Queenstown, no restraint: 134 metres, 15,000 feet, and a tasting menu
14 playbooks shared · added to 34 trips
- 7:15 am1Breakfast at Vudu, and do not overdo itQueenstown
Eat something, but eat small — you have a bungy at nine and a skydive at two. The lakefront Vudu on Beach Street has the view; the original on Rees Street has the shorter queue. Both are cash-flow-positive on flat whites by 08:30, so order at the counter and take a table outside.
5 min walk · 400 m - 8:10 am2Nevis shuttle from The StationQueenstown
You cannot drive yourself to the Nevis — it is 40 minutes up a private 4WD farm track and the transfer is part of the ticket, leaving from The Station in town. Check in 30 minutes before your slot. Weigh-in happens here and the number goes on your hand in marker, which is how they set the cord; there is a minimum and a maximum weight and it is not negotiable. Verified 2026-09-06: the Bungy Bus leaves from the AJ Hackett Queenstown Bungy Centre on the corner of Camp and Shotover Streets, the first departure of the day is 08:40 and they run every 40 minutes to 14:40, and check-in is 30 minutes before your bus. The old 08:15 departure in this day was not a real bus time - this window is now check-in for the 08:40.
34 min by train or taxi · 34 km - 8:40 am3The Nevis Bungy: 134 metres, 8.5 secondsQueenstown
New Zealand's highest, from a pod slung on cables over the canyon — around 305 dollars, and the trip out and back is about three and a half hours all in. Two pieces of advice from people who have done all three local jumps: the Nevis is the one where the walk out along the cable to the pod is worse than the jump, and going first in your group is much easier than going eighth. The Kawarau bridge jump is half the price, a third of the height, and the one to pick if you only want to say you did it. Wind stops the Nevis more often than rain; they rebook the same day when they can. Verified 2026-09-06: AJ Hackett tells you to allow four hours total from the Bungy Centre, so the 08:40 bus has you back in town about 12:40 rather than 12:15; the freefall is 8.5 seconds off 134 metres as described.
34 min by train or taxi · 34 km - 12:55 pm4Fergburger, eaten on a wallQueenstown
The queue looks worse than it is — it moves, and they text you when it is ready, so join it, walk away, and come back. Order at the window, then get Fergbaker next door to hold a pie for later. If the line is genuinely round the corner, Devil Burger does the same job in ten minutes.
11 min by train or taxi · 6.7 km - 2 pm5Skydive over the Wakatipu basin from 15,000 feetQueenstown
Fifteen thousand feet is about 60 seconds of freefall and roughly 479 dollars; the 12,000 ft option is cheaper for 45 seconds and honestly the difference is not the money. Book the earliest slot you can and expect to be moved: cloud base decides everything, and they roll jumps down the day rather than cancel them, which is exactly why this sits before dinner and not after. The photo package is a hard sell at the hangar — decide before you go up, not while you are buzzing.
10 min walk · 750 m - 4:30 pm6Snow landing high in the RemarkablesQueenstown
A 30-minute alpine flight with a landing on the snow, around 495 dollars, and the landing is the whole point: you stand on a ridge in absolute silence with the Wakatipu 1,500 m below. Hold it rather than book it — alpine landings are the first thing cancelled for wind or low cloud, and the operators will tell you honestly at midday whether the afternoon is flying. If it is a no, the same money buys a Milford Sound fly-cruise-fly on a different day, which is a better use of it than a scenic circuit in flat light.
10 min by train or taxi · 5.9 km - 6 pm7Onsen Hot Pools with the roof openQueenstown
Private cedar tubs above the Shotover canyon, booked by the pool rather than the person, with a roof and a wall that retract — book the last light slot and ask for a west-facing room. It is 15 minutes out of town and they run a free shuttle if you ask when booking. After a bungy and a skydive this is not a luxury, it is maintenance.
17 min by train or taxi · 10 km - 7:30 pm8Trust the chef at AmisfieldQueenstown
No menu — you say what you do not eat and they cook, roughly 180 dollars a head with the wine pairing on top, and the pairing is worth taking because the estate pours its own pinot and riesling next to the food they were made for. Book six to eight weeks ahead for dinner; the lunch sitting is far easier to get and arguably better, since you can see the vines and the lake. It is 20 minutes from town on the Arrowtown road, so one of you is not drinking or you have already booked the taxi — Queenstown taxis after 22:00 on a Saturday are a genuine problem.