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Published: August 7th 2007
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I know it all got a bit exciting with 2 blogs in 2 weeks but its busy driving a campervan!
So.... before we left New Caledonia Sarah thought it would be a good idea to jump out of a plane!! As we were accompanying Ben to the parachuting club where he not only skydives himself but also films and photographs others doing their first tandem jump. With the plane ready and waiting on the runway and the 1st tandem jumper nowhere to be seen Sarah was harnessed up and on her way to the plane!
Suprisingly sat backwards in a 6 seater plane, not strapped in or attached to the instructor was quite natural! As the incline to 10,000 feet drew nearer 2 student skydivers jumped out and with the roll door open and the plane tilting that way you knew it was your turn next! At 10,000 feet Ben hung onto the outside of the plane ready to film and we were edging towards the door of the plane with our feet hanging out. Seconds past and we were falling onto our backs and freefalling, a surreal experince. The views were incredible on such a fsunny and clear day, the
wind rushing past at 200 kmph. With Ben level and taking film an occasional smile was prodcuced having broken my stunned and amazed expression. After 30 seconds of freefall a 3 second climb and the parachute was up. With a 5 minute descent I took over myself and it is actually harder than you think and amazing how to control the direction you are flying in with such an easy movement. The descent came so quick and a graceful landing was taken by the instructor. Speechless! What and incredible experience!
After a fantastic 2 weeks in New Caledonia we moved onto Sydney in order to catch our connecting flight to New Zealand. Christchurch is remarkably like being in England, including the weather! So out came the jumpers and trousers!
Not thinking it was cold enough we headed to the International Antartic Centre, complete with snow room and Antartic scale blizzard. The centre was also home to a group of rescued blue penguins, this noisy little bunch kept us entertained at feeding time!
After a few days in Christchurch it was time to acquire our campervan! Our home for the next 4 weeks, we filled up with fuel and food and
Up close and Personal!
A Fur Seal having just had a nap and a quick wash he set up for a photo shoot! were on our way!
First stop Oamaru for a touch of penguin spotting! We headed down to "Bushy Beach" where we got up close and personal with a few fur seals and a yellow eyed penguin! From there we travelled further south to Moeraki to see the strange Moeraki Boulders. Quite simply a scene of natuarally formed spheres, grouped together on the beach!
Dunedin was our next port of call where we headed to Cadbury World! Fueled by lots of free chocolate, the highlight of the tour was a "Chocolate Fall" where 1 tonne of chocolate was poured down the middle of an unused silo/cylo! We all had to stand well back to make sure we didn't get splashed!
With the freedom to go wherever we wanted we headed to the amazing fiordland spot known as Milford Sound. In order to reach Milford we had to navigate a long and winding road, passing through the 'Homer Tunnel' which is quite simply a hole through the mountain, with no lights, water pouring down the 'walls' and only a single lane of traffic in one direction at a time, it was quite hairiy to say the least! On exiting the 'tunnel' we
were engulfed by cloud making the winding descent more challenging. However the view when we reached Milford Sound made it all worth while. For those of you who don't know Milford Sound is a fiord that was cut out by a huge glacier moving through the area thousands of years ago, and then melting to fill it up, resulting in cliffs and mountains aligning the sound rising vertically up out of the water creating a spectacular scene that even we can't describe! We took a cruise aboard the Milford Mariner around the sound taking in the scenery all the way out to the Tasman Sea, returning passing under one of the many waterfalls that cascade endlessly into the water.
After returning to the wharf we then wound our way back to Te Anau to visit the Glow Worm Grotto. We took a boat accross Lake Te Anau to the glow worm caves, where we were taken on a tour through the mountain, squeezing through the entrance that was about half our height and made our way along the passages that had been formed by the river that now rushed beneath our feet! Once deep inside the cave we clambered into
a little boat in the pitch black and our guide silently led us around the cave so that we could get as close as possible to the glow worms. They looked like stars in the night sky scattered into their own little constelations.
We headed off to Queenstown the next day, and discovered a very touristy town littered with Cafe's, Bars and Restaurants, it seemed the place to be and had a very Lake District appeal to it. From Queenstown we toured further north to the quaint little village of Arrowtown, this single strip of shops and places to stay has been kept in keeping with the towns history and with an autumn backdrop of colourful trees on the valley made for an even more picturesque setting.
The winding way to Wanaka was our next destination. We wove our way up the side of the mountains before desending back down through the valleys towards Lake Wanaka. With it being ANZAC day (Australia and New Zealand's version of Rememberance Day) we found an outdoor exhibition of photographs; a collection known as "Earth From Above" a series of large scale ariel images reflecting the state of the planet today. Later that afternoon
we headed over to PuzzleWorld, an interactive museum based on the world of puzzles and illusions, many of which were fasinating. There was also a 2 level maze which we got lost in for a while but seeing as we are writing this we must have made it out!!
So once again as you can see we have been really busy, we hope that your doing well and you'll probably hear from us in the North Island!
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Dave and Paula
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Well, sounds like you left the bro and family in one piece.. Nice to see you managed to get airborne. What are your plans for the rest of the trip? Have you done a bungee yet?