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Published: December 23rd 2007
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Hi again all!
Thought i would update you with my travels to new zealand. Started off in christchurch, the weather was lovely and the city is very english! felt like i was back home, just had a wander round the city and through the gardens along the river.
Picked up the magic bus the next day, heading up the east coast to kaikoura, the coastline is very wild and rugged and the town was really cute, reminded me of the towns along the great ocean road, little cafes and surf shops. Me and a couple of the girls had decided to do the dolphin swim so peeled on our wetsuits and jumped on the boats to do some dusky dolphin spotting, couldnt believe how many of them there were! they were everywhere! we put on our snorkels and flippers and once we had a few around the boat we stopped and were told to sit on the back, when the horn sounded we all jumped into the water and looked underneath... we had to make high pitch sounds because it apparently attracts the dolphins... within a few seconds they appeared from nowhere... swimming right up to us and brushing past
Ready to swim with the dolphins!
Surprised I didnt scare them off!!! us, we were advised to swim around in circles and make lots of movements to keep them interested... i was swimming around in circles and the dolphins were following my movement, cant describe how it felt... it was like a dream. We got to go in quite a few times for about 10-15 mins each time, towards the end the dolphins were getting a bit cocky i think, they were swimming really fast right up to my face and then dodging me at last minute, it was like they were accepting us into their family the way they were playing with us and showing us so much attention, much more than i would have thought. It was a once in a lifetime experience especially because they were completely wild dolphins and are not enticed by food or anything in kaikoura, amazing.
That night just settled in at the hostel and got chatting to a really interesting spanish lady from london, she was about 68 and had come travelling on her own after making a promise to her late husband that she would follow her dream and see the world... she was lovely, but i tell you i think i knew
her life story by the end of the night! couldnt get a word in edge-ways! she was a character though : )
The next day headed up towards nelson, went through picton on the way, agreed to do a skydive at last minute... that afternoon! So got to nelson, piled into a van with two others off the bus and headed for the skies! As soon as i arrived some girl came running up to me going "i need you to do the skydive right now... we have one space left on this flight... quick get changed" didnt have a minute to breath... i had about 4 different people throwing equipment at me! they dragged me outside and onto the plane... i was a bit worried that i hadnt been given any instuctions or watched any safety video... all they told me was to sit on the edge and make myself into the shape of a banana! The guy i was jumping with had done 15,000 jumps and assured me he had never dropped anyone so i put my trust in him. I was the first to jump so we headed up to 13,000 feet, they opened the door and
we sat on the edge... had a few photos and that was it... only one way down! he pushed me out and i tried to scream but couldnt because the wind was in my mouth, then it dawned on me it wasnt actually as scarey as i thought it would be! i imagined i would feel a falling sensation but i didnt at all... its the weirdest feeling, like floating! the free fall was about 45 seconds and then he popped the parachute and we shot back up it the air... after this it was so peaceful... just floating gracefully through the air, really really slowly, it was crazy, and it was such a clear day we could see for miles... gorgeous views over the able tasman national park and we could even see the north island! He was really good aswell because he let me take pictures with my own camera on the way down. The landing was the scariest bit for me, thought we were gonna crash and burn! he started to steer it towards the lading pad by spinning it in circles, but it was fine, we had a really smooth landing, managed to stay upright... as
soon as i got down i wanted to go straight back up... ive never experienced anything like that feeling. The lady after me was crying when she landed... but she got up and came straight over to me and gave me a big hug... she was elated... she must have been about 50 and had just moved to the area after divorcing her husband... this was a new start for her and time to face her fear... welll she did it! i was so proud of us.
I met a couple of girls from burnley on the bus... amy and emma... so the next day the three of us got a bus and boat to the able tasman to do a 4 hour trek... that turned out to be 5 and a 1/2 hours because we went the wrong way... oops! the scenery around there is beautiful though, green forests, rocky cliffs and golden sandy beaches with clear blue seas. I sped off infront beacuse we were scared of missing the bus... got towards the end and decided to take a short cut across the beach, i was running bare foot and surrounded by holes in the sand (the ones
that those little creatures live in... but much bigger than any others i had seen before) oh my god i was nearly sick, the sand was wet so every time i put my foot in down it sunk into the holes and i could feel some crunchy little animal in the bottom... didnt know what the helll it was! it must have been a funny sight watching me freaking out. Ive since found out theyre crabs that live in there... yuk!
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