Days 95-97 - Picton
Trip Start
Nov 29, 2007
1
62
70
Trip End
Mar 27, 2008
Picton,
New Zealand
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
They were very prompt and so were we, it was a woman who picked us up and I was a bit stressed so I fail to remember her name. She was chatting to us in the car on the way to the airport and we told her about our cancelled skydive at Taupo. She said, "Oh, I'm so glad that you will get to do your first skydive here." She explained that Taupo are more of a "factory-type" operation with big planes and lots of people jumping out of them on the same flight. Here, they have made a conscious decision to keep it much more personal and we were surprised to learn that we would be the only two in the plane (and of course our tandem jumpers, pilot and cameraman). Her husband is some sort of skydiving safety person and he gets all the accident/incident reports from all over New Zealand on his desk. She told us that Taupo has a pretty bad record for incidents, so there you go. I must admit, I didn't ask about their accident record when I booked and she told us that people rarely do. I was happy to learn that this company has a clean record when it comes to accidents/incidents which is reassuring to know.
It is a beautiful, hot day with not a cloud in the sky and no wind - it is the perfect weather for what we are about to do. First of all when we got to the airport, she put a DVD on to give us an idea of what was going to happen when we got up there and what position we would need to be in to make the jump. I was feeling really nervous by now and watching the DVD didn't help very much. Then a bloke came and talked us through it, what we have to wear and the arch position for jumping, how we would land etc. We both had to fill in and sign a form, agreeing that we are doing this at our own risk and therefore cannot sue them if there is an accident or we get whiplash or something. Then the woman helped us to get into our jumpsuits and harnesses. My jumpsuit was miles too long in the leg but it was the smallest they had. She does all the tightening and adjusting, we are not allowed to make any of our own adjustments to the harnesses once they are on - they know how tight they have to be. We also have to wear a cap type of helmet and this is more to protect the bloke behind us with the parachute. All in all, it took about an hour from being picked up to get to this point, it was all very relaxed and unhurried, there was no rush and loads of time to ask questions. For once, I didn't have any - I was too nervous to think any up.
There were different options for the DVD, we could have a hand-cam, a cameraman or both. We decided we would have both as we probably will only ever do this once. Of course, he can only film one of us so since this is Dean's lifelong ambition, I told him to film him. This seems fair to me, I held the koala bear and Dean didn't - this is his dream now.
So now we were all suited and booted, it was time to get into the plane. My tandem jumper is very tall and he is called Neil, origianally from County Durham in the UK. Dean's tandem jumper is called Rob and doesn't seem as chatty. First of all Neil sat on the side of the plane to go through with us again the arch position as we are leaving the plane. We have to tuck our feet under the plane, tuck our hands into the front of the harness and lay our heads back on the parachutist's right shoulders so our bodies are in an arch. When they tap us on the shoulder, we have to put our arms out at a 90 degree angle (we won't be able to speak to each-other in freefall).
The plane is tiny, it doesn't look big enough to fit all five of us in it. Dean will be first out so I got in the plane first. Neil had attatched the bottom two buckles to me already, and he attatches the top two just before we jump. As I got into the plane, I realised there was absolutely no going back now - I was committed to doing it and the thought made my heart race. It was a very tight squeeze, all five of us in the back of that tiny plane and felt odd to be jammed in between a strange bloke's legs (even more odd for Dean). Oh well, as long as he's packed his parachute properly, I can live with it.
I always said that you'd never get me in a tiny plane as the thought terrifies me. But, as we took off it was nothing like I expected it to be and I was strangely quite relaxed. It took us about 30 minutes to get up to 12,000 feet and the scenery over the Marlborough Sounds was absolutely stunning. When they opened the door of the plane, Neil told me to look right (away from it) and I don't know why he did that. He knew how nervous I was and he had been chatting to me and reassuring me all the way to altitude. Maybe he thought it might panic me to see the door going up.
I looked back just in time to see Dean disappearing out of the door and as soon as he was gone, we were shuffling forward towards the door ourselves. The scariest bit of the whole thing was dangling out of the plane, knowing what you were going to do and not knowing what it was going to feel like. I remember thinking, "what the hell am I doing dangling out of this perfectly good aeroplane?" I tucked my feet under the plane as best I could, trying to make a good arch. Neil was talking to me all the time, then he gently laid my head against his shoulder. Then, Whoosh - the next thing I knew, we were in the sky. At first I got the sensation that we had tumbled upside down for a second, it was scary. Later thinking about it, I don't think we did - it just felt like that. The difference between being in the aeroplane and in the sky is awesome - it is so fast. Neil tapped my shoulder and I put my arms up as I had been instructed to do. I cannot adequately describe freefall except to say it feels like you are flying very fast. I kept opening my mouth to breathe and had to close it because the wind makes your mouth dry. You don't get the sensation that you are falling because the ground is so far away, it's not like you can see it rushing towards you or anything like that. I'm terrified of heights (and so is Neil) but the ground doesn't look real from up here and the harness is very tight and gives you a feeling of security and safety. We dropped 7,000 feet in 45 seconds of freefall but as I said, it just feels like you're flying, not dropping. I'd just got used to the sensation of freefall (and started to enjoy it) when we shot up into the air like a bullet and the harness tightened even further - the parachute had deployed. It's funny, I'd forgotted about the parachute and as soon as I realised what had happened, I remember thinking "Oh yeah, the parachute - we need that!" I thought I would have spent the entire freefall worrying about the parachute opening (or more to the point, not opening) and it didn't even enter my head at the time.
As soon as the parachute was open, Neil started talking to me and congratulated me on my first skydive. He also slackened my harness a little so I would be more comfortable. I could have taken the goggles off at this point but I didn't because I had my contact lenses in and I was worried my eyes would get dry and ruin it for me. The canopy was deployed at 5,000 feet and it was lovely up there on this sunny day looking over the stunning scenery of the Marlborough Sounds. I immediately asked where Dean was and Neil swung around so that I could see him beneath us with his parachute also open. Once I knew he was okay, I could relax and enjoy the ride. Neil let me have a go at controlling the parachute which was fun but a bit scary. I was terrified I would let go of it and something bad might happen. It was a strange sensation but I found it a bit hard to pull the strings down, it seemed heavy to me. Neil was pulling down hard on the handles and we swung round quickly, it make your belly go funny - like a fairground ride. I could see Dean's parachute beneath me twirling around all over the place and I thought it was probably Dean controlling it at the time - I expect he would like the swirly sensation. It didn't seem to take very long to get to the ground, Neil made me practice lifting my legs up into a seating position before we got down. This is the position I need to be in so he can land. We had a really soft landing and Neil landed gently on his feet. Sometimes the landing is a slide on your bum. I later found out that is how Dean had landed. The cameraman came running up to us as soon as we were down and I will try to find a way to put the DVD on the net for you to see.
As soon as I was unbuckled from Neil, I gave him a kiss and a cuddle and thanked him for looking after me and for a fantastic experience. Then I saw Dean and I set off at a run and jumped into his arms. We both hugged and kissed eachother, buzzing with excitement, exhiliration and adrenaline. I still can't believe I did it but I'm so glad I did - it was an amazing experience, the best thing I have ever done. I would definitely reccomend it to anyone and I would definitely, 100% do it again - it was brilliant. 'Skydive the Sounds' are a very professional company and although may be more expensive that some of the others, the experience is a very personal one and there is no sense of being rushed to get the next people in. I'm so glad that our Taupo skydive was cancelled now and we had the chance to do it here with such lovely scenery and lovely people looking after us, keeping us safe. Dean always says that things happen for a reason.
We both got out of our harnesses and jumpsuits and I bought a t-shirt to mark my achievement. I am so proud of myself, I never thought I'd do that. Neither of us can wipe the grin off our faces. The DVD takes a while to edit so they told us that they would drop it off for us at the campsite office this evening so we can watch it later in our spaceship. We can't wait to see it.
Neil drove us back to our camp and we are both so very hungry. He told us that is very common because the release of adrenaline causes you to use up all your glucose stores. He says the best thing we can do is have a beer and eat a big pile of food. We are not one's to ignore the advice of a professional so that is exactly what we did as soon as we got back to camp.
We have seen a poster in our site kitchen for a day boating on the Marlborough Sounds, the Marlborough sarfari they call it. You get to drive your own boat and we both fancy it so we decided to give them a ring. I rang them and said we would like to do it tomorrow and asked if they could pick us up. It was a bad line and kept breaking up, I gave them my mobile number and the woman on the phone promised she would ring us back to confirm yes or no.
No-one called back but about an hour later, the owner of the park came over to our van with an envelope - our DVD. She also had a message, the safari people had rung and they're picking us up at 9.00am tomorrow. We said Okay and thanked her for bringing our DVD over, they must think we're popular with all these people ringing up and leaving messages for us. We haven't got a clue what we have just booked ourselves onto, we only saw a poster.. We don't know what to take, what to wear or anything. I had to ring back to ask and was told that we had to bring a packed lunch. It's a good job I rang otherwise we would have gone hungry for the day. We realised we didn't have any supplies to make a packed lunch so we went to enquire if there was a shop nearby and paid for another night at the campsite.
There was a supermarket which we had forty minutes to try and find so we set off down a little track which wound uphill where we got great views over the campsite and the stream. It was only a ten minute walk but we struggled to find some nice, cold meat for a sandwich. They've got a thing about 'gluten-free' here, everything is gluten free; ham, bacon, in fact all meat and it tastes of nothing. We eventually found a pack of ham without the taste taken out of it and bought a bottle of pop to take with us. So, we have another exciting day to look forward to tomorrow. I spent a few hours on the internet that evening, it was cold here again at night. Dean watched Gordon Ramsay in the TV room, torturing a German that was in there too. Later, we tried to watch our DVD. For some reason there are two CD's and we were gutted when the screeen just said "Disc cannot be read." I suggested putting the other one in but Dean said if this one doesn't work, the other won't either. We gave it up as a bad job and went to sleep disappointed.
The next morning, our minibus was waiting for us as we got to the camp office. A man got out and introduced himself as Lester and we both liked him immediately. He explained that he would be taking us on a scenic drive to his home where the business (and boats) are. He took us along the Queen Charlotte drive which is a windy mountain road with beautiful views around every corner. He explained that this used to just be a track but people found out about it and a lot of tourists started coming so they sealed the road and it costs the council a lot of money to maintain it and keep it open today. He chatted to us all the way about all sorts of things: house prices, his family, how he started the business, England and how much he loves our old buildings and history. He is so friendly and easy to talk to; one of those people that is impossible not to like. We were surprised how far he had come to pick us up, it was a fifty minute drive. It was nice for Dean though to watch the scenery and let someone else do the driving for a change.
When we got there, we met the other two people on the trip with us - a young Swiss couple, I fail to remember his name but she was called Christina. I was a bit surprised that we would be the only four but it's probably better with a smaller group. Firstly, Lester went through all the boring safety stuff, then he showed us how the boat works; the motor and everything. This was far too complicated for me and I forgot it as soon as he said it. Luckily, Dean has driven a boat before and knows what to do - I don't want to drive it anyway. All the time he was explaining all these things, Lester was making us all laugh with his little quips and jokes, he has a great sense of humour.
We eventually got onto the water after choosing some flip-flops to put on our feet as we would have to stand in the water to get in and out of the boats. The boats are made of aluminium, Lester is a boat designer by trade and he has designed them himself. Ours had a 9.9hp motor on the back and there would be plenty of room in the boat for a family of four. It seemed quite large with just the two of us in it. We all managed to set off okay and Lester put a flag on his boat so we would know it was him from a distance. Dean absolutely loved the boat and immediately put it into full throttle to see what it could do. The Swiss couple were like snails behind us and we all had to keep stopping so that they could catch up. Everytime we looked back, we could see them miles behind us. It was lovely being on the boat, having it all to ourselves. It was a hot sunny day again and as the sun got higher, Dean took his shirt off and I stripped to my bikini top and shorts. It was the perfect day for a trip on the water, not a breath of wind and not a cloud in the sky. The Marlborough Sounds (which we saw from the sky only yesterday) are just as stunning from the water. The mountains are just beautiful rising up from the water which is clear and blue. Lester took us to see a mussell farm and explained how it all works. Then he harvested some mussells for us all to take home with us. The mussells are huge and a shiny green colour, they throw the black ones away here.
He then took us to see a jurassic forest and explained a bit about the different plants here, how old they are etc. He also has some knowledge of the land, the Mauori's that once owned it and it is very interesting to us. He took us to a lovely bay to have some lunch. Luch was a bit late today because we kept having to wait for the Swiss couple. I don't know what was wrong with them, I think they were just determined to be at the back all the way. It didn't bother us, Dean and I found it amusing. We had our sandwiches and sat for a while, the five of us chatting on the beach drinking tea which Lester had provided. The Swiss couple are lovely, the bloke speaks better English that Christina, sometimes he translates for her. We discovered that she is three months pregnant and we congratulated them on their exciting news.
After lunch, we had a bit of a nature trail round to the next bay along a bridle path through the forest. It was a nice little walk, only 1km. Meanwhile, Lester tied all the boats together and towed them round so we wouldn't have to walk back again.
Back on the boats, we had some fun on our way back to shore as there was a bit of wind and the tide was coming in so we had some nice, choppy waves. I also had a go at driving the boat (until it got too choppy) and I didn't do too bad, it was quite easy and good fun. Dean was pushing the boat as fast as it would go and weaving it from side to side, trying to surf Lester's wake. He has absolutely loved driving the boat all day, he wants to take it home with him. I was stood up at the front, holding onto the bar and it was great jumping over the big waves. The Swiss couple even managed to have got a bit of speed up but Dean accidently splashed them with the wake of our boat and they both screamed as they were completely drenched. They tried to get us back (I think) but Dean was too fast for them and they couln't catch us.
Sadly, we didn't see any dolphins or seals while we were on the water but we did see a stingray. We also saw the most incredible scenery all day long and caught a suntan at the same time. I can so recommend this trip to anyone as it is quite inexpensive for a full day but so much fun. Lester kept us all smiling all day long and also gave us some interesting information and facts along the way. It was over all too soon and we brought the boats back at about 4pm. Dean didn't want to take any mussells back with him (I don't like them) but Lester helped the other couple clean them so they could take them home. It was only when we came off the water we realised just how strong the sun was, it was baking hot and Dean's back was quite red.
Lester has been taking photo's of us all day on his digital camera and he put them all onto a disc for us to take home for no extra charge. We said goodbye to the Swiss couple, apologised for soaking them and wished them good luck for the new baby. Lester then drove us back to Picton and he offered to stop if we wanted to take any photo's of the scenery along the way. This was very kind of him but I think we were a bit tired after all that sea air and we couldn't be bothered. Lester dropped us right outside our van on the campsite and we thanked him for a lovely day. If you like boats and scenery then the Marlborough Safari is definitely for you, I think it is probably the most value for money trip we have been on since we got here.
That night, I tried the skydiving DVD again and it worked - Hooray! I looked at the two discs and one said 'your photo CD' and the other says 'your DVD'. Uh, Duh! I must have put the wrong one in last night. Needless to say, we watched it and it is brilliant, my face is hilarious - I look absolutely petrified. It is fantastically edited and we love the choice of music they had used. We watched it three times before we went to bed.! We have certainly made the best of our two days in Picton, moving on tomorrow towards the next adventure.
