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Published: December 22nd 2008
The ferry crossing was supposed to be another spectacle of beauty. Unfortunately, Carmen and I both fell asleep, so we can’t really tell you much about the crossing.
We got off the ferry at wellington, and booked into the campsite. As it was, it happened to be the final of the rugby league world cup. NZ Vs Australia. What a game to watch. We were all packed in to watch the game. Even the receptionist brought in his dog, and we watched a highly entertaining game, which NZ actually won, against all odds!!! Its nice to see the Aussies get it up them again!!! They even lost the cricket test to India!!! Hahaha!!!!
Wellington is a nice little city. However, its bloody windy here, and the weather changes more time than I eat (which is a fair few times, I can tell you!!). The thing to do here is visit the museum, Te Papa, which s free, and very informative about the history of New Zealand. You could easily spend a full day here in itself!!!!
No visit to the capital is complete without visiting the parliament. The “Beehive,” as the NZ equivalent is known, is also a
free entry with guided tour (well, you wouldn’t want anyone walking through the prim minister’s office!!). We had arranged to meet Chris, a former colleague of mine from London, so after going through the security screening, we were told to hand in our bags, cameras and mobile phones. Knowing Chris was going to, I secretly kept my phone in my pocket (putting it on silent of course), and proceeded through with the tour.
We had a very geeky looking young guy called Kim as our guide. Kim had just completed a degree in politics at Wellington Uni, and you could tell he was one of those very clever but very weird boys!!!! But I digress a little. The tour was actually pretty good. After being half demolished by an earthquake some 20 odd years ago (NZ is placed in between 2 tectonic plates, so has several small and sometimes very big earthquakes), the reconstruction was carried out using state of the art science, and creating spring like structures that were placed in between the walls, allowing the walls to move. In short, it was like a shock absorber. It was designed in NZ, and is now used all over
Harbour view
Wellington quaysidethe world for similar projects!!!
The buildings are pretty modern, and filled with artifacts from Maori Culture. In fact, the recent political elections resulted in the old leader being ousted, and a new ruling party, and so there is a lot of movement happening in parliament as we speak!!!
Our final stop is the House of Representatives. This is the debating house, where the prime minister and his team face off against the . This room is covered by several high tech cameras; all trained on us at this instant, making sure no one plants any bombs or anything in the rooms. It is at this precise moment that Chris decides to call me, and I look at Carmen to say “I knew that would happen!!”
We met up with Chris and had a few drinks at the bar with him. It was nice to see him again.
The next day we had planned to head up to Napier, on the east coast. However, we had met another couple back in Blenheim, who advised us not to go there, as there wasn’t much to see. So we headed on to Tongoriro National Park. This park held
I pledge a legience
house of parliment (aka the beehive) NZ’s most impressive day walk, the Tongoriro crossing, and we had both been looking forward to it since we planned it, some 3 months ago. However, when we got there, our good fortune returned, and we were met with heavy rains and high speed winds. The visitors centre said the crossing was closed, due to the high winds at the summit (125kph), and was to remain closed for the next 3 days!!! We were sooo pissed, and it looked for all eternity that we were going to miss this opportunity!!!
We headed on to Taupo, hoping for some sunshine, and with it, some luck to shine down. We booked our skydive with skydive Taupo, and had the early morning dive booked.
The weather the next day was almost perfect!!! We could not have asked for a better day to skydive, and we had BOTH booked on for it!!! I was very excited, but Carmen was a ball of nerves. I have to point out that I never forced her into this, but I did say that she would never get another opportunity to do this again, and it was her birthday in 2 days time!!!!
My Instructor
was a kiwi, and Carmen’s was a German, who had lived in Mexico, so could speak perfect Spanish!!! GREAT!!! What more could you ask for? We got a 30 second brief, then the Cameras came out. Pre-jump interview, a few photos, we were in our jump suits, we got harnessed up, and the plane started its engines, and we were ready to jump on board. It seemed to be happening very quickly, and I have to say a few nerves started to creep into my psyche.
As we took off, and climbed to our first drop off point, 12000ft (which was for another jumper), I kept looking at Carmen, making sure she was ok. Her face was blank, like she had seen a ghost!!! She was obviously thinking “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” We had to have some Oxygen masks on, as we were climbing very fast, and there was no pressurized cabin (we were sat on top of our instructors laps on the floor of the aircraft). We got hooked up to our instructors, and the first jumper jumped out with her instructor. As she jumped out, we all went “OH SHIT!!!” but there was no turning
the way we're headed
it was a cold start, and we were headed up a volcano!!! back now!!! One final interview, and after we reached our destination height of 15000ft, I was next to go. Now I need to paint this picture as best I can. The doors open via control, and I take off my O2 mask. My instructor tells me to move to the edge of the door, and dangle my legs out and under the plane. On an ordinary day, this would be a crazy thing to do, but we were about to do something very crazy, and so as I dangled my legs over the side of the plane, I looked down into what looked like oblivion. It was a long way down, and now my nerves were twitching. My heart was racing, and before I had any time to say “hang on a minute”, I heard “3-2-1” and we were gone!!! Spiraling down at 200 KPH, it was like taking the coldest shower you can imagine. I could not catch my breath, I could not stop screaming, I could not comprehend what had just happened. We were spinning and spinning, and at one point I felt like I was going to be sick. This would have been an interesting experience, as
I could only imagine that the vomitus would go all over me and my instructor (and this was not the time to piss him off!!!). The wrist mounted camera was pointed at my face, and I gave a nervous thumbs up as we spun again, and the nausea returned. Then, the moment of redemption. I was given the order to hold onto my straps, and I felt a sudden jolt, as the parachute was deployed, and we it was like everything made sense again. I was going to live!!! The camera was on again, and I was asked how I felt. I couldn’t describe it then, and I still can’t describe it now. I was the most awesome sensation. We had over a minute of freefalling. Travelling at 200KPH, through the air, Nothing stopping us, nothing in the way. It was a surreal moment in time, when nothing seemed to matter. This is what birds feel like, and I envy every one of them. After the parachute opened, I started taking in my surroundings. Lake Taupo, Mount Rungahoe, I could see the airport where we were to land (hopefully), everything seems insignificant. It was that moment of total freedom. No
we kept smiling
even through changing temperatures one to nag, no one to blame, no hassles, no demands. PEACE!!!!!
When we landed, I was still speechless. I wanted to do it all again, I wanted to go higher. I had that silly grin on my face, like I had just won the lottery ( I wish), and for the rest of the day, that smile never left my face. It was the most extreme thing I have done, and I would do it all again (when I get more money!!!). You can view our skydive on youtube. just type in Rob Fernandes sykdive, and both our dives should come up. ENJOY!!!
That afternoon, we returned to the visitors centre, to see what the news was about the Tongoriro crossing. Good news!!! The weather had cleared, and it was all go from tomorrow. So we headed over to the National park that evening, and prepared for our next adventure.
We woke up at 0530, ready for our 0615 pick up. Its another lucrative business here. You start the walk from one end to the other, so you can’t really take your own transport (unless someone else drives it for you). Cars are often broken into,
Mount Raupehu
the other active volcano. Thank god thats in the distance!!! so people are often advised not to drive there. So buses are on hire (at $25-35 per person), to drop you at one end, and pick you up at the other, and take you back to your accommodation at the other. Peace of mind I suppose, but expensive all the same!!!
The walk is really just such an amazing experience. It’s not about the physical challenge, because, to be honest, I’ve had harder walks. It’s about walking between 2 active volcanoes. Mount Tongorirro, and Mount Ngutane. Both have erupted before, evidence of which is clear during our walk. At this precise moment, they have been given an alert category of 1. This is 1 out of a possible 6!! 6 meaning it’s about to erupt any minute, and if you go towards it, there is a 99 percent chance you are going to die!!!! So a 1 is not so bad. It means that there has been some activity, but it is unlikely to erupt anytime soon. The highlight of the trip has to be being at the highest point (the red crater), 1880M above sea level, and giving a feeling of being on the moon. What is also
fascinating is that the ground is warm. Sitting on it warms your bum (a great feeling when its blowing a cold gale up top). Flanked by the enormous volcanoes either side of you, there is no greater feeling in my mind!!!!
Mount Tongorirro is also famous for being mount doom, in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. As it’s a National park, it’s free to view, which is a nice change!!! The fades of snow and molten rock give it the character of an orca whale, something no one else seemed to appreciate (and no I was not taking any illicit drugs at the time!!!). We finished the walk in good time, but had to wait 2 hours for the bus to pick us up, which was rather frustrating, but we made it back to camp with no aches, pains or injuries!!!
On to smelly Rotorua!!! Yes, it is smelly, because of the sulphur fumes emanating from the thermal springs, for which this area is most famous for. It is also home to many Maori cultural performances, and seeing as it was Carmen’s 31st birthday, we decided that it would be cool to have Maori show and dinner
(Hangi). Hangi is a way of cooking. As the ground has a lot of thermal activity, the trick is to dig a hole in the ground, and put a whole load of wet clothes over it (after you have laid your dinner down). The heat causes the wet clothes to steam, and voila!! You have steamed meat, veggies, fish, you name it, it can be done!!! The show was a great spectacle. Owned by a Maori family, they put on a show, showing Maori traditional dance, song, War instruments and he Famous Haka (war dance). The meal is a buffet style, with sooo much food, its hard to eat it all (yes even for me!!). Mital is the company, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
We were now getting short of time (just when things were getting a bit interesting, and the weather was getting better). This was compounded by the fact that we had to divert to Auckland for a last minute re-fiddle with the south America trip, which took half a day. We then headed up north, trying to get as far as we could before heading back down.
We got as far as
Paihia, in the bay of plenty. It’s a lovely little beachside town, with boats going out to Russell and the other islands, dolphin cruises, and helicopter rides. You can also kayak around the bay, which is quite protected, do some nice walks with great views, and visit the famous Whaitangi house, famous for its proclamation between Maori and Pakiha (white European settlers). Its interesting for its history, but to be honest, if you’ve seen the stuff at Te Papa in Wellington, this is just a recap, for more money. Still, it’s a nice few days here, before we head back down to Auckland. Before this, we make a stop at a friends’ house.
I had been keeping in contact with Mark and Maria, ever since we had seen their wedding photos on travelblog. They are also an anglo-spanish couple, so we had a few similarities. They had moved to Auckland to live, and kindly invited us to stay with them for a few days. We were treated very well, and it was also so nice to finally sleep in a bed. We handed back the campervan, which almost bought a tear to my eye (it was like finishing a
grueling marathon), and we had some fun with them.
For our last night, we booked into the Bamber Hostel, which is highly rated on Hostelworld. It is a great find, and not that far away from the city centre. A bit of last minute souvenir sopping, and we are done with NZ.
Its actually turned out to be a fantastic trip here. It has also gone sooo quickly too!! It wasn’t that long ago that I was grumbling on about how shit the weather was, and how I had expected NZ to be something else. Well NZ, you showed me, and thanks a lot for that. We have seen some fantastic sights, probably the most beautiful place in the world (doubtful sound), and again met some wonderful people, who we will hopefully stay friends with.
So onwards we move. Its nearly time to finish this world wind trip. Six more weeks of fun and adventure, and then its back to the grindstone for us. We are really not looking forward to it, but his is not the time to think about that. Bring on South America!! This should be great!!!
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