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Published: December 27th 2005
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Lins Paraglide
Now, I think this clips on here.. or maybe there! We'd found a hostel in the Lonely Planet that was a short walk from the beach, and headed straight down to the beach for our first sunbathing session. It was a great beach and we lazed around for a few hours watching the kite surfers and doing crosswords but not venturing into the water as it was freezing!
One of Lin's goals coming to New Zealand was to do a Paraglide. Having done parasailing in Bay of Islands, this was the next step and she arranged for a trip with Nelson Paragliding. Her instructor Stuart drove us from the Hostel to the jump site in his 4wd jeep. He told me if they lost height during the glide, I'd have to drive it down the steep road on the hillside (fun and scary at the same time).
LIN:
My instructor was fantastic. He explained everything very clearly to me and made me feel at ease. Once I was harnessed in securely we waited for the wind to blow and then we ran forward towards the edge off the cliff...and it was off! The take off was very gentle and not before long we were soaring above the tree
tops and leaving the mountain top behind. According to Stuart, at one point we were ascending at 5metres a second! The views of the coastline and mountain ranges were stunning and I felt completely safe at all times. Eventually we made our way down and landed neatly at the launch site after the thermals had taken us over 200ft up. Absolutely loved it!
Another session back on the beach to relax, this time braving the cold water, then a trip to the cinema in the evening to see 'Four Brothers'. Pretty good but probably abit boyish for Lins taste.
Our last morning here, we went to the Macs Brewery. I'd been drinking the stuff all the way down North Island having bought a case of 'Macs Gold stubbies', so was interested to see the place. We had a few tastings, but Lins face went greener as the beers got darker!
One last beach session, then we were picked up by 'Chops' in the Stray bus. From Nelson it was only a short drive to the Abel Tasman National Park. We were staying in a small village called Marahau in the permanent Stray site at Old Macdonalds Farm.. yes
really. We had a BBQ dinner then retired to our tent accommodation for the night.
Our first day started with a bang for Lin. Having seen our smiling faces after the Skydives, she'd decided to join the 'Extreme Club' and take the plunge. We were picked up and taken to Motueka Airfield, and I waited whilst Lin went through the instruction and suiting up process, then the plane was away and i was on camera duty.
Back at the National park, we did a three hour walk up to Appletree bay, around the rocks to Coquille Bay where we could see out to Fisherman and Adele Islands. Lots of winding tracks crossing streams and in and out from the coast path.
There were all sorts of activities leaving Marahau by foot, water taxi and yachts. We decided on the latter and went on a Catermaran up the coast to Anchorage. This was our lunch stop, and we tied up next to the AquaPackers boat, a three level Catermaran cruiser that was permanently moored in the bay. After a tasty BBQ, we continued on past a seal colony up to Bark Bay. The one day sailors then turned back to
Lins Skydive
Wahey..here I come! Marahau, but Lin and I jumped off on to the beach and walked the trail three hours back to Anchorage and the Aquapackers, our accommodation for the night. Here we met some Dutch and Belgian people also staying on the boat.. lots of travelling stories swapped. I also decided it would be a good idea to swim ashore.. it wasn't. Freezing cold water but i was in so I swam there and back.
The next day, we walked back to Old Macdonalds Farm to catch the Stray bus. The DOC signs said it was a 4 hour walk. We did it in 2,1/2hours!
Our next driver was Nancy or 'Nance'. She was really good fun and happened to be the twin sister of our previous driver Gail. It was a shame we weren't staying with her for longer, cos she was 'Rocko'!
We drove down to Barrytown stopping at Punakaiki to see the Pancake Rocks and Blow holes. The 'Pancakes' were strange rock formations that appeared to look like a stack of pancakes. The blow holes were unfortunately not blowing due to the tide not being high enough.
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Jonathan Humble
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Your blog updates are brilliant the skydive looked fab, pictures of your faces are funny. We have snow here in Reading and it is -4 C at night it said that Barbados was 32 C and Syndney Australia was 46 C it was the DJ's idea to chear people up, hope you are well see you soon if you decide to come back Jonathan