Hungry Hungy 2022

As we fly into Queenstown over the famous snow-capped Remarkable Mountains, the buzz starts to build, and excitement levels are peaking, with no idea of the adventures to come as the itinerary is a secret!

Getting off the plane into the crisp, clear blue sky full of sunshine, we all congregate in nothing short of a glamorous carpark where we pop the Veuve and recap on what a sensational year 2022 has been for the top performers of the Marble Massive.

As we cheer on the successes, the drone of an engine approaches and we look down onto the Shotover River where 2 jet boats are waiting to joyride us around Queenstown!

HH2022 Team ready to ride the jetboats

For anyone who hasn’t done the jetboats before: buyer beware. These cowboys throw the boat around, narrowly avoid shaving the sides of the canyon, and to all the first timers screaming their heads off: thank you for our early on-set hearing loss.

Glad to be back on dry land, we head over to what can only be described as houses out of MTVCribs. Set into the mountainside overlooking Lake Hayes, with a hot tub in prime position, we quickly tuck into the endless cheese platters and champagne.

The accommodation overlooking Lake Hayes

Getting ready for the welcoming dinner that evening, we all emerge in our costumes for What We Want To Be When We Grow Up. A lot of creativity from nurses to unicorns, Spice Girls to astronauts.

Well, we thought our pad was special.. walking into the Directors house; bartender to the right with cocktails and champagne on arrival, cheese platters, balloons, crackling fires and the unmistakable waft of Queenstown’s finest lamb connoisseurs; Pedro House of Lamb.

The gathering kicks off with everyone comparing costumes, gawking at the mega mansion and setting about trying everything on the menu.

Enter Josh Little Jones, with an inspirational poem about our journey to Queenstown and the fun about to be had!

*Camera fades to dark and the rest of the evening is left to your imagination.

FRIDAY!

Being gluttons for punishment, we are out the door at 730am to arrive in picturesque Arrowtown, where we are to take the stunning bike trail through the mountainside to the Karawara Bungy. Now friends, this is one of the highest recommended activities in Queenstown – but maybe not at 8am in 0 degrees!!! #pack3pairsofgloves

45 mins and a few frozen fingers later, the bungy comes into view nerves suddenly go through the roof. There is a lot of cajoling and sales tactics going on, convincing each other to do the jump, “you wont regret it!!!”and to be fair, no one who took the leap did. For those who didn’t jump, watching the nervous ones was just as terrifying. It bonded us all in support for each other and cheered each other on with gusto.

HH2022 Crew ready to meet their fate at the Kawarau Bungy (Queenstown, NZ)

Following this we enjoyed an amazing, hearty lunch and beer in town, before ascending up the gondola to the top of the mountain, where the views are breathtaking panoramic scenes across Queenstown and the lake – before absolutely HAMMERING down on the Luge. The luge is like these small go karts, which very precariously can go sideways if you try to race each other, which we do.

**Going on holidays with the most competitive performers in recruitment is entering at your own risk

I know, this is a lot. We are all still standing, yet still have the biggest night of the trip ahead of us! It’s still ONLY Friday! So, we head home for round two of the snack platters and champagnes across the epic view, while cheers-ing and expressing our gratitude while we get on our glad rags and head into town.

It’s become a fixture in the schedule to take over the private dining room of Jervois Steak House right in town, with amazing food, wine, cocktails and service – and shots of course, to rile us up for the evening ahead!

After a short queue in the Baltic evening, we enter the Bunker Bar, where the DJ is playing the most awesome remix of classic songs from the 80s, 90s and current day – the whole crew and club were bouncing around on the dancefloor until the wee hours – expressing we haven’t had so much fun in a club in who knows how long.

SATURDAY

Saturday was spent enjoying a sleep in, full cooked breakfast, hot tubs and mimosas while recapping the previous nights events. A few sorry heads congregate at our next adventure – mountain buggies!

Excited to ride the buggies!

Bumping and bouncing ourselves up to the top of the mountains where the guides took us through an educational talk about how the mountains came to be from the glaciers, and the crazy gold rush times that established Queenstown.

Saturday night is usually a more low key evening – after 2 big nights and subsequent hangovers, there’s a fair amount of “I’m too old for this” grumblings and we get pizzas and watch sports.

HOWEVER this year was not the case. Buoyed up by how much fun we had the night before, we return to the Bunker dancefloor and no one got any more sleep than they did the previous nights.

SUNDAY

Everyone is definitely looking puffy and worse for wear as the end of the trip approaches. Having a cosy breakfast in Arrowtown and again laughing over the previous evenings events, a few voices are starting to go, and much hydration is required.

Getting to the airport is a mix of emotions, tired, hungover, laughing, hugging – we are bonded like family for life. It’s now 5 minutes before boarding and there’s talk of “going straight to bed” and “can’t wait to see my kids”, when an alert flashes up on our phones “Your flight has been cancelled”

PANIC! The organisers immediately trying to talk to staff, call travel agents, call partners to let them know we are stuck! However, only to find out 10 minutes later it was a mistake. Not cancelled, but 3 hours delayed.

When everyone eventually rolled through their doors and got home those pillows never felt softer, and the dreams sweeter – remembering HH2022

Blog by Lauren Campbell