Long Way Down

Ever since we decided to be all ‘adventurous’ and backpack around the world, Jords has had his little heart set on throwing himself out of a plane at 15,000 ft attached to nothing but a man with a bag on his back and some flimsy material claiming to be a ‘parachute’.  I have always been in the ‘not for me’ camp but yesterday, I am happy to say, we both completed the most terrifying and amazing experience of our lives to date!  We did a skydive over Lake Taupo from 15,000 ft and survived!

We travelled from Napier to Taupo and had a nice morning stopping off to see some lovely waterfalls etc along the way.  Nice and relaxed.  We arrived in Taupo at 12pm and checked into our holiday park.  The couple running the park were absolutely lovely and really did go above and beyond their job to make sure we had a wonderful stay with them.  However, they used this charm to convince us to jump that afternoon, so by 12.30pm we’d asked them to book us in with Skydive Taupo and by 2pm we were picked up in a white limousine and raced off to meet our doom.

Okay okay a little dramatic I know but it felt like that at the time!  In actual fact, before the jump I couldn’t decide if I was absolutely terrified,

Or really really excited!

Jords was his usual calm composed self throughout – git!

Once we were all dressed and ready to go I knew there was no way out, and it was a nice 15-20 minute plane ride to come to terms with what we were about to do.  This is when the real fear set in…

Could my smile look any more forced if I tried?!?!  Jords again was just very excited!

At 12,000 ft we dropped 2 other people off which allowed us to see exactly how it was done – it looked petrifying!  Next, it was my turn and as our DVD shows I lost all sense of looking photogenic or collected or remotely normal!  Luckily these pics are far enough away to disguise that!

We had a 60 second freefall and then around 8 minutes to come down to earth with the help of the beautiful parachute – all the more beautiful when they opened without a hitch!  Jords was not far behind me…

Landing was good for both of us – we both managed to stay standing and we were back on earth!  Hurrah!

And I think the happy faces sum it up – what a phenomenal experience but so happy to have both feet safely on the ground.

Jords looks like he’d been crying here but it was apparently ‘just the wind’ – yeah right!  Not so composed after all?!?  I’ll let you guys make your minds up…(in fairness he did have his contact lenses in but that’s no excuse)! 

It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and one that we’d both consider repeating.  The adrenaline rush lasts for a very long time – I’m still grining from ear to ear today!

Time Out

At last, a well earned break.  As great a pleasure as Buzz and New Zealand have been, we have been slave to the road – whether behind the wheel or not – and decided that enough was enough.  Actually, that’s not quite true – it was more of a “shall we stay one more day … ” kind of thing.  Regardless, our stay in Napier was our longest stint of not being bound to a vehicle since Oz (sleeping aside …) and it was rejuvenating. 

When you’re reliant on public transport to get from A to B you are a) more selective about where you choose to go/stay; and b) more inclined to stay for a longer period of time because, after all, who wants to be on a bus every other day with people who smell even worse than you do?!  Which is all a roundbout way of saying that the freedom of the campervan, brilliant though it is, can be over-exercised.  It’s almost like buying a tub of Ben & Jerries (or whatever floats your boat …) and being unable to save some for the next day.  You all know what I’m talking about!  Even our weekend in Abel Tasman – although it was hardly hard work on our part, being chauffered everywhere, we were still constantly on the move.  It’s a hard life, I know, but it’s nice to stop and take stock.

Napier, as it turned out, was the perfect place to take a breather.  Currently enjoying a breather of its own in the off-season (i.e. the cold!), Napier, located on the North Island’s west coast, was quiet without being dead – quite a feat for a New Zealand town not reliant on the adrenalin industry.   Constant sunshine, complimented by a thriving cafe scene and we were set.  That we also found travel monopoly on our first afternoon probably didn’t hurt either …

If I keep up my winning streak (does 2 qualify as a streak??) the road won’t be the only thing Anna’s taking time out from.  I stand accused of stifling games with my ruthless purchasing policy of BUY EVERYTHING!  Forgive me, but is there any other way to play?!  Luckily for our relationship, we also bought magnetic ludo.  On average, I roll about one 6 per hour, allowing Anna to lord it over me and restore some parity to things.

And that was pretty much Napier.  It doesn’t make for an exhilirating post but we can’t have you on the edge of your seat every time.  Rest assured, Anna will be putting the world to rights very soon.  We left Napier this morning and I’m bursting to say more about where we went and what we did there but an embargo has been put in place – so watch this space! 

Abel Tasman National Park

As Jords said in the last post, after meeting up in Nelson with our friends Vicci and Rich, we headed out to Abel Tasman National Park to enjoy the great outdoors.  We stayed just outside of a little town called Takaka which has a very relaxed hippy vibe about it.  The guys had organised a little cabin for us all to sleep in during our stay in the National Park which meant we had to leave Buzz behind but he needed a rest after all the travelling we have done recently!

We arrived in Takaka around mid-afternoon, and after a little stroll around the town, we headed straight towards Farewell Spit.  The spit itself is almost 35km long and is actually a sand bar with a lighthouse right on the tip of it (not envious of the poor man who built that)!  The public are only allowed on the first 4km of the spit and we took advantage of this fact by enjoying a stunning sunset on a deserted beach.

From the look on his face Jords seemed to think this was a race (which Rich won anyway!) but the guys had plenty of fun running all around the deserted sand dunes and sliding down them too!

After Farewell spit, we headed back to a pub next to our campsite for a bite to eat, and then took over the TV room and enjoyed some beers and plenty of Uno before heading to bed.

We had set aside the next day as our ‘active’ day and we certainly followed that through!  We started the day with a 3 hr round trip along the Abel Tasman Coastal Walk up to Gibbs Point.  It was pretty hard going on the way up, but we were rewarded with some stunning views and a nice relaxed walk down.

After this hefty walk you would think we’d be ready to go and put our feet up, but oh no!  We decided to try our hand at a little rock climbing!  Rich has been rock climbing for around 3 or 4 years now and has all the gear necessary to do it yourself, so he took us to a little spot where we could do a climb and exert ourselves a little more.

Rich went first to put the safety rope up (brave man) and Vicci had her go scaling the wall next.  After Vicci it was Jordan’s turn to get kitted up and take to the wall, which he did it with what seemed like surprising ease.

Check Jords out – chalking his hands like a pro – and climbing in bare feet no less!  After Jords returned safely to the ground it was my turn.  I found it difficult enough getting into the harness which greatly amused Jords!

Sexy or what?!  My life was then put into Jordan’s hands as I started to climb the wall.  It took me a long while to get started but I managed it in the end!

After all the excitement of the day we headed back to camp to freshen up and enjoyed this beautiful sunset over the beach next to our camp.

We then headed out to a quirky little pub Vicci and Rich knew of called the Mussel Inn.  There we enjoyed some unusual but very tasty local beer and a warm open fire.

Afterwards we headed back to camp where Vicci treated us to some of her wonderful home cooking and we finished the night with more beer and Uno before bed.

On the final day we got up early and headed for Pupu Springs.  These natural springs are amazingly clear but it was quite hard to capture on camera in the morning light so you’ll just have to trust me - it was stunning.

We then drove back towards Nelson, stopping off at Motueka for their Sunday market and some yummy Chai Tea.  It was a fantastic weekend spent with friends enjoying more of the natural beauty that New Zealand has to offer.  Since then we have moved on and are now on the North Island planning our next steps…

Bouncing on the Buller

Anna may have overstated things when she said we tamed the Buller River – months of little rain had already done a pretty good job.  That said, inspite of the low water level there was still plenty of fun to be had. 

With tail still firmly between my legs, I sensibly declined a front seat berth.  A pretty good move , as in the absence of grade 4 and 5 rapids our guide instead made sure that we hit every good-sized rock going.  Not quite as maniacal as it might sound (imagine a floating bouncy castle …) but slightly unnerving, nonetheless.  The rapids that we did navigate were excellent – lots of laughing, panicking, uprooted bottoms, etc.  At one set, we all disembarked to swim the rapids.  The water was like ice, cutting through the wetsuit and thermals like a knife through butter.  Which goes a long way to explaining why the next few moments proceeded in a blur.  You basically lie on your back and let nature do the rest.  Oh, and time your breathing.  Apparently Anna didn’t feel that the water level was low enough already, declining good ole air for a bit of Buller at every bump! 

Not wanting to let England down in a boat of Aussies we also partook in a cliff jump.  Having vaguely warmed up from the earlier swim, I was ruined from this point onwards (only 10 minutes from the end, thankfully).  I was still shivering violently when it came to shedding the suits, making it a memorable experience.

Unfortunately, with it being off season there were no photos to be purchased and subsequently displayed here but we did get a couple of ‘location’ shots – it was a beautiful setting.

Since then, we have done a whole lot of nothing.  With time to kill before visiting some friends in Nelson, we visited a couple of pretty forgettable towns.  I won’t name them for fear of causing offence – we’ve already had some random suggesting that we visited Auckland with our eyes closed – but two visits to the cinema in three days (Lars and the Real Girl and Indy 4 - I’m delighted to say that the latter still has the moves!) and you know things are bad!!  Who am I kidding – we pretend places are crap just so we can go without feeling guilty!  That said, in one town we ended up in their only campsite.  It was a) empty – there was us and one other van; b) home only to outside facilities; and c) next to a cemetary.  It was magical. 

Anyway, we have just arrived in Nelson.  Here, Buzz will be allowed some time to recuperate from recent traumas – he will be left in Nelson while we spend the weekend in Abel Tasman National Park, embracing the great outdoors once again.  Here’s hoping Anna will have no further humilating episodes to share with you next week. 

Enjoy your weekends!!

Buzz in Peril

This is a very special (and unplanned) post to let you all know about a certain event that happened the day before yesterday. At the moment Jords and I are taking it in turns to drive little Buzz around New Zealand – one day on, one day off kinda situation. It was Jordan’s turn to drive on this fateful day and he had successfully navigated us from Greymouth to Westport…well…almost!

We had decided that we would do our White Water Rafting in Westport, as the Buller River offers grade 3-4 rapids, and it is the cheapest rafting we have seen on the South Island (a mere $110NZ each with BBQ lunch thrown in)! A couple of miles outside of Westport, we saw a sign for Buller Adventure Tours (which is the company we wanted to go with) but we were driving past too fast to actually read what it said. We carried on in the direction that we believed the board was pointing, but after a couple of kilometers, we decided to turn around and head back to read the sign properly.

We turned around, got back onto the right road and drove until we saw the sign again (the back of it anyway)! It was at this point that the REAL fun began. Jords attempted a 3 point turn which usually would be fine. However, Buzz is around 4 meters long and the road was not that wide, with grass on either side, that dipped down into ditches. Can you see what’s coming yet?!?

I have to say at this point, that I did warn Jords not to go too far onto the grass, but he brushed my comments aside assuring me that ‘grass is fine’….it was not! The first of the three points went well; the second not so much. Jords had reversed a little too far onto the grass to pull himself (and Buzz) out of the situation, because when he tried to drive forwards, all we got was a good old fashioned wheel spin on grass. We were well and truly stuck and were precariously perched about 4 inches away from Buzz sliding into the creek behind us.

Avid readers of the blog (if there are any!) will remember that not too long ago Jords got us stuck on the gravel too, but we weren’t calm enough to take photos, yet when we’re stuck in the middle of the road, blocking one lane, we found time to take some snaps!

Our New Zealand friends Vicci and Rich (who we met in Cambodia) had told us that if we ever got into difficulty on the roads there would be no end of people pulling over to try and help us – this is SO true! The first person to pass us stopped – a kind elderly man driving a 4 by 4. He jumped into our van and tried to get it out (only succeeding in getting us further entrenched and around 1 inch from catastrophe). He didn’t have any rope but he did have a tow bar. Then another lucky turn of events – an off duty policeman was riding his push bike past and stopped to direct traffic and help us out. He tried to call a squad car but couldn’t get any contact, but thankfully another couple stopped and asked if they could help. Only if they had rope we replied…guess what…they did!!!

Not really the time for smiling Jords…!

This is all that was left at the end – not that impressive really but at least we didn’t cause any damage to poor Buzz.

After all that excitement we still needed to find Buller Adventure Tours (which we did shortly after) and booked ourselves in for some white water rafting the next day. We settled into a Holiday Park and I cooked up a storm!

Jords sat back, relaxed, and drank some beer – clearly relieved after an eventful day!

And so our little adventure continues, yesterday we tamed the Buller River, but Jords will fill you in on all the details shortly.