Don’t worry if you haven’t visited everywhere in New Zealand or Oz, just vote for your favourites in the places you have been and you’ll still be automatically entered into the prize draw – how easy it that?!

Voting closes on September 24th 2010 and the winners of the Golden Backpacks will be announced in November. Don’t forget to tell your mates to vote too, and be in with a chance of winning this fantastic prize.

The Golden Backpack Awards reward those companies who work hardest to make backpacking around Australia and New Zealand that extra bit special. Maybe you stayed in a fantastic hostel you’ll never forget, or went on a trip with the best tour guide Down Under. What’s the best way to book a tour, find a job or get around? The answers to these questions and more are in your hands.

Remember them?  Of course you do, the amazing American couple who not only cancelled other plans in Queenstown to swing, not only changed flights to swing, but also came back from Australia instead of flying home to LA – again, for more swinging!  They racked up 17 jumps last year…  Well… THEY’RE BAAACK!

Having heard that we’re now offering the infamous ‘Gimp Boy Goes to Hollywood’ jumpstyle as a tandem, they just had to come back for more.  So they ventured back all the way from the US of A for more swinging and even got thrown off by their all-time favourite jumpmaster ‘The Crispy Duck’ (Trademarked, tagged and owned by the Shotover Canyon Swing, really!).  Gimp Boy has always been pretty intense, but with the tandem gimp you and your buddy can dangle together upside down 109m above the Shotover Canyon and plunge eyeballs-first into the canyon at the pull of the pin!

Since Marc and Christina’s last visit we’ve added ‘paw cams’ – a camera attached to your ropes, so you’re filmed throughout the whole swing, up close and personal.  So this time, Marc and Christina will take their entire experience back home with them this time.  Woop woop – watch this space for their next swing mission…

Marc and Christina’s video has been uploaded onto our facebook page – click here!

And for the summery soul hiding inside, we’ve got the heaters cranking and have spare duck-down jackets you can borrow!  Happiness is… warm swingers!

We swingers are very proud to have supported Queenstown local Tina and her buddies in their recent charity rickshaw race across India.  Their once-in-a-lifetime journey took them through torrential rain, desert roads, steamy jungles, extreme heat and awe-inspiring mountain ranges.  They visited Orissa, where their whopping fundraising total of $5,000 NZD will be helping locals, through the good work of FRANK Water and Mercy Corps.

MASSIVE hats off to Tina and the boys, what a brilliant fundraiser to be part of – we’re very pleased to have helped them in their magnificent mission!

After some top-secret meetings and photo shoots, we are ever so excited to announce that we are now offering Tandem Gimp Boy jumps!  So not only does the Shotover Canyon Swing give you the highest tandem cliff jump in the whole wide world, you can now do it many different ways; be released the right way up with the cutaway, leap yourselves off the platform, or dangle upside-down styley and get unleashed face first into the canyon with your best bud.

Tandem adrenalin and a whole load of spectacular Shotover Canyon upside down in yer face!

HOW completely brilliant – so you can jump off a cliff a couple of times and still have time to  zip up the hill for an afternoon of downhill slidy action before painting the town red…. or chill-axing with a hot chocolate in front of the fire!

Get amongst it ladies and gents!  With over 60 different jump styles, there’s something for everyone – from those wanting to conquer a fear of heights, those who want to swing with their nearest and dearest, to those adrenlin-junkies who think there’s nothing out there exciting enough to knock their socks off… and even better, you get to keep your socks too!

A MASSIVE thank you to our local agents and customers alike, who really threw themselves into it, all in the name of charity.  What a fantastic way to make a difference!  This was our 4th annual fundraiser; previous recipients are Wakatipu Search and Rescue, Dunedin’s Royal Albatross Centre and Child Cancer.

This year has seen the addition of mutli-shots to our video and photo packs.  These brilliant multi-burst photos capture you all the way through your freefall, so you end up with one photo containing lots of you!  We’re very proud that we’re the first peeps to offer this in New Zealand for our customers – just another reason that the magnificent Shotover Canyon Swing is leading the way…

So, you can try your hand at Matrix moves and we’ll make it happen!  ‘Flips’ and ‘The Chair’ are 2 jump styles where you spin on the way down – they make epic multi-shots – you’re almost guaranteed to look like a pro acrobat!

Where else can you be checked in by a beautiful beer maid, strapped up by a naughty nurse and thrown off a cliff by a cute, cuddly cow? Shotover Canyon Swing takes cow tipping to a whole new level, quite a mooving experience! Puns were flowing aplenty, some you may have herd before…

We love it when customers come out in fancy dress too, it makes us smile and laugh and makes for amazing photos.  The more creative the better, although we don’t want to drop anything over the edge, so we love it even more when it’s something well-constructed!