It was the Canyon Swing's Locals Week, we are locals, and I had promised Neava an adventure. So the two of us clipped ourselves to the same rope and let some very cheerful people drop us into the Shotover canyon.
Twice.
When her mum pointed out that I did not look scared, I set the record straight: "Of course I am. It is really scary."
Rated by underwear
On the drive out we settled how adventure activities should really be graded: by how likely you are to need a change of underwear. I had woken up that morning on a 4.5.
Mission one: find the car park
There is no public access to the site. You ride the operator's shuttle up a private road, from town or from the free car park at the Shotover Jet base in Arthurs Point (details). We took the car park option.
Finding the right car park was the hardest navigation of the day. "It needs a sign or something," I said at the time. I stand by it.
When the crew asked where we were from, I got as far as "Town of Queens" before we all settled on "Locals."
Weigh in, strap in, play it cool
There is a form to fill in on your phone before you go, and a parent signs for younger swingers (conditions). At the top came a weigh-in and then the harness. I followed every instruction to the letter, and made sure everyone noticed. "Look at me go. Following instructions is so unusual."
I had announced that the scary bit would be the walk down: a gravel track, then 61 steep stairs. I was wrong.
A briefing with jokes in it
Our briefer ran it like a stand-up set, which suits a nervous kid far better than a lecture. The numbers are the operator's, and they are not small: the platform is 109 metres up, with 60 metres of free fall and a 200 metre swing (FAQs). A camera on a pole above your head films the whole way down.
A second swing is sold on site only, if there is time on the day (prices). I had already asked, on arrival, whether it was quiet enough to fit one in. It was.
Pick your poison
You choose your style on the platform (FAQs). Our screen offered forwards, backwards, Chop and Drop, Cutaway, Chainsaw, Lucky Dip and a list of stranger ones.
Neava dismissed the gentlest option on sight. "Forwards? That's kind of boring."
So what did she want? "No, suspense."
Chop and Drop it was. You sit out over the edge hanging from a cord, and you watch the crew cut it. "Look, I trust everyone with a knife," I said, mostly to myself.
Nerves? What nerves?
The crew had me worked out before we reached the edge.
"I'm just twinkle toes," I explained.
"He's just nervous," said the crew.
"I'm not nervous," I said.
"I think you're just in denial."
"It's the first stage," I admitted.
Three minutes on the edge
Walk you out, sit you down, swing you out. That is the crew's routine, and they say it like a magic spell. Then come the photos, and then nothing happens for a very long time. The platform camera's clock puts about three minutes between our first photo on the edge and the cut.
The crew fill those minutes with entertainment, much of it at my expense, and I was no help to myself. I asked them to "make sure you cut the right one". I announced that "I feel like my bum's exposed. That's concerning." And somewhere in my questions about which cord did what, the man holding the knife made a fair point: "I've got a knife in my hand and you're torturing me!"
Neava's assessment of the crew: "You really just hate us, don't you?"
Then the cord goes.
"Oh my god, I hate you!"
Just hanging around
At the bottom you dangle over the Shotover while the swing settles, and the pole camera records every word.
"Are we just hanging here? Just hanging around," I said, extremely pleased with myself.
"Oh my god, shut up!" said Neava.
I suggested they were leaving us down there so they could charge double for the video. Then the winch hauls you back up and the crew pull you back onto the platform.
Braver than she lets on
Neava's review, on the way back up: "It was a thrill for like two seconds." Then the complaint: "I just did not like that ... waiting time." She also admitted she "couldn't keep my eyes open".
About a minute later she asked, "Can we do it again?"
Back on the platform she had notes on her passenger. "I didn't have the weight of Dad in me, like, that's a lot." The crew told her she had "showed Dad what's up". I have decided to hear that as a compliment to both of us.
Round two: Lucky Dip
She wanted another go, just not alone. "I don't want to go by myself." So it was another tandem, this time on Lucky Dip: coloured pins, only one of them lets you go, and you do not know which.
Ours were blue, red and green.
"You know what they say, never cut the red wire, so do red," said Neava.
The crew opened with a fake pull, just to see what we would do. I was more nervous the second time, which makes no sense, and yet. Sitting in the harness, I put the discomfort down to "gravity and old age. Those two things at once."
It was blue.
Once the swing settled, Neava had a question. "Do you know how much I hate you on a scale of 10?"
"16," I guessed.
"100."
Then, for the record: "So, never doing that again." And: "I still think the skydive would be better." She also said the drop felt longer second time round, "maybe because I had my eyes open".
The footage
You cannot hold a camera on the swing, and you do not need to. The package covers stills, a mid-swing video and two edited videos, one long and one short for social media, delivered by AirDrop on site and an email link. Media for your later swings is free if you bought it for the first (details).
Her mum filmed from the deck and found it hard going: once you swing out you are a long way off, and the camera loses you. Leave it to the operator's cameras, and just watch.
The crew's parting shot, as we headed for the shuttle: "Back to the scary part."
"Yeah, the drive," I said.
What we would tell a friend
- The fall is the easy bit. The wait on the edge is the real adventure, and the crew know exactly what they are doing with it.
- Tandem is the move with a nervous kid. Neava never had to go alone.
- Have lunch waiting. We had sushi in the car and the sun to eat it in.
The verdict
When I asked Neava for a final word for the world: "It was very nerve-wracking ... But it was exciting. I think the swinging was the best."
Her score: "Out of 10, probably 9.5." That is from someone who said "never doing that again" less than half an hour earlier, so I am counting it as a rave.
Mine: you could do ten in a row and the swing itself would be "no drama". It is the delay between that gets you. "It's pretty awesome."
Know before you go
| Getting there | Shuttle from town or from the free car park at the Shotover Jet base, Arthurs Point. No public access to the site (details) |
| How long | Allow two and a half hours, round trip (FAQs) |
| Age, weight and health | Minimum age 10, combined weight up to 210 kg, and you must fit the harness. A parent or guardian signs for under-16s and comes along for under-14s. Health declaration at check-in (conditions) |
| What to wear | Closed-toe shoes (details) |
| Spectators | Must be pre-booked, and can watch from the platform or the viewing deck (FAQs) |
| Access | A 300 metre gravel track, then 61 steep stairs down to the platform (FAQs) |
| Weather and changes | They operate in all weather. Full refund if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead (FAQs) |
| Locals | Locals Week 2026 ran 12 to 18 October (details) |
| Prices | On the operator's site |
Book it
The Shotover Canyon Swing listing has current availability and booking.
Words: Spike, from his own recording of the day. Photos and video: Canyon Swing Queenstown's cameras.
