Queenstown is well known as the home of adventure and thrill seeking activities in the Asia Pacific region and Shotover Canyon Swing is one of the highlights.

I was in New Zealand earlier this year on a photo/video shoot expedition for Tourism New Zealand and had a spare day at the end so Destination Queenstown arranged three adventurous activities for me to review.

The first activity was Shotover Canyon Swing (As seen on Channel 9’s Footy Show and Getaway) which involves choosing a jump style and swinging down Shotover canyon from a clifftop platform 109 metres above the river below.

Neerav Bhatt Backwards Jump Shotover Canyon Swing – Queenstown, New Zealand South Island

It’s a great choice for people who want to experience a safe but still exhilarating NZ jumping experience for less money than skydiving and more creative jumping possibilities than a bungee which just drops straight down.

The cost of one go at Shotover Canyon Swing is $NZ 199 ($AUD 162 at time of writing). Spectators can be brought along on the bus for $NZ 20 each if you want to show off your daring jumps to friends or family.

As the shuttle bus left the Shotover Street pickup point on the way to the jump platform I could feel my heart beat accelerate and adrenalin start to flow.

Given the choice of over 10 suggested jumping styles of varying scariness I opted for a backwards solo jump which is rated 5/5 for scariness. Jumping backwards is also better because the Canyon Swing camera can take a photo of your face as you plummet down

I tried an extra jump (these cost $NZ 39 extra each) with Gavin, a backpacker from Britain who was willing to try out Shotover Canyon Swing’s new Tandem jump style which worked well as we timed the jump perfectly.

If you want to do a tandem jump with a friend/family member I’d strongly recommend you both do your own individual jumps in different styles first for the sense of achievement and then the tandem when you know the other person has the confidence to jump. Note because you’re harnessed together the Tandem style is only available in forwards position.

If you don’t have friends/family members taking photos of your jump from the spectator area you can buy a record of your experience: $NZ 70 for a DVD video, digital photos and 1 printed photo. $NZ 90 for a DVD video, digital photos and 2 printed photos. Tshirts, hoodies and caps also available.

I strongly recommend that you don’t eat a big meal within 2 hours before your jump for obvious reasons. Also make sure you use the mens/ladies toilets at the carpark before walking to the jump platform to avoid the chance of an “accident” caused by your reaction to the jump.

Stewart Island is New Zealand’s little known southern-most island and the closest southern landmass you can travel to be close to Antarctica besides the lower southern part of South America. Stewart Island can be accessed via a short fixed wing flight from the larger South Island town of Invercargill or a longer, but more economical ferry ride from Bluff.

View Larger Map of Stewart Island Relative to South America & New Antarctica

Team Landing on Stewart Island

Furhana Ahmad from Stewart Island’s Ruggedy Range guided tours

The primary goal of our Tourism NZ/Canon Video/Photo crew was to spot an elusive Kiwi bird with the assistance of Furhana Ahmad from Stewart Island’s Ruggedy Range guided tours and record the event, however only 2 of our crew saw a Kiwi and it was after midnight while walking outside so there was barely enough time to move out of the way while it ran down a path and disappeared into vegetation.

Wind Swept Beach Panorama

We were not dismayed by the lack of kiwi sightings as Stewart Island offered plenty of opportunities for outdoor adventure lovers to admire including wind swept beaches with waving grass on dunes that fascinated our resident TV travel journalist Jules Lund, bush walks through a variety of vegetation and sand dunes and a sense of being far away from the noise and maddening crowds of city life.

Stewart Island video

Sombre Atmospheric Weather on Stewart Island

Jules Lund Taking the Road less Travelled on Stewart island

Clive Copeman photographing Stewart island sand dunes

Make Sure You Wear Appropriate Wet Weather Gear from Shoes to a Beanie or Hood and the rest of your body in between

Kiwi Roadsign

The following videos and photos are highlights from a whirlwind week long photo/video shoot of New Zealand’s lower South Island via Dunedin I was recently invited to join by Tourism New Zealand and Canon Australia.

Great Fun During Wairaurahiri Jetboat Trip photo credit: Jules Lund

Photos – New Zealand, Southern South Island Highlights (view Gallery)

Video – New Zealand, Southern South Island Highlights

Tourism NZ has released 5 video webisodes from the New Zealand lower South Island “Jules Lund” video/photoshoot I was invited to join during March in my role as a photographer/blogger/travel writer.

View Playlist of all 5 episodes on Youtube

DISCLAIMER: I am not being paid for this trip and have sole control over what I write and say about it. As usual I will be completely honest about whether I feel a particular location/experience is good quality and value for money.

All expenses for this trip were covered by Tourism New Zealand and regional subsidiaries. Camera gear was loaned by Canon (except for my own personally owned Canon S90 camera). Some clothing was sponsored by Goretex

I’m a keen amateur photographer and love to see wildlife in it’s native environment so doing an Elm Wildlife Tour of the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin was one of the highlights of my recent whirlwind week exploring New Zealand South Island via Dunedin.

Otago Peninsula, New Zealand photo credit: Neerav Bhatt

The tour guides including Elm Wildlife Tours co-owner Brian Templeton and his staff clearly knew all about the landscape and wildlife we saw during the tour as well as keeping the wildlife #1 priority by warning members of the group to stay far enough from the animals so they wouldn’t be disturbed.

Yawning Hooker’s Sea Lion photo credit: Neerav Bhatt

Luckily I was using a media loan Canon EOS 7D digital SLR that day with a huge 400m lens zoom lens so I could take closeup photos from many metres away (note for the photo below: when photos are taken with a lens that has a really big zoom it makes all the parts of the photo look much closer to each other than they are)

Neerav Bhatt – Photographing Sea Lions photo credit: Clive Copeman

My goal for this trip to NZ was to take a really great photo of a Penguin which I managed to do lying down on the ground so that I could photograph the penguin from it’s own height with the waving grass in front and behind the penguin blurring nicely.

Moulting Juvenile “Yellow Eyed Penguin” photo credit: Neerav Bhatt

I also managed to capture a great bonus sequence of photos of a yawning sea lion thanks to the Canon EOS 7D’s phenomenally fast machine gun like ability to take 8 high resolution photos/second.

For me the penguins and sea lions were the stars of the show but you will also get the chance to see other wildlife including New Zealand Fur Seals.

New Zealand Fur Seal and Pup photo credit: Neerav Bhatt

DISCLAIMER: I was not paid for the NZ trip and have sole control over what I write and say about it. All expenses for the trip were covered by Tourism New Zealand and regional subsidiaries. Camera gear was loaned by Canon (except for my own personally owned Canon S90 camera). Some clothing was sponsored by Goretex

One of my favourite photos from a recent whirlwind week exploring New Zealand’s lower South Island was the very 1st photo I took with a Nokia 6710s Navigator cameraphone on impulse while sitting in the passenger seat of a car.

Winding Dunedin road with electric blue sunlight photo credit: Neerav Bhatt

I had the phone in my pocket so I was able to frame and take the photo within a second of noticing how the unusual electric blue lighting in the clouds worked well with the dark curving landscape ahead.

If you look carefully at the original large version of the photo you’ll notice 2 cyclists riding on the road about to go around the corner.

You can read more about the creative photo possibilities provided by camera phones at: Camera Phones Can Take Great Photos Because They’re Always With You

Chase Jarvis, professional photographer & author of “The Best Camera” book

DISCLAIMER: All expenses for my NZ trip were covered by Tourism New Zealand and regional subsidiaries. I was not paid for the trip and have sole control over what I write and say about it. The Nokia 6710s was in my pocket by coincidence on media loan from Nokia Australia because I often review smartphones/cameraphones.

Big news everyone! I’ve been invited on a whirlwind week long photographic expedition exploring the southern portion of New Zealand’s South Island by Canon Australia, Tourism Dunedin, Southland and Fiordland plus Tourism New Zealand.

I’ve visited New Zealand’s South Island twice previously on personal holidays and thoroughly enjoyed the wide variety of landscapes and wildlife that I saw and photographed. The photos below are from my 2004 trip.

This time I took along my newly purchased Canon S90 pocket camera and also used a Canon EOS 7D Digital SLR.

Some of highlights of this trip included (weather permitting):

St Clair Beach, Dunedin

Otago Peninsula

Larnach Castle

Elm Wildlife Tours

Monarch Wildlife Cruise

Stewart Island – Mason Bay

Okaka Hut, Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track

Waitutu Lodge & Wairaurahiri Jet

Fiordland – Milford Sound cruise

Visiting Te Anau & Manapouri

Photos – New Zealand, Southern South Island Highlights

Video – New Zealand, Southern South Island Highlights

Tourism NZ has released video webisodes from the New Zealand lower South Island “Jules Lund” video/photoshoot I was invited to join during March in my role as a photographer/blogger/travel writer.

View Playlist of all 5 episodes on Youtube

DISCLAIMER: I am not being paid for this trip and have sole control over what I write and say about it. As usual I will be completely honest about whether I feel a particular location/experience is good quality and value for money.

All expenses for this trip were covered by Tourism New Zealand and regional subsidiaries. Camera gear was loaned by Canon (except for my own personally owned Canon S90 camera). Some clothing was sponsored by Goretex