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Published: March 16th 2007
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Skydive Wanaka
Plumetting at 200kmph Kia Ora from New Zealand! Sorry it's took me so long to get this blog up but it's been none stop since I got here. I landed in Christchurch last Satuday and spent 2 days there before moving on. There wasn't that much to see to be honest and it was like I'd been dropped back in England. The river Avon that runs through the city looks like it's been nabbed from South England and nearby was Sheffield, Rotherham and Darfield (not sure they had a pig farm though like the one back home). I booked myself onto the Magicbus circuit which is one of the backpacker bus companies here.
First stop on route was Kaikoura, about 80km north. I booked myself onto the swimming with Dolphins tour there and was definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far. After a short boat ride we reached a pod of a few hundred and jumped in the water with the old snorkal and mask. Beforehand you're briefed on how to interact with them and they reckon by making dolphin noises, they swim around you more. I started off by doing my best impression but it was going nowhere so
I switched to belting out some "Capstick Comes Home" by Tony Capstick. I'd barely said, "You spawny-eyed, parrot-faced wasserk" when a few of them swam over and started circling me. Bloody fantastic, you basically keep swimming around in circles and they're doing the same thing. I tried to grab a fin and take a ride like in the movies but they cracked on and swam off. It's funny because the boat drops you smack in the middle of their path so when you hit the water, you've got a few hundred of them marauding towards you. You half think you're going to get clattered but they swim past oblivious you're there. One of lasses in Perth went swimming with them a while back but unfortunately got caught in the face when one of the dolphins thought it'd be funny to upgrade a fart. I'll put that down to unluckiness but I was always on guard incase it happened again. After a few hours in the water, we got back on the boat and drove back over to the pod to take some snaps. They reckon this species (Dusky Dolphins) are the most acrobatic and you can see why. There always
"Superdolphin"
Too many Wheatabix me thinks doing flips, somersaults and generally pissing around. That picture I've got of the Superdolphin was quality, I half caught the bugger out of the corner of my eye so just helf the camera up and snapped hoping I'd got it. Must have been 10ft high, some jump! You also get a ton of seals around these parts and we must have passed a few dozen on the way back as well as a Sperm Whale in the distance.
After a couple of days in Kaikora, I headed for Nelson mainly so I could head into Abel Tasman National Park and do a "sail and walk" tour. Early the next morning, we boarded a Catermarran style boat like a small version of the one in Waterworld and headed out. The scenery around there was class, it's like been in the Whitsundays apart from the reef and white sand (.....and rain!). After sailing around a few bays we reached Anchorage which was where we began our walk back to Marahau where the bus would pick us up for Nelson. The guy stearing the boat reckoned it was a 2 and half hour walk but he must have been smoking something when
Dolphin
Flip son, flip he said that cos it was more like 4 hours. Still, it was cracking day out even if my feet were cut to shit cos I was wearing flip-flops like a plonker.
That night we went for a night out round Nelson cos we heard the Tui girls were in town promoting the beer. Me and the lads starting making small talk and eventually we ended up getting a free beer each but doing a few press-ups. Piece of piss.....but......the cameraman there reckoned it would be a good idea if we made a human pyramid with the girls standing on our backs. My back is shagged, they didn't take off their heels so they proper dug in. One of the lads has a whack-off mark where they stood on his back. As the night went on the forfeits got more messy. By midnight, birds were stripping off getting it on with each other and people were running around stark bollock naked. Bit of a weird night that one!
After a long bus ride from Nelson we reached Greymouth which pretty much lived upto it's name. I'll try and not be too harsh here but it was a complete
Dolphin
Bag of grapes in it lad if you can get vertical sh@thole! Went on the brewary tour there which was ok but that's all the town was good for. I only stayed a night before getting the bus the next morning for Franz Joseph. The town there is in a fantastic location and it's a nice little place to spend a few days. The 2nd day, I went on a full-day glacier hike. Our group was split into 2 smaller groups and I decided to go with the advanced one, mainly cos it meant we would climb higher and at a better pace. When we reached the glacier a few of us went to take a photo of the stream running under the ice. We'd barely got there when part of the roof collapsed, one of the lads managed to get a quality shot of it. The hike up wasn't too bad, we were fitted with all the equipment like spiked boots and pick-axe so it made the climb not too tiresome. The glacier is full of crevasses, caves and as you get higher, the ice gets bluer. Near the end, we were practically scaling vertical ice shelfs to get to the other side using ropes the lower ourselves down. The
Dolphin
The grapes are all yours views from the top were top class, even spotted a Parrot up there which was a bit wierd. They reckon there's a few mountain goat knocking around as well although I didn't spot one. Must have spent a good couple of hours in the spa after, the old feet were looking a bit worse for wear.....and of course had a few shandies.
I'm now in Wanaka, yesterday I did a 15,000ft skydive.......as one of the lads put it, "best fun you can have with your clothes on" and I agree. The views were stunning, as well as lake Wanaka and Hawea, you could see the Southern Alps and Mt Cook which is the highest in New Zealand. I was jumping with 3 others, all of whom did the 12,000ft jump which meant I was in the plane on mi todd with my skydiver until we reached the full height. When the door opens, you have to smile for the camera on the wing then put your head back when you want to go. As soon as you do, you barrel out of the plane and from that height, it's 60 seconds freefall where you reach a speed of 200kmh.
Dolphins
Not a shark in sight It's a wierd sensation, it doesn't feel like your going that fast but the rush you get is f@cking terrific! When the bloke pulls the parachute, you can fully appreciate the views and they even give you the chance to steer. By pulling the cords different ways, you perform some quality manouvers. I paid for a DVD of it which meant I had my own personal cameraman following me down. They edit the thing afterwards and add some music over the top. A bit of Queens of the Stone age starts it off....class. I'm half thinking of doing it again in Taupo if I can afford it cos it was that good!
I'm off to Queenstown tomorrow, just in time for Paddy's day so I reckon it could get messy. It's the activity capital of the world so get ready for more action photo's
Happy drinking....
JP
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Pierre Le Pont
non-member comment
Stunning
Some incredible views there son. Make some nice postcards out of that lot. With all this mountain climbing, sky-diving, swimming with dolphins etc it seems a pretty boring life doing a filling line trial with some plastic caps. I'm all for selling up and re-creating your journey but your ma's looking at the pratical side of things. No harm dreaming about it though. Anyway, superb photos of NZ lad - keep 'em coming and watch yourself in Queenstown. Double-check that the rope's tied properly when you do the bungee jump.