboats, luge down a hill and bungy the 143 m high Nevis
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Our free time was spent wandering the tourist packed streets of Queenstown which has adventure guides and mountain gear shops on every corner.
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After already deciding that I want a house here, I stumbled upon a real estate dealer that had houses with spectacular views for $384,000 USD.  If only I weren’t a broke college student…
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A few brave souls, including myself, mustered up the courage to take on The Nevis bungy jump outside of town on Sunday morning.  With all of us literally shaking as the bus rolled out of town, my buddy Ryan turned as said “Man, I feel like some ridiculous heavy metal music should be blasting right now”…..and on queue the driver cranked up Welcome to the Jungle.  I was hitting just about the same notes as Axel in the photo above.  Check out the full video of my jump here.
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The adventure capital of the world sure lived up to its hype.   And I haven’t even been jet boating, paragliding, skydiving, or heli-skiing yet.  Stay tuned…
--Tyler Grubb

The Nevis


I got to fly off New Zealand's highest bungy jump this past weekend. Check out the video that they film for you at "The Nevis Bungy".


New Zealand's Highest Bungy Jump from Tyler Grubb on Vimeo.


-Tyler Grubb

Dunedin Life


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I’m just starting my second week of class in the southern hemisphere amidst cold nights and cloudy skis.  The climate here hasn’t been much different then the overcast weather I’m used to back in Oregon.  Only problem here is the lack of central heating that leaves us waking up cold every morning.  Getting out of the shower has turned into a race to get into warm clothes and to the local warmth of a space heater.   P7120004
I’m living on the 3rd floor of a flat that has become a cozy little home.  Also experimenting in the kitchen a bit lately and can make some tasty salmon pasta…look out Emeril.
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I went exploring a bit the other day around the botanical gardens just behind our flat and found a maze of trails that wind up to a lookout over the city.  Its definitely gonna make for some good trail runs when the weather gets a little warmer.
Dunedin
This last weekend I made the 4 hour drive up to Christchurch to go skydiving and see Megan.  The drive up the coast is absolutely gorgeous with scenes of ocean cliff to your right and skyscraping mountains on your left….this country is ridiculous.  I’ll have to take some time to make it a more scenic trip some other time to share some pictures.  Christchurch was a cool city and it was great to see Megan and meet some of the international students she lives with too.
All of my flatmates and I are headed up to Queenstown this coming weekend for some southern snow and thrill.  Stay tuned…
-Tyler Grubb

First Update from New Zealand





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I’m all set up for a semester in the land of bungee jumping and the haka.  It took around 17 hours from Portland, OR to reach Dunedin, New Zealand but worth every second of it.  I’m living in a little flat with 4 international roommates in a complex where everyone has a foreign accent.  We had a week of orientation last week that was really nice to get to know people from all over the place and get settled in.  P7080005
After being here just a week, I got invited last minute to go snowboarding at The Remarkables just outside of Queenstown.  Aptly named “The Adventure Capital of the World” the town is situated in the middle of the Southern Alps with spectacular views of mountain lakes and jagged peaks.  It was just a little taste of what New Zealand has to offer before I start classes.P7100009
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Not too shabby a view from the parking lot…
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Today, after a week of sharing international drinking customs, we all finally started our papers.  I’m hoping that with not that tough a schedule I’ll be able to post some pictures of everyday living in Dunedin so stay tuned…
-Tyler Grubb