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Published: November 17th 2009
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Mt Cook from the skydiving plane
An aerial view of Mt Cook on the way up Well I'm a good week or so behind writing this blog - I'm currently in Te Anau with no way to upload any photos so I'll add those later.
I've skipped writing about a few places - after crossing the Cook Strait on a ferry between the two islands, we headed down the west coast of the South Island through what has been my favourite part of New Zealand so far: Franz Josef-Wanaka-Queenstown, just off the Fiordland National Park, which has some incredible scenery.
We pulled into Franz Josef, a tiny resort for ice climbing and hiking on the Franz Josef glacier. It literally was tiny - the place consists of no more than about 5 buildings on one road - a lodge to book the activities, a bar, youth hostel, supermarket and a pool spa.
Conscious of how many activities I'd splashed out on in the last couple of weeks I promised mysef that Franz Josef would be my last spending spree - after this it's back to living on bread and cheese true backpacker-style!
I decided to start my day by jumping out of an aeroplane at 12,000ft. Yep - a skydive! It wasn't cheap,
but then again how many times will you skydive in your lifetime? The jump is tandem, so I was strapped to one of the instructors, Big Rod (a complete legend). To get to the jumping altitude they take you up in a small plane (there were 5 of us inside including the pilot) for a 25-minute scenic flight, which gives you amazing views of Mount Cook (New Zealand's highest mountain) and the glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox. I was completely relaxed on the way up, enjoying the views, taking pictures etc. It wasn't until we reached 12,000ft when they wrenched open the door and Chris jumped out that I started questioning what the hell I was doing! Still, I waited for my turn and after a quick smile at the wing-mounted camera, rolled out of the plane. The sensation of freefall was utterly breathtaking - I couldn't believe I was plumetting at 200kph towards Earth! At that altitude it was icy cold and also hard to breathe, and the sound of the wind was deafening. Then after about 20 seconds Big Rod pulled the parachute cord and all went silent as we glided towards the ground. Truly the experience of
The jump
Freefalling rocks!! a lifetime!
The next day was a hike up to the Franz Josef glacier, which again was truly awesome. Outfitted with 3 layers of clothing, crampons and ice axes we climbed up these amazing crevices and overhangs. Group 1 (the group I was in) were considered to be the most competent hikers, so we took the lead and did many of the climbs without ropes! It's an amazing place - looking around and seeing huge walls of ice. It was very sheltered as well, so there was no wind at all (a huge relief given how cold the New Zealand wind can be!). The hike made for some wicked photos which I'll upload soon.
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Rajiv
non-member comment
WOW
WOW!! Ollie! You look to be having an awesome time dude! I can't believe you jumped out of a plane! You're trip looks truly breathtaking, and I can't wait to see you soon Raj