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Published: October 22nd 2005
I have spent the last few days in Taupo, a small town that sits on the shores of New Zealand's largest lake, itself contained in a large volcanic crater. This crater is all that remains of a massive eruption which is basically responsible for the whole of the north island of New Zealand.
It is a beautiful place, wide open and serene, with the Tongariro mountain range sitting quietly in the background. My enjoyment of the scenery was heightened by the first appearance of the sun in weeks. Little did I know that only days later, the peaceful air would be broken by my own screams, as I hurtled towards the ground at a little over 200kph.
I decided to attempt the Tongariro crossing, a 17km trek through stunning mountain landscapes which many claim to be New Zealand's best one day walk. A claim, it turns out, which is hard to dispute. The scenery was unbelievable - several monstrous volcanic craters, snow peaked mountain tops and clear, icy emerald-green lakes.
It was moderately hard going; a third of the way along I pulled a muscle in my right ankle. I probably should have turned around (we were advised that the only way to get out once injured is by helicopter), but decided to continue, not wanting to miss out scenery.
And it was worth it. The landscape dwarfs those walking the track. Fellow trekkers further on could be viewed as specks on the mountain side. Even though there were a load of other people doing the trek, most of the time they were barely visible on the horizon, and the sense of isolation was satisfying. It really started to feel like I had stumbled into Middle Earth. It took some self control not to trot along singing the theme tune at the top of my voice - this volcanic landscape was one of several used to make up the land of Mordor, home of Sauron, Lord of the Rings' biggest badass.
Despite the proximity to this amazing mountain range, there is really only one thing that people talk about in Taupo. Skydiving.
Have you been? Are you going? How was it? How high? Which company?
You end up having a dozen conversations along those lines. Someone asks. You say 'oh, I was thinking about it'. All of a sudden, much against my brain's screamed warnings, I was booking a spot on the next plane up.
12,000 feet. 200kph+. You don't feel like it is actually going to happen until you are dangling your legs out of a plane, strapped to some guy who holds your life in his hands. But there is no time to think about it. He does the actual jumping out of the plane, so there is no real decision to be made.
It was pretty much the strangest and most exhilarating sensation I have ever had. Impossible to describe, luckily I had it recorded (a camera man jumps with you and captured the whole thing - at least until the parachute yanks me out of shot) so you can all see how awesome it was when I return home.
I got a grand total of 45 seconds of freefall, although it really feels so much shorter, followed by several minutes of drifting around, gazing at the unbelievable scenery, and stunned into silence by the craziness of it all.
The guy let me have a go on the parachute controls, which was almost as cool as the jump itself, although I had to stop all the spinning around as it started to make me feel sick!
I don't really know how I got up the guts for this. I think the only real reason is that I didn't know what I was doing until it was too late. But I would recommend it to anyone, especially anyone who thinks it would be the last thing they would do voluntarily.
The fact that you are attached to someone who is in control makes it a little easier. I am not sure I could get up the courage to do a bungy-jump, where it is all you, and if you wimp out, your money is lost, down the drain. Sky-diving is not much more expensive, and certainly, from what I can see, more of an experience.
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rusil
non-member comment
where are you boy?