Big Doses of Epinephrine

“If careening downriver at 50 miles per hour in a boat that came within inches of jagged cliff walls hadn’t woken me up and floating backwards through a swirling rapid named Toilet hadn’t elicited a big enough dose of epinephrine, there was always the possibility that plunging to the depths of a canyon with my arms outstretched would empty my adrenaline reserves,” Andy Isaacson describes for the Wall Street Journal. “It was a relatively typical day of sightseeing in Queenstown … It is a natural theme park for grownups that offers an improbable selection of rides and attractions aimed at conquering personal fears and delivering major doses of excitement. The adrenaline fare comes mostly à la carte, but at Queenstown Rafting on Shotover Street, I noticed a three-course tasting menu for about $500: jet boating down the Shotover River – an amuse-bouche – followed by a starter of whitewater rafting and, for the main course, a 440-foot jump above a canyon, tethered to a rubber band. I booked it straight away.”