Kawarau Suspension Bridge (1880), World-First Bungy & Shotover River Canyons

Long before Queenstown became synonymous with outdoor adrenaline, the sheer grey schist gorges of the Kawarau and Shotover rivers were the engineering frontier of the 1862 Otago Gold Rush. Today, anyone can admire these canyons from free clifftop bridges and walking trails, or experience them from a bungy cord or a shallow-draught New Zealand jet boat.

1. The 1880 Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge & the Birth of Commercial Bungy (1988)

• A Category I Goldfields Engineering Landmark (doc.govt.nz): Twenty-three kilometres east of Queenstown along State Highway 6 at the gateway to the Gibbston Valley, the entire volume of Lake Wakatipu drains through the narrow schist walls of the Kawarau Gorge. Completed in late 1880 to the design of colonial engineer Harry Higginson, the 140-metre-long Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge hangs from stone masonry towers and tensioned steel cables 43 metres (141 feet) above the turquoise rapids. Closed to highway traffic in 1963 when the modern bridge opened alongside it, the restored 1880 timber deck now carries walkers and cyclists on the Queenstown Trail, with free viewing terraces overlooking the river.
• November 1988, Where Commercial Bungy Jumping Began: Inspired by the traditional vine-jumping (Gol) ritual of Pentecost Island in Vanuatu and his famous 1987 jump from the Eiffel Tower, New Zealander A.J. Hackett teamed up with fellow skier Henry van Asch to launch the world's first permanent commercial bungy site from the centre of the Kawarau Bridge in November 1988. Even if you prefer keeping both feet on the timber planking, pausing on the spectator deck to watch solo and tandem jumpers leap toward the glacial river below (with optional water touches) is an essential stop between Arrowtown and Gibbston.

2. Shotover River Canyons at Arthur's Point & Historic Skippers Canyon Road

• Arthur's Point, the 1919 Edith Cavell Bridge & Hamilton Jet Boats: Just ten minutes' drive north of central Queenstown on the road to Coronet Peak, the Shotover River (Kimi-ākau) squeezes through vertical schist walls beneath the graceful single-span concrete arch of the 1919 Edith Cavell Bridge. Invented in New Zealand's South Island in the 1950s by engineer Sir William Hamilton to navigate shallow braided shingle rivers without an exposed propeller, twin-V8 water-jet boats race through these narrow canyons in as little as ten centimetres of water, executing 360-degree spins inches from the rock walls.
• Skippers Canyon Road (1883 to 1890) & the 1901 Skippers Bridge: Further upstream lies Skippers Canyon, accessed via a 22-kilometre road hand-blasted and chiselled out of vertical schist cliffs between 1883 and 1890 above a 96-metre-high 1901 suspension bridge. Important rental-car warning: Because Skippers Canyon Road is narrow, unsealed, and unfenced above sheer drops, every New Zealand rental-car company voids insurance coverage on Skippers Road; leave your car behind and visit on a guided 4WD heritage tour, white-water rafting shuttle, or hike.