Learning to Fly

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We left Northland just in time, a couple of days later 3-4 metres of rain fell washing out a bridge on State Highway 1 stranding residents and tourists alike. Good to know NZ has summers like England. We, meanwhile, continued on oblivious to Waitomo where we stopped for a couple of nights to have a look at the famous caves there. The first cave we visited called the Glowworm cave is so called because, right at the end, it is full of glowworms. And I mean full. We sat on a little boat in pitch blackness and drifted down the river that flows through cave until it was suddenly eerily lit up by thousands of the blue glowing creatures all suspended on the ceiling like some sort of galaxy of stars. Even though they are only a few millimetres in length there are so many that you can see round the cave quite comfortably. Very impressive. The next cave we tackled was the Aranui cave which is about 40 metres underground at it's deepest. This cave is damper than the Glowworm cave and consequently has the most amazing limestone stalagmites and stalactite formations although no glowworms as they need running water.

Our next stop was the town of Wanganui where we made a brief overnight stop. The following day we had a quick look around the very pretty town and then moved on to Levin. Here we were meeting up with our friends Corey and Esta who were getting married the following weekend. Levin is not the biggest place in NZ and yet whenever you meet people at home who are either from NZ or have relatives there, they all seem to live in Levin, strange. Alex immediately headed off with Corey and the other Kiwi boys for a stag weekend in Taupo, which involved clay pigeon shooting off a boat in Lake Taupo, lugeing at Rotorua and much beer. I stayed with Esta only to head into Wellington the following night for the hen night. Happily this coincided with the Rugby Sevens weekend so Wellington was absolutely packed with people all dressed up in outrageous costumes. There were astronauts, smurfs, stop/go men, fairys, monkeys, Borats and many more making it a real carnival atmosphere. The night finished at 6AM the following morning back in Levin. Man, those Kiwi girls know how to party.

The following Monday, slightly ragged around the edges, we took Monty the campervan back up to Taupo which is dominated by it's huge lake. The first morning was spent sitting in some hot springs that feed into the river. The river itself is fast flowing and freezing, but you can sit under the waterfalls that cascade over from the hotsprings and the temperature immediately increases to that of a hot bath. Ahhhhh. We then headed into town to check emails and while Alex read through his inbox, I silently contemplated the Taupo Tandem Skydiving poster. A few minutes after leaving the internet place, I piped up, "Do you fancy doing a skydive?" Alex, slightly shocked, agreed and we headed back to book the skydiving, Alex muttering "Must get you to hang out with the Kiwi girls more often...." And thus before any minds could be changed two tamdem skydives were booked for 17.30 the same day. Before said skydive we stopped to look at Huka Falls, a pretty impressive waterfall that churns icy blue water out over a ten metre ledge, although level of conversation had definately dropped off by this point.

At 17.30 we were ready to go. Helped into jumpsuits and harnesses ("Are you sure this is tight enough?!") and before we knew it 15 of us were crammed into a little plane (five jumpers, five instructors, four cameramen and the obligatory pilot.) Normally such a little plane would have been enough to engender fear, but not this time, this time the plane was looking like the safest thing in the sky. Unnervingly I found myself right at the front and therefore the first to jump. Amid various jokes from my instructor about clips not being done up and did I know a good cure for narcolepsy, my face slowly drained of any colour until we reached 12,000 feet and the little plastic door was opened. At which point you had to sit on the edge of the plane with your feet tucked up under it and smile (smile?!) at the camera. And then suddenly you are falling very fast and your stomach is up around your eyeballs and for the first few seconds you are very, very scared (although Alex says he wasn't) until terminal velocity of around 200km/hour is reached. At this point I was desperately trying to smile at my cameraman who was also hurtling downwards a few feet away, while Alex, who had jumped a few seconds later was "whoohooing" all the way down. After 45 seconds (felt like 45 minutes) the instructor deploys the chute and you go spiraling upwards (or at least slow down your fall) and then suddenly all is quiet. And for the first time you can actually look around and enjoy the spectacular view of the lake and mountains. After a further 5 minutes or so you come in for landing, gracefully on my part, flat on your arse for Alex, and the ground suddenly seems like a very welcome place. Unfortunately for me motion sickness then kicked in and a few minutes in the bathroom were needed. Adventurous things for us always seem to include the wearing of some kind of jumpsuit and me ending up feeling sick. Hmmm.

The following day was spent somewhat more sedately visiting the Craters of the Moon, Taupos bit of geothermal activity, where numerous fumeroles belch steam and sulphur and boil mud. Looking a bit like a B movie horror flick it is still quite impressive to see a large part of the landscape issuing steam. Our final activity in Taupo was a round of mini golf (Alex=1, Laura=0) before we headed out for our next destination, Tongariro National Park. In roughly the centre of North Island, Tongariro contains three mountains, the somewhat flat Tongariro, Ngauruhoe (used as Mount Doom) and Ruapehu, the largest and only snow capped one. Our mission here was to meet up with our friends Michelle and Mark and complete the one day Tongariro Crossing through stunning volcanic terrain. This we duly set out on the next day. All was going well until about an hour into the hike when we reached the Devils Staircase. Now I had read that the walk was 17km long, but had failed to note that it ascends to 2000m above sea level, and was thus dismayed when presented with the extremely steep and rocky climb that forms the Devils Staircase (surely a Devil's staircase should go down?) Michelle and Mark were off and going at a good pace leaving me panting and muttering about the need to install the Devils Escalator. After what seemed an eternity where I seriously contemplated whether I had actually died on the skydive and was now in some kind of purgatory, we reached the summit. And it was quite an impressive view. This part of the walk brings you closest to Ngauruhoe which you can climb, but quite frankly unless you had some kind of evil ring to chuck in it, why would you want to? It is seriously steep with the top is wreathed in cloud and makes climbing Krakatoa look like a stroll in the park. Thus without a backwards glance we continued on. Following another hike up more rocks (I had definately not signed up for this) we reached the impressive Red Crater and the equally impressive Emerald and Blue lakes at which point I insited that we sit down and eat our sandwiches. The way down was much easier, although it left you with jelly legs. Everything was going well until I managed to trip over my own feet and face plant down several steps. Thankfully I missed the stream which was inches away and managed not to cry although my knee really hurt!

The next day found us very weary and me with a cracking bruise to my knee but we pushed on back to Levin in time for Corey and Esta's wedding. This was in a beautiful little clapboard white church followed by the reception in the grounds of the local university. All went very well and needless to say Esta looked beautiful. On the Sundat after the wedding we headed out to Corey and Esta's place set at the foot of the Tararua Range near Levin. The sun was shining and the afternoon was going very pleasently until the concept of Wheely Chair Racing was introduced. This involved a contender sitting on a wheely office chair, donning a childs plastic policemens helmet (Corey had aquired this on his stag weekend) and then being pushed by comrades down the gravel hill ouside the house. All was going well until Alex stepped up to take his turn. Helmet securely in place he was pushed down the hill and let go, gathering speed. Suddenly without warning the chair spun round and Alex fell off backwards in spectacular style. First aid was called for and administered (although with withering glances and little sympathy) to a cut elbow and a badly grazed left buttock. At least my knee injury was a genuine accident and gained whilst sober. The game was swiftly abandoned after this.

For our final week in the North Island we headed back up north to Rotorua, North Island's main geothermal spot, which you can smell before you see it. Here saw a return of Jumpsuit Wearing Action Adventurers as we donned wetsuits this time, and headed out with Mark and Michelle again for a spot of white water rafting. We chose the grade 3/4 route down the Rangitaiki river which saw us cascading over rapids and a small waterfall (again it didn't feel that small) called Jeff's Joy. Fortunately the sun shone beautifully allowing us to dry out between the all to frequent icy cold river showers although, much to my relief, no-one actually fell out of the raft. Next day was Valentines day and when I casually mentioned to Alex that I had got him a card there was a brief look of surprise and unease and then later, from outside, came the frantic sounds of cutting paper. The following day after exchanging cards (mine was very unique and not to be found in any shops) we ventured to the Polynesian spa where we had a soak in the mineral pools overlooking the lake. Next stop was the Te Puia geothermal park where we sat for an hour sunbathing and waiting for the 20m Pohutu geyser to erupt. This it duly did with impressive ferocity. A short stroll round admiring more mud pools and steaming grounds and we are off for our last stop of the day at Rotorua Mini golf (Alex=2 Laura=0, but i'm getting better.)

Our final action packed day in Rotorua saw us stopping at Kiwi Encounters a breeding and research facility entitled 'Operation Nest Egg' where you could see eggs (one partly hatched) newly hatched kiwi chicks and fully grown adults in a nocturnal house. This was greatly enjoyed by me and Kiwi's are currently ranking second in my Top Ten Animals I Have Seen On This Trip. Then it was off up to the Rotorua Luge where you get to sit in plastic tea trays with wheels and steering, wearing a helmet, and hurtle down three different tracks cut into the hillside. Great fun and not as dangerous as Wheely Chair Racing. Our last stop of the day was at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, 30km outside Rotorua. Here we met up with our friends Anton, Imogen and their baby Erin and took a final stroll round a sulphurous geothermal park marvelling at the colours of the lakes and rocks and the vehemence with which their mud boils. After that it was on to Napier on the east coast, which we nearly didn't make having foolishly left Taupo (the last major town) without filling up assuming there would be a petrol station on the 150km road. Oh how wrong we were. 30km into the journey and running on vapours we stopped at some fuel pumps only to discover they were bone dry and there was no other petrol stations on the road. Thus it was back to Taupo admist much swearing and intermittent praying that we would actually make Taupo. Good old Monty didn't let us down and we arrived gasping into a very welcome Mobil garage. Having turned back around we finally made Napier at about 9PM after travelling up many steep and winding hills completely inappropriate for breaking down on. Phew.

We had one full day in Napier which is a town that was rebuilt in the 1930's following a devastating earthquake. As a result a lot of the buildings are built in an Art Deco style. By happy coincidence the weekend we were there was also the towns Art Deco Weekend, so as we strolled round the town admiring the architecture we were surrounded by people dressed in 1920/30's costume and driving vintage cars, it was quite surreal at times. The afternoon was spent visiting a couple of local wineries and sampling anything and everything they had to offer (except Alex who was Designated Driver) most of which was very tasty. The evening found us back in the town on Marine Parade where a jazz concert was taking place in the Sound Shell. Mingling with Al Capone and Bugsy Malone, we craned our necks skyward to take in an aerial display of 1920's War Bird planes who performed 10 minutes of acrobatics in honour of the Art Deco Weekend.

Next day we were off back to Wellington where we planned to catch the Blue Bridge ferry the following day and head over to the much anticipated South Island.

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Photos

The beginning of the 'State The Obvious' game
Craters of the Moon

Yessssth my prethioussth
Devil's Staircase with Mt Doom looming

Violent mud
Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland