…or how did Sir Peter Jackson and A.J. Hackett Stamped the Tourism of New Zeland and Created New Value for the Entire Economy (and Had a Great Time Along the Way! i kreirali novu vrijednost za cijelu ekonomiju (a usput se i j… zabavili! J)

Young Peter was sitting on the train from Wellington to Auckland, watching the imposing scenery that kept on changing behind the carriage pane. All of a sudden, it all came together. He had just been watching at the cinema the animated version of Tolkien’s fantastic tale “The Lord of the Rings” (the animated feature from 1978), which he liked very much, so he decided to, during the twelve hour train ride, read the novel according to which it was created. Reading the book, and gazing through the window upon images that came in a sequence, he came to see more and more that the fantastic world about which Tolkien was speaking in his tale had an irresistible semblance to his native New Zealand. And thus the high schooler had the idea to film a real feature version of the movie “The Lord of the Rings,” that would use the lively nature of New Zealand, utilizing it to tell Tolkien’s story of the so-called Middle Earth that had fired up the fantasies of countless readers for decades. The idea, twenty years later or so, turned into reality when the LOTR trilogy was shot, the movie enterprise that created legions of diehard fans throughout the world and thus became one of the most influential films during the past few decades. Another trilogy followed recently, the Hobbit, which was turned by Peter Jackson into a world hit as well, and which New Zealand used for a shrewdly designed and well integrated tourist campaign. Both trilogies sure helped New Zealand to rise from 1.7 million visitors in 1999 (before the LOTR trilogy was screened) to 2.4 million in 2004 and 2.9 million in 2014.

Not even ten years after the train journey mentioned, more exactly, in 1987, another New Zealand youth named A. J. Hackett was busy preparing mischief in another part of the world that was recorded by almost all world media. That is, the young A. J., for a few years already, had been enjoying the adrenaline brimming bungee jumps with his friends, and, in the dawn of 26 June 1987, was supposed to perform his, so far, most daring jump – bungee from the first storey of the Eiffel tower (which is about 110 m high). In the company of equally free minded and adventurous friends, he had climbed the night prior to the jump to the first storey of the world renowned attraction that was open to tourists. They managed to avoid security cameras by obstructing the view with umbrellas (even though there was no inkling of rain that day!), while their colleagues were busy going over the fence to the part of the tower closed to the public. Next, they spent the night in some corner of the first storey of the Eiffel tower, woke up at dawn and got out their jumping gear – including the long rubber they obviously managed to smuggle up on them. By tying the rubber to his ankles, A. J. stepped out to tower’s ledge, took a sip from a just opened bottle of champagne (that is traditionally gulped down before any jump of any importance), and – simply jumped into history. The jump was successful, and it was, thanks to previous arrangement with a media company, also recorded on camera, so the whole endeavor was quickly spread throughout the world. Bungee jumps thus gained their place on world media stage, while a year later (in 1988), A. J., somewhat thanks to world popularity he gained with the Paris jump, successfully started the first commercial bungee jumps in the world, picking the Kawarau bridge in the vicinity of Queenstown as the venue. Queenstown is today dubbed by many as the “adrenaline world capitol,” because this town with merely 25 thousand inhabitants includes the offer of over 150 different adrenaline treats, and attracts 1.9 million tourists annually. The establishment of the first bungee jumps precisely at this destination drew in a host of other adrenaline content and thus this tiny tourist place became the Mecca for all lovers of adrenaline, sport and wonderful nature. bungee skok s prve etaže Eiffelova tornja (visoke oko 110 m). U društvu jednako tako slobodoumnih i avanturistički raspoloženih prijatelja, popeo se večer uoči skoka na prvu etažu te poznate svjetske atrakcije, otvorene za turiste. Uspjeli su izbjeći sigurnosne kamere pokrivajući im pogled kišobranima (iako toga dana uopće nije bilo ni naznake kakve kiše!), dok su se njihovi kolege prebacivali preko ograde u dio tornja zatvoren za javnost. Prespavavši potom u nekom prikrajku prve etaže Eiffelova tornja, probudili su se u cik zore i izvadili opremu za skakanje – uključujući i dugačku gumu koju su očito također uspjeli prebaciti gore sa sobom. Pričvrstivši gumu na članke noge, A. J. je iskoračio na ivicu tornja, otpio gutljaj iz netom otvorene boce šampanjca (koji tradicionalno ispija prije svakog važnog skoka) i… jednostavno skočio u povijest. Skok je bio uspješan, a zahvaljujući prethodnom dogovoru s medijskom kućom zabilježen je i očima kamere, koja je cijeli taj pothvat ovjekovječila slikom koja je ubrzo obišla svijet. Bungee skokovi tako su dobili mjesto na svjetskoj medijskoj pozornici, a godinu dana kasnije (1988. godine) A. J. je, zahvaljujući djelomice i svjetskoj popularnosti koju je stekao skokom u Parizu, s partnerima uspješno pokrenuo i prve komercijalne bungee skokove na svijetu izabravši za njihovo održavanje most Kawarau u bliskoj okolici Queenstowna. Danas Queenstown mnogi nazivaju „adrenalinskom prijestolnicom svijeta“ jer taj gradić od svega 25 tisuća stanovnika ima u svojoj ponudi preko 150 raznih adrenalinskih sadržaja te privlači godišnje 1,9 milijuna turista. Uspostava prvih bungee skokova na svijetu upravo na toj destinaciji za sobom je povukla kreiranje niza drugih adrenalinskih sadržaja te je tako ovo malo turističko mjesto postalo meka za sve ljubitelje adrenalina, sporta i prekrasne prirode.

New Zealand Brief

Incommensurably with such relatively sparse population (4.5 million people or a bit more than the population of Croatia), the area of New Zealand amounts to as much as 268,000 km² – which is, for example, more than the area of UK. New Zealand consists of two islands – South and North. Most people live on the North Island (75 %), while the Southern is inhabited by about 1 million people. The capitol of the country is Wellington with 480,000 people. There are 23 regions and two official languages in New Zealand (English and Maori). The land was discovered for the European and world audience by the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman who sailed all the way to New Zealand coastline in 1642, first thinking he had reached the coast of South America. The English sailor James Cook sailed to New Zealand in 1769, and, in contrast to Tasman, disembarked and drew detailed maps of the land and jotted down first writings on the Maori population he found there. Following the long years of English rule, the country gained its independence from England after WWII, more exactly – in 1947.

The inhabitants of New Zealand are often called Kiwis; according to a bird of the same name the visuals of which the New Zealand army used on their military gear during WWII. The national sport in New Zealand is rugby, which far exceeds all other sports. So, for example, the sign of the silver fern tree, worn on their uniform by the national rugby team “Old Blacks,“ in time, was so popularized that it became a recognizable symbol of New Zealand. Australia has a very vigorous impact on the economy of New Zealand that could, for example, be compared with the German influence onto Austria. The mentality and the linguistic area are almost identical, while Australians are said to look down a bit onto New Zealanders. Australia has great natural resources; New Zealand not so much (apart from food, tourism and some IT), and, accordingly, they have to be creative in order to provide for the relatively high living standard they enjoy. Workers’ rights in New Zealand, according to testimony from locals, are significantly inferior to those in Australia.

I started my journey to New Zealand by landing in Auckland which, with its 1.5 million inhabitants, is the greatest city where about one third of New Zealanders live. Auckland is truly a beautiful city and is just right – it is neither too huge nor too little. The climate is fairly temperate; the port is developed (with access from several sides) and features a lovely promenade rife with restaurants and bars. The gorgeous vista over the city from the above is afforded by the so called Sky Tower which visitors can climb. The Sky Tower also offers the interesting option of bungee jumps from its peak, together with the safety of cables that go from the top downwards. Once I landed into Auckland, by the baggage claim, I picked up an advert for the Sky Tower bungee in form of one of numerous leaflets that I read during the bus ride to the hotel. This is what it said: “You are crazy if you don’t do it! “ When I saw that I said to myself – if I am already crazy, then I must try the bungee jump while in New Zealand. I did not do this in Auckland though, but in Queenstown, when my journey was at its end.

Second largest city in New Zealand (with insignificantly more inhabitants than the capitol Wellington I had no chance to visit) is Christchurch with 500,000 people. It is considered as the most English city in the country (while Wellington is adorned by its connection with Scotland). Until coming to Christchurch, I had had no idea about the strong quake that struck recently, nor about the whole story which greatly illustrates that nature in New Zealand, apart from being gorgeous and interesting, is simultaneously fairly feral and unpredictable. During the quake that struck Christchurch in 2011, 185 people died while the city was pretty devastated – for example, 90% of the downtown area was destroyed, while the east part of the city was completely annihilated. 70,000 inhabitants subsequently moved out, but 95,000 moved back until the present day (mostly not those that had left), so its population today is bigger than it had been prior to the quake. The downtown is being refurbished and reconstructed now, and will house entertainment complexes and malls (all aiming at tourism). Business areas were mostly relocated to the periphery on account of the quake and will now not move back downtown, because the latter will be adapted to tourists. The whole tragedy finally engendered something positive – the city will be a lot more functional in terms of urban planning. What followed after the biggest quake were thousands of smaller quakes of Richter 4 magnitude.

What is most incredible is that Christchurch, before the quake, had not at all been considered an earthquake prone zone – this was the part around the Alps where Wellington and Queenstown are. Still, the gravest quake in New Zealand ever since 1930s happened just there. This is another evidence not even statistics, nor history, can envision certain things, and that nature also features the “black swans” of unpredictability that Nassim Taleb writes about in his world bestseller of the same title. Ms Guide told me that when the quake struck, it felt more like the Armageddon (Doomsday). Buildings collapsed and geysers of hot water sprung up. One did not know where to hide and there were no rules – some died in the open, others in buildings. She told me stories about unfortunate human destinies that befell the victims. For instance, a man had sent an SMS to his family that he was okay and that he was in a park, out to help others. Afterwards, he was found dead, hit by a rock that somehow flew in from somewhere. At a downtown restaurant, not far from the hotel I stayed in, all people except for one waiter remained within the building once it shook. The waiter, fearing the building would come down, ran out of the restaurant – only to be hit by the upper storey construction. In the end, he was the only one who died out of all people who had been in the restaurant. Ms Guide illustrated the role of the luck factor in perishing by retelling the story of own house where those parts she had considered safest suffered most damage. It was pure luck nobody was in those parts of the house during the quake – and so none of those closest to her died.

New Zealand is a land of gorgeous nature, and, I think, it is probably the most beautiful country in the world when it comes to this. This is confirmed by the fact it contains 14 national parks, 20 forest parks and 3 locations protected by UNESCO (UNESCO listed world heritage sites). The Southern Alps in New Zealand, for example, are higher than those European, while the country includes as many as 3,900 glaciers and 4 volcanoes that are still active. As per scenery appeal, it is just Iceland that can compete with New Zealand, but, on account of far worse climate and weather conditions, this beauty can never shine as in New Zealand. I went through some of the best scenery on foot, by bus, boat, plane and chopper. What I saw was the beauty that makes man simply go numb. After all of this, I can say that New Zealand is definitely the best place in the world where Jackson could have shot his films in such a visually impressionable way. It is therefore small wonder that tourism is one of the principal branches of country’s economy – and one that it is constantly growing.Unesco listed world heritage sites). Južne Alpe u Novom Zelandu, primjerice, veće su od europskih, a u zemlji se nalazi čak 3900 glečera i 4 još aktivna vulkana. Po ljepoti pejzaža Island se vjerojatno može mjeriti s Novim Zelandom, ali zbog puno lošije klime i vremenskih prilika, ta ljepota ne može toliko doći do izražaja kao što je to slučaj na Novom Zelandu. Prošao sam neke od najljepših pejzaža pješice, autobusom, brodom, avionom i helikopterom. Ono što sam vidio jest ljepota na temelju koje čovjek jednostavno zanijemi. Nakon toga mogu reći da je Novi Zeland svakako najbolje mjesto na zemaljskoj kugli gdje je Jackson mogao snimiti svoje filmove na tako vizualno dojmljiv način. Stoga nije ni čudo što je turizam jedna od glavnih grana državne ekonomije te je stalno u porastu.

New Zealand also boasts great mountain areas. I was able to personally testify to this by visiting the renowned Cook Mountain, and by spending the afternoon in the relaxing environment with the view over imposing mountain peaks. Probably the most famous New Zealander of all time is Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to have climbed Mount Everest, in 1953. During his expedition to conquer the summit, he had prepared exactly on Cook, the mountain that next became a frequent station for climbers preparing to take on Mt. Everest. Sir Edmund Hillary, prvi čovjek koji je osvojio Mount Everest 1953. godine. On se za svoje ekspedicije osvajanja tog vrha pripremao upravo na Cooku, planini koja je potom postala česta stanica penjačima koji se pripremaju za osvajanje Mt. Everesta.

During the two-week journey, I took up a whole array of tours in order to witness the natural beauty of New Zealand. Perhaps the most famous one is termed the Milford Sound, which includes a visit to the greatest national park in the country, covering some 1.2 million hectares, and a boat cruise over fiords, that contains some great scenery. The word “sound“ actually derives from the Scandinavian word “sad,“ which signifies a stretch of water that can be swam over. It really means fiord, but Europeans in New Zealand for some reason called it the “sound.“ There are, overall, 14 sounds (fiords) in New Zealand. The tracking tour called the Milford Track is a world renowned tour in the area. It lasts 4 days and people, because of great popularity, reserve it even a year before. During my one day Milford Sound excursion, it was raining hard, so everywhere around the bus route and the boat we used to cruise the fiords afterwards, thousands of waterfalls and cascades formed – with water falling over the impressive nature. These waterfalls rarely exist so, even though these were really torrents, this was a privilege in a way – to be able to see all those waterfalls around you. I was told the fiords appear most impressive in two cases: when it is sunny and the weather is great, or when it is raining – which was the case during my tour. Some waterfalls were over 150m high, with water falling off from steep cascades as high as 1,300m. When sunny, the Mitre summit is especially striking. It is 1700 impressive meters high and rises majestically over the fiord, representing the perfect image for a most beautiful photograph or postcard. What else to say but that I have a great reason to come back in order to see the impressive Milford Sound during a sunny day – and perhaps even to do the world renowned Milford Track tour.tracking) tura pod nazivom Milford Track jest svjetski poznata tura po tom predjelu, traje 4 dana i ljudi je, zbog iznimne popularnosti, rezerviraju i godinu dana ranije. Za vrijeme mog jednodnevnog Milford Sound izleta padala je snažna kiša, tako da su se svugdje okolo autobusne rute, kao i poslije oko broda kojim smo krstarili po fjordovima, stvorile na tisuće vodopada i kaskadnih terasa s kojih je voda padala po impresivnoj okolnoj prirodi. Rijetki od tih slapova inače postoje, tako da iako je voda prilično pljuštala, bio je to na neki način privilegij – biti u mogućnosti vidjeti slapove svuda oko sebe. Rečeno mi je da fjordovi izgledaju najimpresivnije u dva slučaja: kad je sunčano i lijepo vrijeme ili kada pada kiša – kao što je bio slučaj kod moje ture. Neki su slapovi premašivali 150 m visine, a voda je s kaskada padala s nekih okomitih predjela, visokih i do 1300 m. Kada je sunčano vrijeme osobito je impresivan vrh Mitre koji je visok čak 1700 m i veličanstveno se izdiže iznad fjorda te predstavlja savršenu sliku za najljepšu moguću fotografiju ili razglednicu. Eto, što reći nego da očito imam razlog vratiti se kako bih vidio impresivni Milford Sound za sunčanog dana, a možda i odradio svjetsku čuvenu Milford Track turu.

 

The liberal approach to cattle raising and the lack of tradition in wine producing as the competitive edge

New Zealand is known throughout the world for vigorous sheep raising, which grew strongly until the close of the 20th century. Today, there are about 39 million sheep, which entails almost 10 sheep for every inhabitant. Thirty years ago, this figure went up almost to 70 million, i.e. twice what it is now. Further, the dairy industry recently outgrew the sheep industry per value, and, with 10 million cattle, today produce the annual value of over 11 billion New Zealand dollars. A decrease in the number of sheep started in 1980s, that is, simultaneously with the New Zealand government cancelling subventions for New Zealand farmers. New Zealand is thus fairly unique for being the sole developed country that is fully exposed to the international market, ever since the government cancelled all subsidies to farmers in 1984. What was the result of this move by the government – that would be inconceivable in Croatia?

The result was that New Zealand farmers had to find ways to do successful business even without subventions. Since the economy had such trends, the focus of farmers turned more towards cattle and the dairy industry, which in turn produced growth of the dairy industry – at the expense of sheep raising. There was also an agglomeration in farming and a vigorous focus on increasing productivity and efficiency in managing farms. Even today, New Zealand is world’s greatest exporter of calves, for it exports about 24 million calves each year and is, along this, eighth producer and exporter of milk and dairy in the world. The total exports in agriculture of New Zealand exceed the imposing figure of USD 20 billion – and all of this without any government subsidies.

As additional impulse for the development of the sheep industry, the contemporary “Icebreaker“ brand was created, that offers a diverse and high quality sport and fashion clothing from merino wool to the market. This helped additionally strengthen the industry, but, for example, production of carpets failed to similarly adapt, meaning they did not utilize contemporary design and did not understand consumer trends and requirements. The message is clear: those that adapt – prosper.

The story of the development of the New Zealand wine industry is interesting. This is a story that demonstrates even lack of tradition can represent the edge on account of one not being hindered by the past and his or her openness to experimentation and innovation. The story says that the first vines were planted by a Croatian in the vicinity of Auckland, some 120 years ago, thereby starting the wine industry in the country. Near Queenstown, on the other hand, the first person to start growing vines, thirty years ago, was the early retired BBC journalist Alan Brady. He started growing vines out of hobby when he judged the climate in Central Otego was similar to that of Burgundy that he had often visited. Everybody was telling him he was crazy, because nobody had earlier done any vine growing there, and he personally was not well versed in wine, but, with help from friends with adequate knowledge, he headed for the adventure. He experimented with different sorts, and, ten years later, it turned out the pinot noir was the best sort for the climate and the soil of the area. This sort of wine is very sensitive and sophisticated and does not stand climate neither too hot nor too cold. The winery he established is called the Gibbstown Valley and Alan, after a while, sold it for a significant amount of money. Pinot noir is today the dominant sort in the counties around Queenstown (70 % of all wine produced in Central Otego is produced from it) and the region, along France and South Africa, became one of the leading world regions for the wine sort.

I could therefore not resist, while staying at Queenstown, to embark on a wine tour that led to a visit to some of the leading wineries of the area. The tour began with a visit to the famous Gibbstown Valley winery, the starting point of wine making in the region, where we saw a wine cave that had been constructed for the purpose of better storage, and thus makes for quite an interesting and unique wine cellar. Next, we visited the Waitiri Creek – a small and interesting winery in the region of Central Otego, that includes a very innovative area constructed for tasting. That is, an old wooden church was brought and set up at the winery property, and was turned into a strikingly original and curious building with a spacious area for wine tasting. The manager at the Waitiri Creek named John was an interesting host and conversationalist. He explained it was precisely because of the fact that the Central Otego wineries do not have extensive tradition, since they started vine growing and wine making less than thirty years ago, that they are not encumbered by the practices that for example dominate Europe because of its long tradition. So, for instance, they do not use cork at all. The reason for this is the quality of cork they can get at reasonable price is not satisfactory (2 out of 12 bottles turn out foul), which is compounded by the lack of any statistical fact or proof cork represents a better solution than the plastic screw stopper. And so, in Europe, cork stoppers are mostly used because of inertia and because there is a habit and perception on behalf of the people good wine should be stopped by cork. On account of their short lived tradition and the fact that good cork is expensive and hard to get by, wine makers from New Zealand use plastic stoppers for virtually all wine. Further, we found out the wines in Central Otego are produced organically i.e. they do not use pesticide or any similar aids.cork) za zatvaranje vina. Razlog je taj što kvaliteta pluta koje mogu dobiti po pristojnoj cijeni nije zadovoljavajuća (2 od 12 boca bude neispravno), kao i statistička činjenica da nema nikakvog dokaza da pluteni čep predstavlja bolje rješenje od plastičnog čepa na odvrtanje. Tako se u Europi koriste pretežno pluteni čepovi uglavnom zbog inercije i stoga što postoji navika i percepcija ljudi da bi dobra vina trebala biti zatvorena plutenim čepom. Zbog svoje kratkotrajne tradicije i činjenice da je teško i skupo doći do kvalitetnih čepova, novozelandski vinari na praktički svim vinima koriste plastični čep. Također, saznali smo da se vina u Central Otagu proizvode organski, tj. ne koriste se pesticidi ni slična pomagala.

There were two doctors from Florida in the wine tour group, who had, a few months earlier, visited Burgundy. They told us the wineries there have tremendous difficulties exactly because they stubbornly stick to tradition, even in areas where this makes no particular sense. So, for example, they do not allow mechanization in vineyards (which is understandable), but they also do not allow any irrigation and – if somebody should practice it – he or she would risk great penalties that would be imposed by local authorities. The consequence of this is from 1/3 up to 2/3 of vine crops have gone to rot during the past 2 – 3 years that were arid. The price of wine accordingly was high so the region wines lost competitiveness in the world market. With the coming of global warming, this will probably prove to be an even more pronounced issue – if they insist on not accepting any modifications. That is, the John from the Waitiri Creek says he has recently been to a conference on the effects of global warming onto the wine industry where it was said wine makers would have to adequately adjust to the increase in temperature of 3 – 5 C that is expected to occur during the following 50 – 100 years. So, probably, in some vineyards which currently host species suited best to the climate that is not too hot (such as pinot noir in the vicinity of Queenstown), the climate in the future will probably prove to be more suitable for some other vine species more adapted to warmer areas (such as cabernet, syrah etc.).

Pinot noirs from the Waitiri Creek come branded as the “Drummers.“ This was designed in order for the name to be memorable and easily pronounced, and is part of the marketing strategy of the company. The Americans in our group, hearing this, shared the story of how Robert Mondavi, in the States, called the sauvignon “Fumme Blanc,“ which was closer to Americans, thereby significantly raising the sales of the wine. These are examples of wine popularization and bringing wine home to a wider spectrum of people who prefer simple communication acceptable to them. At the close of the wine tour, we had lunch at the Nose restaurant where we also had a chance to taste wine, but enter the so-called Nose room as well, where we could smell 40 – 50 different scents that accompany wine and tried to guess which ones were within the wines we tried. The Nose was designed as the place where smaller wineries from Central Otego can represent their wine within the framework of nice and innovative interiors for wine tasting and having lunch. It is obvious then lack of tradition in the wine industry spurred New Zealanders to innovate and experiment just as much in the procedure of wine making, but also in its creative presentation towards potential customers.

Queenstown – World’s Adrenaline Capitol

Queenstown and its surroundings are definitely the nicest experience I bring from New Zealand. Likewise, this is one of the most beautiful places on the globe I have ever visited in general – and a place I want to return to, definitely. Queenstown is a small city on the South New Zealand island, where about 25,000 people live and which is annually visited by, now already, 1.9 million people. Why is that so and what is the secret of this exceptional venue?

During my visit I heard stories from quite a share of people who visited Queenstown for a brief period only, to subsequently decide to look for work there and stay. For example, especially interesting is the account by a Chinese who was my tour guide on locations where LOTR had been filmed, in the vicinity of Queenstown. He first travelled the world and decided to relocate to Queenstown, when, upon arrival, he saw a plane go through a rainbow. He was so impressed by this that he decided to stay and look for work in Queenstown. He know does two jobs – as a driver and as a driver/guide for the tour over film shooting locations, and, in high season (both in summer and winter), he does this for 7 days a week, in order to be able to afford life in this unique destination. Except for him, I also met an Australian who came to ski and stayed to work for a marketing department of Nzone, a company that organizes skydiving tours, and a Canadian who graduated from college, visited Queenstown, and decided to stay waiting tables in perhaps the best restaurant in town (Botswana Butchery). skydiving ture, kao i Kanađanku koja je završila fakultet, posjetila Queenstown i odlučila ostati radeći kao konobarica u možda i ponajboljem restoranu u gradu (Botswana Butchery).

Queenstown is a beautiful, compact city which, apart from the fact the nature surrounding it is gorgeous, has an exceptionally developed, wide and diverse offer of numerous adrenaline content. Some therefore dub it the “adrenaline capitol of the world.” After A. J. Hackett started offering the first commercial bungee jumps in the world (in 1988), in 1990, the Nzone skydiving company sprung up, followed by numerous other adrenaline content (jet boating, rafting etc.). Jet boating (or careening in speedboats in river canyons) has been present in Queenstown even longer. Today, Queenstown offers over 150 different adrenaline attractions. It also offers excellent ski tracks that are in the immediate vicinity of exceptional nature that many want to see, it is in the immediate proximity to the locations where LOTR (Lord of the Rings) was filmed, and, as I mentioned already, in the surroundings to the city there are as well many great wineries of the Central Otego region. skydiving kompanija te su potom uslijedili brojni drugi adrenalinski sadržaji (jet boating, rafting…). Jet boating (ili jurnjava u brzim čamcima po kanjonima rijeke) prisutan je u Queenstownu još puno duže. Danas Queenstown nudi preko 150 raznih adrenalinskih sadržaja. Također nudi izvrsne terene/staze za skijanje koji se nalaze u okružju prelijepog krajolika, nudi prekrasnu prirodu koju mnogi žele vidjeti, nalazi se u neposrednoj blizini lokacija snimanja filma LOTR (Lord of the Rings), a kao što sam već spomenuo, u blizini grada nalaze se i brojne dobre vinarije regije Central Otago.

The city also includes a great offer of restaurants and numerous other tourist attractions, such as the original Ice Bar, the legendary Burger Bar, a great pastry shop etc. When I landed in Queenstown, it was already in the van on my way to the hotel that visitors who had themselves just arrived started a ten minute conversation on the Fergburger – this “best burger bar in the world” – that can be found in Queenstown. The queue there is never quicker than a 10 – 15 minute wait, regardless of when you come. Given all the fame, of course I had to try the hamburger and the lamburger at Fergburger’s, and they were quite delicious, but I am not really sure if they are that delicious that so many people religiously queue up for half an hour. Be that as it may, the man has managed to create a legend out of his burger bar. He was repeatedly offered to open up another one in a different place in New Zealand or outside the country, but, each time, he flat out refused. He is probably aware it is difficult to maintain the same level of quality at several distant locations and that his burger bar would then not be such a myth that people would discuss it for 10 minutes immediately upon touching down in Queenstown.

Out of numerous available adrenaline attractions, I personally opted for jet boating, bungee jumping and skydiving – as probably the best known and most flouted adrenaline attractions on offer. The experience of jet boating on the Shootover river is very interesting. The operator of the attraction was licensed as early as fifty years ago, once the speedboat that can glide over shallows had been designed, and, recently, the number of over 3 million transported passengers that participated in this adrenaline fun was exceeded. Thus, the service of jet boating on the Shootover has been present in Queenstown ever since the far 1965, while during the 1990s it was substantially modernized, thereby significantly increasing the capacities for annual passenger transport from 3,000 in 1960s to over 100,000 passengers annually. jet boating, bungee jumping i skydiving, kao vjerojatno najpoznatije i najrazvikanije adrenalinske aktivnosti u ponudi. Doživljaj jet boatinga na rijeci Shootover vrlo je zanimljiv. Operater toga sadržaja dobio je licenciju još prije 50 godina, kada je dizajniran brzi gliser koji može voziti po vrlo plitkoj rijeci (ima plitki gaz) te je nedavno prekoračena brojka od preko 3 milijuna prevezenih putnika koji su sudjelovali u ovoj adrenalinskoj zabavi. Tako je dakle usluga jet boatinga na rijeci Shootover prisutna u Queenstownu još od daleke 1965. godine, a u 90-im godinama prilično se modernizirala, povećavši pri tome značajno kapacitete za godišnji prijevoz putnika s oko 3000 putnika u 60-ima na preko 100 000 posjetitelja godišnje.

Getting aboard the speedboat, you find yourself dashing through the canyon at the speed higher than 100 km/h, this very close to adjacent rocks (the boat speeds by at the distance of some 20 cm), and, once the pilot spins his index finger (in a fairly cool manner, as if the film were rolling at half speed), the boat starts spinning by 360 around its axis, which creates a wow experience for everybody in the boat. And while we were thus speeding the river just next to the canyon, I was thinking how come the pilots are that deft they never misjudge and whether it ever happens that they do, by 10 cm, and hit against the edge of the canyon. Since I had some regard to other passengers – I did not ask. But I got my answer once I heard the day after my ride a boat, after a long row of years, had an accident. So, exactly what I suspected could happen did happen. A minor misjudgment and the consequence was that several people ended up in hospital, seriously injured. To get this into perspective, it is statistically very safe to go jet boating (and I would do it again without thinking), but, as you can see, accidents are nevertheless possible. On the other hand, bungee jumping in Queenstown is, statistically, fully safe (something one would never assent to intuitively). Believe it or not, nobody has ever died on A. J. Hackett bungee in Queenstown. More than that – nobody has ever died at A. J. Hackett bungee locations worldwide – and this includes over 3 million people jumping. cool način, kao na usporenoj snimci), tada se čamac počne vrtjeti 360 stupnjeva oko svoje osi, što stvara „wow“ doživljaj za sve u čamcu. Dok smo tako jurili rijekom tik do kanjona, glavom mi je prolazilo pitanje kako to da su vozači/piloti toliko vješti da nikad ne pogriješe u procjeni i dogodi li se ikada da pogriješe za par desetaka cm i zakače rub kanjona. Iz obzira prema drugim suputnicima nisam to pitao. Ali sam odgovor dobio kada sam čuo da je dan nakon moje vožnje jedan čamac nakon dugog niza godina doživio nesreću. Dogodilo se upravo ono što sam posumnjao da bi se moglo dogoditi. Mala pogreška u procjeni i posljedica da je nekoliko ljudi završilo u bolnici ozbiljno povrijeđeno. Da se razumijemo, statistički je izuzetno sigurno otići na jet boating (i ponovio bih to bez razmišljanja), ali kao što vidimo, nesreća je ipak moguća. S druge strane, bungee jumping u Queenstownu je, statistički govoreći, potpuno sigurna aktivnost (što čovjek intuitivno nikad ne bi rekao). Vjerovali ili ne, nitko nikada nije poginuo na A. J. Hackett bungeeju u Queenstownu. Još više od toga – nitko nikada nije poginuo na A. J. Hackett bungee lokacijama diljem svijeta – a na njima je do sada skakalo znatno više 3 mil. ljudi.

The whole experience of bungee was quite positive and I had the impression everything was organized very professionally – people knew exactly what they were doing, just like real professionals. When I first went to the Hackett office in Queenstown and asked whether I would have difficulties because of my problems with my back on account of a traffic accidents that had occurred over 10 years ago, the staff would not let me register because they would not take responsibility in case of bad luck. Stubborn as I am , I, of course, registered later via another sub-operator, where I mentioned nothing at all regarding the potential back problem, and nevertheless went to bungee on the famous Karawau bridge, 43 m high (I did not, after all, opt for the Nevis Bungy with 134 m of free fall, thinking this might prove too much for the sensitive back). There, we entered a large area for registering, weighting and shopping. The interior is quite nicely designed and arranged. A. J. Hackett Bungy, with years of experience, also perfected the technology of recording the jumps in video and photographs, so it is therefore possible to obtain quality photos and videos of the jump. I decided to use the photo and video option to have a nice memory of my first bungee experience. bungeeja bilo je vrlo pozitivno i pod dojmom da je sve bilo izuzetno profesionalno organizirano – ljudi su točno znali što rade, poput pravih profesionalaca. Kad sam prvi put otišao u Hackettovu poslovnicu u Queenstownu i pitao hoću li imati problema s leđima zbog svoje ozbiljne prometne nesreće prije više od 10 godina, osoblje mi nije dopuštalo da se prijavim jer nije htjelo preuzeti odgovornost da mi se ne daj bože nešto dogodi. Ja sam se naravno, tvrdoglav kakav jesam J, prijavio poslije preko drugog podoperatera kojem nisam ništa spomenuo za potencijalni problem s leđima te sam ipak otišao na bungee na čuveni most Karawau, visok 43 m (ipak se nisam odlučio na Nevis Bungy sa 134 m pada razmišljajući da bi to možda bilo malo previše za osjetljiva leđa). Tamo smo ušli kroz veliki prostor namijenjen prijavljivanju, vaganju i šopingu. Sve je to skupa vrlo lijepo uređeno i posloženo. A. J. Hackett Bungy s godinama je usavršio i tehnologiju snimanja skoka u videozapisu i fotografijama, pa je tako moguće dobiti vrlo kvalitetan fotografski i videozapis samog skoka. Odlučio sam iskoristiti opciju s fotografijama i videozapisom skoka kako bih imao lijepu uspomenu na svoje prvo bungee iskustvo.

After registering, when you are ink marked your number and weight, I went to the bridge, queued up and waited for some ten people to go ahead with their jumps. All of it lasted perhaps 20 – 30 minutes. When it was finally my turn, it all seemed so routinely and professionally organized that all fear and doubt that something might go wrong vanished. A team of several people (two at each jump platforms) took care that everything is under control. One man secured towels round my ankles and verified the connecting system around them. The second member of the team dealt with the rubber used for the jump, along with accompanying safety ropes, and he connected all of this to the links around my ankles. Once I tottered to the edge of the platform when this had been done, that protruded ahead of the bridge, the man instructed me to face the camera and suitably greet, after which he said: “Okay, let’s go: 1, 2, 3…“ And then I jumped. The whole experience was very interesting and unique. I felt no twitch in my back or any other body part and it all seemed smooth and surreal – as if in slow motion. Below the bridge, a crew with a boat was waiting and, after the up and down bob subsided, I grabbed hold of the stick they were pointing towards me from the boat. They brought me to the boat and got rid of the rubber. All of this lasted for a very short time – perhaps thirty seconds, one minute maximum. This was therefore my (first) bungee experience that I simultaneously had at the first commercial location for bungee jumps in the world. bungee iskustvo koje sam tako upriličio na lokaciji koja je ujedno i prva lokacija za komercijalne bungee skokove u svijetu.

The experience was phenomenal, and, immediately upon the bungee jump, I headed for the skydiving experience from a plane – to be able to wrap up my final day at Queenstown like one should . I told myself the experience of skydiving is one of the most surreal experiences of my lifetime. Following registration, we went through the safety briefing and headed to our destination. There was a stroke of luck involved, because I had already registered twice earlier for jumps that were postponed due to adverse weather (wind, poor visibility), and this was simultaneously the last chance – for this was my final day in Queenstown. The operator offered us the choice between the dive with pictures and the video or with no memory of the dive done. Except for you diving in a tandem out of a plane, if you pay extra for the video or the photos, you are then followed by another diver shooting you while you are on the plane or during the dive. I decided to take the video and the photos – for, who knows if I will ever do the crazy thing again. When we arrived to the take off site, we waited for about half an hour to enter the dressing room. There was a promo reel playing inside, which gave me the opportunity to find out the Nzone company was founded 25 years ago (in 1990), and that really many people dove before me under their organization (I cannot recall the exact figure), ranging literally from a 6 year old to a 84 year old. Once you hear and see this, you gain the confidence that all of it cannot possibly be that dreadful or demanding. In the dressing room, I received a suit with a system of belts that go round your waist and between your legs, and got to know my tandem instructor. This was a goofy Dutch guy (yes, for my dive, I got the “Flying Dutchman“ ). We entered the plane (all divers accompanied by their tandem instructors and photographers – if you had them), we sat one after the other in two rows and let go to the take and lift off to the right altitude. Along with several other people, I jumped from 5,000 m, while most opted for the 3,000 m dive. bungee skoku uputio sam se na skydiving skok iz aviona – da zaokružim posljednji dan u Queenstownu kako treba J. Rekao bih da je iskustvo skydivinga jedno od najnestvarnijih iskustava u mom životu. Nakon prijave prošli smo sigurnosni briefing i krenuli prema odredištu. Bila je to „treća sreća“, s obzirom na to da sam se prije toga u dva navrata prijavio za skok koji je bio odgođen zbog neprikladnog vremena (vjetar, nedovoljna vidljivost), te ujedno i „posljednja prilika“ – jer je to bio moj zadnji dan u Queenstownu. Operater nam je ponudio izbor između skoka sa slikama i videom ili bez uspomene na izvedeni skok. Stoga osim što skačete u tandemu iz aviona, ako doplatite za video ili fotografije, onda uz vas skače još jedan skakač koji vas snima dok ste u avionu i za vrijeme pada. Odlučio sam se uzeti i slike i video jer tko zna kada ću i hoću li ikada ponavljati tu ludoriju. Kada smo došli na mjesto polijetanja, čekali smo nekih pola sata da se prethodne grupe izredaju te smo potom ušli u prostoriju gdje smo čekali na ulazak u prostoriju za oblačenje. U njoj se vrtio promotivni filmić u kojem sam mogao saznati da je Nzone tvrtka osnovana prije 25 godina (1990. godine) i da je prije mene u njihovoj organizaciji skakalo izuzetno mnogo ljudi (ne sjećam se točne brojke) i to doslovce od šestogodišnjeg djeteta do 84-godišnjaka. Kada to čujete i vidite, dobijete pouzdanje da sve to skupa ne može biti tako strašno ni zahtjevno. U prostoriji za presvlačenje dobio sam odijelo sa sustavom pojasa koji se pričvrste oko pasa i između nogu te upoznao svog tandemskog instruktora koji je bio neki luckasti Nizozemac (da, mene je za tandemski skok očito dopao „leteći Holandez“ J). Ušli smo u avion (svi skakači zajedno sa svojim tandemskim instruktorima i fotografima – tko ih je imao), sjeli jedan iza drugoga u dva reda i prepustili se uzlijetanju i uzdizanju na ciljanu visinu. S još nekoliko ljudi skakao sam s 5000 m, dok se većina ipak odlučila na skok s 3000 m.

As we were ascending, I was becoming more and more aware what was really going on, sensing a hefty dose of adrenaline inside. For some strange reason, during the ascent I kept hearing Billy Idol’s “Flesh For Fantasy,“ that I had not heard for years. Once we got to 5,000 m, I put on the plastic visor. I was told it was not necessary to have an oxygen system or gloves during the dive. I just, immediately before reaching the 5,000 m, received an oxygen tube in order to breathe in a few times before the dive, to be better prepared and more concentrated for the jump. Upon reaching the right altitude, I stepped to the edge of the plane with my tandem instructor, where a side door had been opened. Before I knew what was going on, I was already free falling from the plane that was at 5,000 m! Once you jump, it takes the first few seconds for you to get adjusted to this and get used to the fact you are falling at the speed higher than 200 km/h, and that all of this is real. After about 20 seconds, once you have stabilized and gotten hold of the situation, the remaining time of the total of 60 seconds you are able to gaze at a spectacular scene of the Middle Earth, that is coming to you at such great speed, and enjoy the notion all of it is happening and that your free fall is taking place in a controlled and fairly safe environment. An interesting side effect is that the diving speed gapes your mouth wide open and distorts your cheeks, so all of it does appear really funny on dive photos when you look at them later (if you opted for this).

After about 60 seconds of free fall, the tandem instructor opened a parachute, which was followed by several minutes of gentle hovering, until coming and landing at the base. The landing too was fairly well organized, because you are greeted by two Nzone land employees and held up just in case – so there would be no unpleasantries during the landing. Since I decided to keep a memory of this crazy thing in the form of photos and videos, I was filmed during the take off, the plane ride, the free fall and the landing by another parachuter – so, the whole time. Just as in the case of the bungee jump, I got the impression everything was “routine,” fully controlled and planned right down to last detail. The skydiving was at the same time my bidding farewell to Queenstown – the day after I was leaving New Zealand. This will be an exceptional memory that I will surely recall while I live. It is also not unthinkable I shall do this again one day, having in mind I now know the risk, a good operator provided, of skydiving is really minimal. bungeeja, imao sam dojam da je sve „kao na traci“, u potpunosti pod kontrolom i isplanirano do najmanjeg detalja. Skydiving skok ujedno je bio i moj oproštaj s Queenstownom – sutradan sam odlazio iz Novog Zelanda. To će biti izuzetna uspomena koje ću se zasigurno sjećati cijeli život. A nije isključeno da ću je jednog dana ponoviti, imajući u vidu da sam sada svjestan da je uz dobrog operatera rizik pri skydivingu zapravo minimalan.

Peter Jackson and A. J. Hackett and their contribution to the promotion and the economy of New Zealand

Peter Jackson and A. J. Hackett have a strong connecting point. They were both after their dreams; they were fully dedicated to what they wanted to do and create and did something huge along the route. Each in his own way. Along the way, they managed for their life projects to greatly support the positioning of New Zealand in a unique and recognizable way on world tourist scene and in people’s minds throughout the world in general. The two of them are, firstly, very interesting and unique people, just like the stuff they do. When visiting the A. J. Hackett Bungy location, as I was getting ready to perform my own bungee jump, I stumbled at the store upon the autobiography of A. J. Hackett (entitled the “Jump Start“), an exceptionally interesting read that I gulped down. It is a testimony of a sort regarding his restless, adventurous and entrepreneurial spirit. bungee skok, u dućanu sam nabasao na autobiografiju A. J. Hacketta (pod nazivom „Jump Start“), izuzetno zanimljivo štivo koje sam u dahu pročitao, svojevrsno svjedočanstvo o njegovom nemirnom, avanturističkom i poduzetnom duhu.

A. J. Hackett was a fairly restless youth with a wide range of sports activities he did – from skiing (he represented New Zealand in speed skiing), to different other adrenaline sports. In 1986 he was persuaded by his friends to try bungee jumping from a bridge next to Auckland. And, after this jump, he was so thrilled by all of it, all he could think about was jumping again – from a greater height. He and his friend approached all of this in a rational manner, aIong with plenty of experimenting and scientific foundation. They were always careful about their choice of rubber, they always did tests with weighted bags that corresponded to the weight of the jumper, and they tested until they were satisfied with the tests. Further, they never relied on public data on the heights of bridges, but did their measuring themselves regarding the heights they jumped from, in order not to find themselves in an accident on account of publicly available data. The decisive moment that made A. J. Hackett world renowned was the stated jump from the first storey of the Paris Eiffel tower in 1987 (110 m). bungeeskok s mosta u blizini Aucklanda. I nakon tog skoka bio je toliko oduševljen da je samo razmišljao o tome kako skočiti sljedeći put i to s još više visine. On i njegov prijatelj svemu su tome pristupali prilično racionalno i uz dosta eksperimentiranja i znanstvene podloge. Pazili su dobro koju gumu uzimaju, uvijek su prethodno nekoliko puta bacali vreće s teretom koji je odgovarao težini skakača za probu te su vršili testiranje dok ne bi bili zadovoljni pripremama za skok. Također, nikad se nisu oslanjali na javne podatke o visinama mosta, već su uvijek i sami dobro izmjerili visine s kojih su skakali da ne bi slučajno na temelju pogrešnih javno dostupnih podataka došlo do nesreće. Presudni trenutak koji je A. J. Hacketta učinio svjetski poznatim bio je, onaj već spomenuti, kada je u lipnju 1987. godine odlučio skočiti s prvog kata Eiffelova tornja u Parizu (110 m visine).

Following fame he gained, he wanted to try to enable bungee to a wide number of people in a sufficiently safe manner. And thus he found the historical Kawarau bridge that is a fifteen minutes’ ride from Queenstown and arranged with conservationists to initiate the first commercial bungee jumps in the world from it. In return, he committed himself to crediting a certain amount from every jump performed. After the successful launch of the operation, the second location was opened in the vicinity of Queenstown, with an even higher jump. This location meanwhile moved around and can today be found at Nevis, where a dizzying 134 m jump is available. This was in turn followed by the international expansion to Australia (Cairns), France (Normandy), and several other locations worldwide (Macao, Kuala Lumpur…). Information I found points to the fact that in 2006, at the bungee locations of A. J. Hackett, over 2 million people jumped, without a single casualty. Still, there were several injuries due to misjudgments – for example, during jumps where the goal was to touch the water. After the bungee in Queenstown, numerous other adrenaline activities sprang up, while New Zealand became famous as the place where bungee became part of the culture of living. bungee širokom broju ljudi na dovoljno siguran način. I tako je našao povijesni most Kawarau koji se nalazi na 15 minuta vožnje od Queenstowna te se s konzervatorima dogovorio da na njemu pokrenu prve komercijalne bungee skokove na svijetu. Zauzvrat se obvezao dati određena sredstva od svakog izvedenog skoka. Nakon uspješnog pokretanja te operacije, uslijedila je druga lokacija u okolici Queenstowna s još dužim skokom – koja se u međuvremenu premještala te je danas dostupna na Nevisu omogućujući skok s vrtoglava 134 m. Uslijedilo je također međunarodno širenje poslovanja u Australiju (Cairns), Francusku (Normandija) te još nekoliko lokacija po svijetu (Macao, Kuala Lumpur…). Podatak koji sam našao jest da je do 2006. godine na bungee skakalištima A. J. Hacketta skočilo više od 2 milijuna ljudi i da nitko nikada nije smrtno stradao pri tome. Doduše, bilo je svega nekoliko povreda zbog krivih procjena, primjerice, prilikom skokova kojima je cilj bio dotaknuti vodu. Nakon bungeeja u Queenstownu su nikle brojne druge adrenalinske aktivnosti, a Novi Zeland postao je poznat kao mjesto gdje je bungee prvi postao dio kulture življenja.

It should be noted there were deadly accidents in the world once bungee jumps started being organized by negligent companies. This usually happened when somebody would enter the business for quick profit, while not adhering to safety standards. Unfortunately, such people and such companies are the cause of deaths we can read about when these occur. The accidents happened in particular during the initial days, when bungee was spreading worldwide. In New Zealand, A. J. managed to push through fairly rigorous safety standards as the precondition for one to operate a bungee site at all, in a legal manner. Some other countries accepted these standards as well. After own experience and everything I was able to read, my conclusion is as follows: the decision on whether you will bungee (or skydive) should depend on which operator you can go for. If at one’s disposal are experienced and serious operators such as A. J. Hackett Bungy and Nzone, the risk is practically non-existent. If, on the other hand you hit a bridge God knows where in the world and you see bungee jumps taking place there, you know nothing about the company offering them or safety standards they adhere to, my advice is – skip it. The same applies to skydive. A friend, for instance, went tandem skydiving with a Croatian company and says his back hurt because of a parachute jerk (while another one battered his leg while landing). On the other hand, I felt no jerking and no back pain at all following my dive, even though my back is pretty sore due to a traffic accident I was in 10+ years ago and that I already mentioned. bungee skokove organizirali nemarni organizatori. To se obično događa kada se netko upusti u taj biznis radi brze zarade i ne držeći se sigurnosnih standarda. Nažalost, takvi su ljudi i kompanije uzrokom pogibije onih o kojima možemo čitati kad se takve nesreće dogode. Te su se nesreće pogotovo događale u prvim danima kad se bungee širio svijetom. A. J. uspio je u Novom Zelandu progurati dosta rigidne sigurnosne standarde kao preduvjet da se uopće može operirati bungee skakalištem na zakonski prihvatljiv način. Neke su zemlje također usvojile te standarde. Nakon vlastitog iskustva i svega što sam imao prilike pročitati, moj je zaključak sljedeći: odluka o tome hoćete li se upustiti u bungee (ili skydive) treba ovisiti o tome kojeg operatera možete odabrati. Ako imate iskusne i ozbiljne operatere kao što su A. J. Hackett Bungy i Nzone, onda rizik praktički ne postoji. Ako pak dođete na neki most tko zna gdje u svijetu i vidite da se na njemu izvodi bungee, a ništa ne znate o kompaniji koja to nudi ni o sigurnosnim standardima kojih se pridržavaju, moj je savjet da to radije preskočite. Isto vrijedi za skydive. Prijatelj se, primjerice, upustio u skydive tandemski skok s nekom tvrtkom iz Hrvatske i kaže da su ga poslije boljela leđa zbog trzaja padobrana (dok je drugi prijatelj pak jako natukao nogu pri doskoku). S druge strane, ja nisam osjetio ni najmanji trzaj te nakon skoka nisam osjetio ni najmanje bolove u leđima, iako su mi prilično osjetljiva leđa zbog prometne nesreće prije 10+ godina, koju sam već spomenuo.

A. J. Hackett personally had a major accident bungee jumping, because he did not stick to the safety standards he set himself for others. That is, as part of a promotional campaign, he jumped out of a flying chopper above the sea, from the height of some 200 m, while wanting to come to the surface as close as possible at the lowest jump level. Certain parameters were misjudged (he was sick, so he hurried up his team, so safety checks had not been done properly). The result? He banged the sea surface full force on, and barely survived. According to own words, this was a great life lesson for him and after this he always insisted on the strictest adherence to safety protocols before any jump both for him or anybody else. That he was not discouraged by the accident and that he did not give up on further pushes of the limits of human capability is testified best by the fact he, following the incident, broke records several times in terms of the height of bungee jumps. The last and most imposing record of his I stumbled upon is the one from 2007, when he jumped out from a helicopter from the incredible height of 1,500 meters! bungeeskoku, i to stoga što se nije držao sigurnosnih pravila koje je sam postavio za sve druge. Naime, kao dio promotivne kampanje, skočio je iz jurećeg helikoptera iznad površine mora s visine od nekih 200 m i htijući pritom biti što bliže površini mora u najdonjem položaju. Krivo su procijenjeni određeni parametri (bio je bolestan pa je požurivao svoj tim, stoga sigurnosne provjere nisu obavljene onako kako su trebale). Rezultat je bio da je svom snagom udario o površinu mora i jedva preživio. To mu je bila, po vlastitim riječima, velika životna lekcija i nakon toga uvijek inzistira na najstrožem držanju sigurnosnih protokola prije svakog skoka za sebe kao i za druge. Da ga nesreća nije obeshrabrila i da nakon toga nije odustao od daljnjih pomicanja granica ljudskih mogućnosti, najbolje govori činjenica da je nakon toga nekoliko puta rušio rekorde u dužini bungeeskokova. Posljednji i najimpozantniji njegov rekord koji sam našao jest skok iz 2007. godine kada je skočio iz helikoptera s visine od nevjerojatnih 1500 metara!

I have not been able to get my hands on a biography of Peter Jackson, but I did hear stories from local guides that all testified this is an exceptional perfectionist and a person that insists on every detail. While visiting Hobitton, really a remainder of the film set for a village of small hobbits (where the Hobbit trilogy was filmed), the lady guide told us the story of the great tree that towers over Hobitton. The thing is, Jackson insisted for the tree to be of exact size in relation to the one from LOTR (given the temporal difference in the actions of the two film trilogies). Since he could not find a natural tree he wanted, an artificial one that suited desired parameters was created. But when Jackson came to take a look at the finished tree, he did not like the green hue so he instructed that all leaves be dyed over into the nuance he had envisioned for the film, in order to create the appropriate visual impressions.

Hobitton is a few hours’ drive from Auckland and is a truly beautiful place; the scenery around it is phenomenally soothing. Once Jackson found the farm where Hobitton is, he arranged the erection of Hobitton at the location with the farmer, for the purposes of shooting the LOTR. The initial time, Hobitton was (for LOTR) created from materials which do not last (cardboard etc.), while the contract Jackson signed with the farm owner where Hobitton was stipulated the demolition of the set after filming and full secrecy that the trilogy was shot there. After the screening of the trilogy and immense popularity, certain fans nevertheless recognized what location this could be and started “coming on pilgrimages” to the farm. The farm owner spotted the opportunity and, when the Hobbit trilogy was being filmed, insisted the set was not torn down during negotiations with the Jackson’s crew, so it could be utilized as a tourist attraction and a place that tourists can visit when coming to New Zealand. The result was that the excursion to Hobitton is today one of the customary tours tourists often pick when visiting Auckland.

In Queenstown, I decided for the chopper and car tour to the locations where LOTR was filmed too, and thus I had the opportunity to find out some other interesting stuff related to the shooting of the trilogy and Jackson’s approach to filming of this globally popular trilogy. The pilot of the helicopter who drove us around the Middle Earth told he had worked for Jackson while he had been on the lookout for locations, and that the process of searching for suitable locations lasted quite long and was demanding. The jeep driver I used to tour the LOTR filming locations (and other natural beauties) said the shot which lasted 20-30 seconds could include 4-5 locations throughout New Zealand, without the spectator being aware of the fact at all. For example, in the shot when Aragon falls in the river, shoots of the plateau from which Aragon falls are combined with reels of some other mountain not visible at all from the plateau – and he falls into a river which is not by the plateau at all, but tens of kilometers farther away. Further, in shots where horsemen are riding by the river, the Arrow river (which is shallow and where horsemen can move about at will) is combined with the canyon of the Shootover, which is steeper and more impressive than the one around the Arrow.

The Remarkable Mountains I was able to see both from land and air practically pop up during the entire LOTR. In the movie, the mountains are referred to as Misty Mountains, and were used in numerous film scenes in the manner that they were simply pasted onto numerous shots as an impressive backdrop. The LOTR trilogy was filmed during, approximately, 18 months. Following the shoot, the second and the third part were improved for additional 6-12 months before being released, so the whole process, overall, took about two and a half years. In the beginning, everybody was saying to Peter Jackson he was insane for shooting three hour movies and that nobody would want to see these on account of length, and that he would best shorten them to the duration customary for blockbusters. He was however stubborn and kept to his vision and was proven right when he realized a trilogy that left a deep mark on the overall film industry and created millions of diehard fans throughout the world.

The global success of Jackson’s trilogies surely helped the number of tourists visiting New Zealand increase from 1.7 million in 1999 (the start of LOTR screening) to 2.4 million in 2004, and 2.9 million in 2014. A research I found on the internet says merely 1 % of visitors to New Zealand surveyed explicitly said they decided to visit New Zealand because of Jackson’s films, but this is probably something only most devout fans would admit. For example, I personally decided to visit New Zealand primarily because I heard the nature was gorgeous, but Jackson’s movies definitely had their share here because, thanks to them, I was able to see this is truly so. The Hobbit trilogy, created after LOTR, is much more systematically integrated into the tourist strategy of New Zealand than was the case with the initial trilogy.

The Middle Earth is thus integrated into the principal tourist slogan of New Zealand. I was able to see this best when I was flying from Auckland to Queenstown, using New Zealand Air, when they played, before the take off, an exceptionally creative and dynamic film with safety instructions in which Frodo, Gandalf and other characters from the film give advice to passengers on how to behave on board and how to fasten the seat belt – all within the wonderful surroundings of the Middle Earth, flying on eagles and bungee jumping from wondrous waterfalls. All of this is in accord with the adopted tourist slogan of New Zealand, which says “100 % Middle Earth.” It was launched by the close of 2012, with the idea to massively capitalize on the popularity of the Hobbit trilogy that had been screened during the previous two years in theatres throughout the world. The idea of the strategy is to portray New Zealand as a country of fantastic and mystical scenery, based on surreal natural beauty this country does definitely have. Some estimate the government of New Zealand contributed hefty supports to the shooting of both film trilogies (exceeding as much as USD 100 million), but this is not a fact. Even if they did finance the projects, I do believe the funds invested thus in the promotion of the country were invested quite wisely. bungee s prekrasnih slapova. Sve je to u skladu s usvojenim turističkim sloganom Novog Zelanda „100 % Međuzemlje“, koji je lansiran koncem 2012. godine s idejom da se popularnost trilogije „Hobit“, koja je u posljednje dvije godine emitirana u kinima diljem svijeta, maksimalno kapitalizira. Ideja je te strategije prikazati Novi Zeland kao zemlju fantastičnog i mističnog svijeta, a sve temeljeno na nestvarno lijepoj prirodi koju ova zemlja definitivno ima. Neki procjenjuju da je novozelandska vlada dala značajna sredstva potpore snimanju objema filmskim trilogijama (čak preko 100 mil. USD), iako to nije provjeren podatak. Ako i jesu financijski poduprli te projekte, mislim da su sredstva na taj način uložena u promociju zemlje vrlo mudro uložena.

If we are aware of the information a research from 2014 estimates as many as 45 million tourists pick their destination of travel according to favorite film or TV series, and then the selected tourist strategy of New Zealand becomes very understandable. The series “Winetou“ was for example filmed in Croatia, according to the famous novel by Karl May, some 50 years ago, and, as far as I have gathered, some German tourists visit the shooting locations even today. As we know, the world renowned series the “Game of Thrones” is also filmed in Croatia (in Dubrovnik, Split and certain other locations), but I am not utterly convinced Croatia is fully utilizing this for promotion and tourism.

Except for helping the promotion and tourism of New Zealand, Peter Jackson also immensely helped the development of the movie industry in the country. It is estimated the total value of the film industry in New Zealand rose to dizzying USD 3.5 billion annually. This is a consequence of the foundation of a powerful production company by Peter Jackson (that made himself a very wealthy man because his personal fortune is estimated at USD 450 million), and a host of other production companies that offer, apart from the beauty of New Zealand, great logistics to film makers, as well as expertise required to organize a production at a satisfactory level under acceptable prices. Thus Jackson, with his films, managed to jumpstart the development of the overall film industry in New Zealand, and significantly contribute to the promotion of the tourism of the country. Some people estimate the total positive effect on the economy of New Zealand could perhaps be measured by a per cent or two of GDP.

Peter Jackson and A. J. Hackett are people who built up great businesses chasing their dreams – the production company of Peter Jackson and the company A. J. Hackett Bungy. They also, along the way, created enormous personal wealth. Jackson’s wealth is estimated at more than USD 450 million; I found no estimates for Hackett, but if we consider the information that over 3 million people bungeed up until 2006 at his locations, just a little math will suffice to conclude this is several millions of revenue and profit. What is most important is the two of them created enormous new value for the economy of New Zealand and that each of them in his area initiated a development of whole new industries, thereby contributing to branding the entire country at world scale. When you mention New Zealand to somebody, among the first things that will pop into his or her mind is the Middle Earth from LOTR and Hobbit trilogies exactly, and bungee jumping and adrenaline activities in general. To enable people like Jackson and Hackett to realize their dreams and to support them in this is a key matter that each country that wants to develop simply must do. The two of them did not privatize companies nor bought existing ones and made them more efficient – they created a completely new value i.e. created brand new businesses and opened new workplaces. I believe Croatia, unfortunately, is far more closed towards new things so for this reason I cannot even recall a similar example (at least not of the same scale). bungee na njegovim lokacijama, dovoljno je uz malo matematike zaključiti da je riječ o višemilijunskim iznosima prihoda i profita. Ono što je najvažnije jest da su njih dvojica stvorila ogromnu novu vrijednost za novozelandsku ekonomiju i da su svaki u svom području potaknuli razvoj cijelih novih industrija te pri tome uvelike doprinijeli brendiranju cjelokupne zemlje u svjetskim razmjerima. Kada nekome spomenemo Novi Zeland, među prvim stvarima koje će mu pasti na pamet upravo su Međuzemlje (Middle Earth) iz trilogija „Gospodar prstenova“ i „Hobit“ te bungee jumping kao i adrenalinske aktivnosti općenito. Omogućiti ljudima poput Jacksona i Hacketta da ostvare svoje snove i podržati ih u tome, ključna je stvar koju svaka zemlja koja se želi razvijati jednostavno mora napraviti. Njih dvojica nisu privatizirala tvrtku niti su kupila postojeću i učinila je efikasnijom, već su kreirali potpuno novu vrijednost, tj. napravili su posve nove biznise i otvorili nova radna mjesta. Mislim da je Hrvatska, nažalost, daleko zatvorenija prema novim stvarima pa se i ne mogu sjetiti sličnih primjera (barem ne u imalo sličnim razmjerima).

A good friend started the 3D interactive museum under the walls of Dubrovnik but was, as far I understood the matter, pretty much blocked up by local tourist operators, so, by and large, the vast share of funding he invested in the endavour went to nothing. He also tried discussing about the project in certain other towns but found total lack of understanding (even though he was offering a model without any risk or need of investment for the town; on the contrary, the town stood a good chance of making money). Let us remember A. J. Hackett and the Kawarau bridge and the arrangement Hackett achieved with conservationalists – without which his whole success story would simply have not been possible. Of course, each story has two sides and it is possible this friend was simply not a good entrepreneur, but this is not the sole account I am aware of, but one of many – people in Croatia being discouraged to start creating something new and different. It is one thing to have an unsuccessful business model and lose money on account of this, and completely another to find a host of administrative hurdles for the realization of anything new and the creation of new value. God knows how many people in Croatia had been blocked while trying to create new value. And God knows what our economy would have looked like had, instead of investments in salvaging and supporting unsuccessful business projects, we actively tried to support and encourage business with some perspective. If the system works in the way of discouraging you when trying to innovate and create new value, instead of spurring you on and supporting you – this is then a serious problem for the society that must lead to economic stagnation (that we have been experiencing for a while unfortunately).

Just think of what would New Zealand have looked like today had they continued with supports for the dairy and sheep industries, and that innovations (that were spearheaded by A. J. Hackett and Peter Jackson) had not been supported and spurred on. Probably a lot worse than the situation is today, when as much as 65% of GDP comes from the service sector – which exhibits a fair dose of the capability for transformation of the economy pursuant to contemporary global trends. It is exactly the pattern of behavior that is not oriented towards the future that has been practically incessantly practiced in Croatia during the past 25 years, and this is probably the core of the reason that our economy is in the state it is today. I think we as a nation are in general far less open to new and untested things than New Zealanders. Since New Zealand does not have that long history nor tradition, this is what probably enables them not to be encumbered with such matters. This can be clearly seen in the example of the wine industry mentioned.

Peter Jackson and A. J. Hackett are certainly unique. What they did and the way they did this is simply fascinating and one rarely meets such visionaries. I am not saying visionaries of this caliber would not appear in Croatia but I am stating the system must enable those who want to create something new and different to go on doing this – not lose the willpower after a wasted number of years, money and nerves trying to surmount numerous hurdles imposed by different interest groups that with all force want to keep the as is – just because of own sake.

A system that encourages people to create something completely new and different is necessary to create new value that is the sole factor that can contribute to the growth of economy and the prosperity of the whole society and all its citizens. I sincerely hope Croatia will eventually go down this path. The examples of Jackson and Hackett and New Zealand as a country that is fully open to such things and that is unencumbered by the past can be exceptionally inspiring and educational for us. If we are also creative and have the imagination found in the wondrous film world portrayed by Peter Jackson in his movies, and the audacity of A. J. Hackett who constantly pushed the human limits with his bungee jumps, I have no doubts we shall finally see a much better and brighter future. bungee skokovima stalno pomicao granice ljudskih mogućnosti, ne sumnjam da nas u konačnici čeka puno bolja i svjetlija budućnost.

Josip Muller, 11 April 2015