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Published: October 30th 2006
Everyone had warned us that the North Island would never live up to the South Island, and certainly, scenery-wise it's more like driving through Longford and Roscommon than the Alps, but they didn't factor in all the activities that are available, and at much cheaper prices than the South Island.
After wet and windy weather-struck Wellington, we had another washout at Tongariro where we (well, I) was hoping to do the 1-day Tongariro Crossing, a walk in the national park with 3 active volcanoes, lava flows, volcanic lakes... and more importantly, the setting for Mordor and Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings. Unfortunately, high winds and heavy snowfalls meant that for the 2 days we were there, there was nobody allowed onto the track.
However, there was light at the end of the tunnel...we arrived in Taupo to sunshine and clear skies. With the weather being so changeable, we immediately booked onto a 12000ft skydive for that afternoon, and after 45 seconds of freefall, hanging with the fun skydive instructors (although there was a touch of Stockholm syndrome as I became attached to my buddy Brad, who strapped onto me for the 2 jumps!), we were screaming for
more...and so of course the minute we were on terra firma, the first thing we did was book on a 15000ft jump the following morning, with over 1minute of freefall before the parachutes kicked in, and we got to steer the chutes to ground. I'm not sure what the longterm effects of skydiving are, but I know I didn't get any shot of oxygen in the plane at 15000ft like Thomas did, so I'm hoping they're not too serious!
The best thing about the skydive is that somebody else is in charge so the whole throwing-yourself-out-of-the-airplane is not an issue, and the rush is so addictive (especially when you fly through the clouds), it's easy to see why so many people sign up to do courses - although I think a general tendency towards the eccentric probably helps!
With the adrenaline pumping after the 2nd jump, what better way to wind down, than to scramble across an obstacle course 40ft in the air - from walking on highwires and balance beams, to jumping on trapezes, I'm considering a job application with the circus! Again with the eccentricity of the NZ'ers, the guy who worked in the place had
given up his previous job of hunting deer from helicopters, which involved shooting the deer, jumping from the helicopter to treetops to climb down and rescue the carcass.....all in a day's work. And I suppose in a country where the magazine racks have over 5 different wild pig-hunting publications, versus 1 soccer magazine, and the radio shows give out headstones as prizes on air, well that tells its own story!
Heading north to Rotorua tomorrow and looking forward to more fun, this time on water, with whitewater rafting and sledging booked for our next "test-the-travel-insurance" trial!
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dave allcorn
non-member comment
Vivid memories!
What a great blog! I lived in Taupo for a year back in 2001 and had an absolute blast! The rock and ropes was one of my favorites as was the tongariro crossing and ruapehu. Leaping out of a plane is fun too. Enjoy Rota-vegas, I assume you wil be doing the Zorb and the luge??