Paragliding in Queenstown: My Adventure Story

Have you thought of doing paragliding? This is my first time doing paragliding in Queenstown, New Zealand - a town known for adventure sports in the world. Paragliding wasn't on my bucket list actually, I have skydiving listed instead. But interestingly, when I was planning this trip to NZ, I purposely chose paragliding over skydiving for 2 reasons:

1. I thought of how high the skydiving could be when jumping from an airplane and was scared of it. (Especially when thinking of the experience of taking a flight from Brunos Aires, Argentina to San Diego, Chile and feeling extremely close to the high mountains covered with snow)

2. I may not able to appreciate the landscape if doing skydiving because of the high speed.

So l did paragliding rather skydiving in the end. And it turns out to be a great experience.

Table of Contents

• My Paragliding Experience

• Some Stories About My Pilot

• Small Conclusion

My Paragliding Experience

I was a little bit nervous before departure because it really felt like I wasn't armed much but was gonna fly soon. I didn't open the eyes when we were running out for the first 3 seconds because the feeling of not being able to touch the ground made me uncomfortable. (That shows I am truly a land animal, isn’t it? 😂)

3 seconds later, I left the ground and really enjoyed the feeling of being able to overlook the earth like a bird. I felt satisfied being able to appreciate the beauty of nature in this way, and I also felt very calm being surrounded by the vastness of nature.

My pilot did some tricks while we were flying, which I also enjoyed a lot. The tricks make you felt like taking a roller coaster - you lose the gravity for some tiny seconds and felt you were gonna fall. It was fun for me but I realized it may not be fun for everyone. I talked to 2 people sitting aside me when heading back to the center by shuttle, they said as soon as their pilot do a little bit of the stunts, they felt uncomfortable and had to stop. Just so you know what it feels like, and can decide when you do paragliding.

Some Stories About My Pilot

While flying in the sky, I also talked to my pilot and learned some of his stories. He’s full time paragliding pilot who always travels between Switzerland and New Zealand for works depending on the seasons. (when I learned that, I was like “isn’t that some degree of digital nomad’s life 😍? which is my dream life as well ha) He said paragliding requires specific geographical conditions, and those 2 countries meets the requirement and the pay there is better than the rest. That’s why he travels between these 2 for works.

When asked about if he wanted to be an airplane pilot, he said “yes, when I was a kid lol.” But he said that requires taking many tests, which isn’t something he’s good at so paragliding pilots is a better option for him. And also, paragliding pilots enjoy more flexibility than airplane pilots, that’s what he wants to pursue as well.

Small Conclusion

I always like to talk to people I met on the journey since it may spark something that you never thought of before and thus expand your thinking in many ways. Talking with the pilot is such an example that makes me think about the possibility of turning something you truly enjoy and make a living on it, which at the same time gives you so much control and freedom that you don’t have to try hard to prove to others all the time.

Anyway, that’s for career part. For life part, now I am finally able to manifest the song I often sing at home - "I believe I can fly", which I'm happy 😄. Oh btw, I also want to relate to my Snorkeling in Great Barrier Reef post - I may not good at water but I can take on the sky 😙