Adventures and meeting the South island

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Entry Trip End Aug 19, 2008 Next
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  Motueka, New Zealand
Wednesday, March 19, 2008

I apologize for the lack of blogging, the last week has been a
flurry of activities and the coming week will see me, Oonagh and Sam
whizzed frantically around the south island.



Back in Taupo, we had a blast. We met up with Sam (who flew straight
from America and jumped straight on a bus to get here) and we indulged
in a frenzy of adrenaline. First me and Oonagh decided to throw
ourselves out of planes. I jumped at 15,000 feet and Oonagh  at 12,000
feet

Skydiving

. The company that we jumped with pick you up from your hostel in a
limo, for a novelty start to a ridiculous day. When you are skydiving,
it is relatively simple - keep your body the shape of a banana. Those
eight words where the instruction of my instructor and (apparently)
there was nothing more to say. On with a jump suit, on with a harness,
into the plane and before you know it, the skydiving centre is becoming
an ever smaller spec on a beautifully bumpy, terrifically green
landscape. Oonagh was first to jump, and I found my self laughing,
rather than shaking as I watched her almost instantly disappear. One
second she was there, the next she wasn't. As I climbed another 3,000
feet to my desired height, Oonagh was plummeting to earth at over twice
the speed of an ostrich. Another two jumpers and then me, last. Legs
dangled out of the plane, the ground so far away that you have lost all
meaning of "Height", and so you loose all fear

Skydiving

. Your head up to the sky
(this is the banana position) and then your view changes to something
spectacular. The wind rushes past my buzzing ears, and my hat (yes, a
proper pilots hat, thing) is being whipped in the wind, loudly above
me. Goggles are protecting my eyes and I'm falling 10,000 feet in 60
seconds. I had expected to scream but there was nothing scary about the
jump. I hardly even realized what I had just done as I looked below at
the clouds (which I was racing towards) I could see complete mountains
made minuscule by my height. It was amazing. At 5,000 feet the
parachute opens, and everything becomes silent. The air that was
rocketing past your ears ceases, and you can breathe again. My
instructor moved the parachute in circles so that we could get a
panoramic view, and I saw a circular rainbow in a cloud, that looked
like a gasoline puddle

Skydiving

. Skydiving was awesome and I will definitely be
doing that again.

The next day I decided to bungy jump. Oonagh
opted out of this one.  So I found myself in the "taupo bungy" van
alone, on my way to " the ledge". This was probably one of the most
built up activities. All the way around New Zealand and Fiji and Los
Angeles people have told me that bungy jumping was way scarier than sky
diving, and I spoke to a number of people that bottled it, and a
surprisingly large number of people that said " No way am I EVER going
to do that again." So my breathing was a little deeper, and my stomach
a little tighter. We got there and I decided to watch someone jump
first. For anyone that thinks that they would find bungy jumping scary,
I would avoid watching someone else do it. It doesn't make it look
easy. A couple of seconds of free fall, a large mass of water, jagged
cliffs, a surprisingly thin bungy and some extraordinary bounce. "Well,
I've come this far, and I'm not ever scared of heights" I decided, and
soon enough there was a harness being fitted around my feet and the
bungy cord being pulled back up to the platform

Skydiving

. Looking over the edge,
the water looks a LONG way down. They clip the bungy cord on using only
one clip. (I've forgotten the name of them, but the kind of clip they
use when you rock climb, and yes, secured only be one). Secure it with
an elastic band (honestly, they do). That should be fine.

"Okay,
walk to the edge, look at the camera, and then you are going to jump,
okay?" The guy running this has said this a thousand times.
"Okay"
and I do. I jumped straight off without any hesitation, perhaps because
I knew if I waited it would be scary. But in all honesty, stood with my
toes over the edge of a 47 meter drop, secured only by a fancy elastic
band, I wasn't really scared.

Me not being scared would explain why I went back the next day and bungy jumped again.

Bungy
jumping is just so much fun, you're head comes so close to the water
and it felt more surreal than sky diving

Skydiving

. Asked which one I prefer, it
would be hard to call. Skydiving lasts longer but the buzz is better
from bungy jumping. I'm considering jumping in Queenstown, thats 147
meter drop, with eight seconds of free-fall. Sounds like my kind of
thing but I don't want to spend too much money.

I have some
videos and things of the bungy jump and a few photos of me and Oonagh
in our sky diving stuff, but I shall put them on another time, because
this is a surprisingly long blog.

Me, Sam and Oonagh also did
the tongariro crossing, which is a VERY strenuous 7-8 hour walk through
Mordor and up Mount Doom (Lord of the Rings) and it is stunning. Its a
fantastic walk and well worth the time and effort, highly recommended.

After
the delights of Taupo we headed down to Wellington, the country's
capital. Unfortunately when we got there, every single hostel was fully
booked

Skydiving

. England v New Zealand - Cricket. So we purchased a tent and
slept in that. We have been utilizing the tent, and now our
accommodation is about 4 British pound a night! (The tent only cost 16
pounds and it works well enough) Which means I could afford another
bungy... We also hitched a ride from town to one of our hostels, from a
nice guy. Don't worry, we are all safe.

We have only until the
25th to get to Christchurch and make our flight, and we have only just
arrived in the south island. So we will be getting buses nearly every
day for the next week around the west coast, whizzing past Greymouth,
Franz Josef and Queenstown. So there might be a bleak blog until we get
to Australia. But when we do get there, you loverly readers will be
rewarded with glorious photos.

Any-who, must go now, lots of time is being spent. Loads of love to EVERYONE, Bernie xxxxxxx

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Skydiving	Bungee	Bungee	Bungee
Bungee	Bungee	Bungee	Bungee
Bungee	Bungee	Huka Falls	Huka Falls
Huka Falls	Huka Falls	Huka Falls	Huka Falls
Huka Falls	Huka Falls	Huka Falls	Huka Falls
10-Huka Falls	11-Huka Falls	12-Huka Falls	13-Huka Falls
14-Huka Falls	15-Huka Falls	Tongariro Crossing	Tongariro Crossing
Tongariro Crossing	Tongariro Crossing	Tongariro Crossing	Tongariro Crossing
Tongariro Crossing	Tongariro Crossing	Tongariro Crossing	Tongariro Crossing
10-Tongariro Crossing	11-Tongariro Crossing	12-Tongariro Crossing	13-Tongariro Crossing
14-Tongariro Crossing	15-Tongariro Crossing	16-Tongariro Crossing	17-Tongariro Crossing
18-Tongariro Crossing	19-Tongariro Crossing	20-Tongariro Crossing	21-Tongariro Crossing
22-Tongariro Crossing	23-Tongariro Crossing	24-Tongariro Crossing	25-Tongariro Crossing
26-Tongariro Crossing	27-Tongariro Crossing	28-Tongariro Crossing	29-Tongariro Crossing
30-Tongariro Crossing	31-Tongariro Crossing	32-Tongariro Crossing	33-Tongariro Crossing
34-Tongariro Crossing	35-Tongariro Crossing	36-Tongariro Crossing	37-Tongariro Crossing
38-Tongariro Crossing	39-Tongariro Crossing	40-Tongariro Crossing	41-Tongariro Crossing
Us and Some Cakes	Us and Some Cakes

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