Today I jumped out of a plane (and more)

Again, I have much catching up to do. While I was in Rotorua, I was contemplating going to a hangi, a traditional Maori dinner and cultural performance. Part of it was outside, and since it had been raining I was afraid that the rain would make it less enjoyable. It was also expensive. I didn’t want to stick around Rotorua any longer so I decided to just go for it. Thankfully by the time I left the café, it had stopped raining and didn’t rain the rest of the evening. I waited outside the hostel for a bit before a bus came to pick me up shortly after 6pm. We picked up others along the way before we made it to the location where the hangi took place. Upon arriving, we were shown our table inside a tent and welcomed by our host. I may not be the best at guesstimating numbers, but there were probably close to 200-250 in attendance. We then shuffled outside where we got to see out dinner being cooked in the ground. After snapping a photo, we walked through the bush along a small river. Down the river came about 8 Maori men paddling a waka (canoe). After they exited the haka, we made our way to another shelter where they performed the haka, the traditional war dance, and other songs and cultural dances. They also told us a bit about the Maori culture. It was excellent. An hour later, we made our way back to the tent were the food was ready and waiting for us. The food was good. Not exceptional, but good. After dinner, they gave us flashlights as we made our way out of the tent. What a nice present! I knew that is exactly what my sister wanted me to bring her from New Zealand! Just kidding. They gave us flashlights because they were taking us on a perilous journey through the bush. We walked just a short distance before we made it to our destination. A small pool surrounded by glowworms. It was neat. I would have taken a picture to show you but I don’t think it would have turned out. After returning our flashlights at the end of the walk, I boarded the bus and arrived back at the hostel shortly before 10pm. It was a great experience. I tried to upload a video of the cultural performance but it was taking forever.

The tent where we ate

Our dinner

The pool that we saw glowworms around later that evening.

Matai Maori village

Maori

On Friday morning, I woke up and got all my stuff packed up. I made myself another wonderful breakfast of eggs, cheese, and sausage. I also finished off my divine berry yogurt. I was able to leave my pack at the hostel while I walked to Zippys, where I sat outside to get internet in order to book a bus ticket to leave town. After this was done, I made it back to the hostel to gather my belongings and go to the information center where I waited a short time for my bus. With a little over an hour bus ride, I arrived in Taupo around 12:20pm. While I had been staying with the Pelz’s in Auckland, they had mentioned that they knew someone in Taupo. I had sent them an email the previous day so when I arrived in Taupo, I found the library to see if I had gotten an email back. No reply yet. I did some other things on the internet and before long I got the email I was expecting. I walked to the pack n’ save where she was going to be. We ended up missing each other but as I sat on the bench outside, I started talking to the guy sitting on the bench next to me. He was a guide for several day hikes. I talked to him a bit about that and traveling and before long, he told me about his best friend in Christchurch who would more than willingly take me in while I am there in May. The connections you can make with a stranger are awesome. After a while, I continued on my way. I walked a short distance to Lake Taupo where I sat on a bench. It was a bit windy but enjoyable nonetheless. As 5pm approached, I walked to meet Jenn at the church where she worked. Let me introduce you to the couple I am staying with. Brandon and Jenn are absolutely wonderful. They are a young American couple who went to Wheaton College, which is about 45 minutes away from where I went to school. They have been living in New Zealand for the past 8 months. I have really been able to connect with them and we have had many great conversations. Jenn, who is only a month older than I, have very similar personalities. It has been really encouraging. Even though I have only been with them for four days, it feels like I have known them so much longer. It will be sad to leave. After I met Jenn, we left and picked Brandon up on the way home. I had some time to settle in a bit while they went on a run. We than had a wonderful home cooked dinner with great conversation.  Late that night, after looking at the weather, I decided that I was going to do the Tongariro Crossing the next day. Because it was so late, I was unable to book a shuttle for the morning. The hike is very dependant on the weather and I have heard of several who have had to wait a few days in order to have weather that was good enough to do the hike. Even though I didn’t have a shuttle booked, I decided I would wake up in the morning with hopes that there would be room on the bus.

Lake Taupo

Brandon and Jenn
(it was early in the morning)

I just want to state, I don’t completely agree with the phrase “to get up bright and early” because seldom is it bright when it is early. And by early I mean 5:45am. I know when I got up then, it was not bright. In fact, it was still dark out. Jenn was kind enough to wake up early to take me into town. She dropped me off at a hostel and when the bus arrived I kindly asked if I could get on even though I hadn’t booked ahead of time. The bus driver, who was very awake in spite of it being so early, kindly said, “Get on in!” After picking up people along the way, we arrived at the trailhead an hour and a half later. Tony and Claire, two people that were in the same hostel room as me a week ago in Whitianga, also happened to be there. It’s fun randomly seeing people that you doubt you’ll ever see again. We began the hike together at 8am. It was a bit cold and I was thankful that I had my raincoat along to help block the wind. The beginning of the trail was flat and quite easy. About an hour or so from the beginning we came to what is known as Devil’s Staircase. You guessed it. There were lots of stairs. I didn’t count them but Tony did. It was somewhere within the 300 range. I forget the exact amount. At the top, Mount Doom stood on the right. Don’t judge me but I’m in New Zealand where Lord of the Rings was filmed yet I’ve never seen the movie. Maybe I need to remedy that. At the point, Tony and Claire decided to take a break after the climb up. I on the other hand, saw the trail that plateaued ahead and wanted to continue on. So continue on I did. I bid them farewell and walked on. Thus far, there was little vegetation. After all, it was a volcano. There was then a long stretch of flat ground. It was almost desert like. The terrain then went upwards in directions. When I reached the top, I was able to look down on both sides. It was a great view. I sat on a rock and took out some pita bread to munch on. After a short bit, two men came around the corner and upon saying hi, I recognized that the one had an American accent. Adam was from Colorado and Manuel was from Germany. We struck up a conversation for a bit and I joined them as they continued on. It’s amazing how something that took a significant amount of my day can be summed up into one sentence so I won’t drag my story on and on because there is still more to tell. To put it simply, from there we walked. And walked. And walked. We took a few pictures along the way but didn’t make any long stops, which was probably good because if we had our muscles would have tightened and I may not have wanted to continue. It was 1:45pm when we finished which meant it took me a total of 5 hours and 45 minutes to complete the hike. I’ll let the pictures describe what I saw along the way. The hike was good but not quite what I expected. From what I had read and heard, I expected it to be quite a bit harder and take longer than it did. Although it was scenic, it wasn’t the type of scenic I would prefer. Although there was some vegetation at the end, I’d rather be surrounded by trees and vegetation than vast openness. It was worth it though. When we made it to the end, it felt good to sit down and take off my shoes. The earliest shuttle back to Taupo was at 2:30 so we had to wait a bit. When we made it back to Taupo, we said goodbye and parted ways. I sat on a bench to have a bite to eat before I began my walk back to the house. I just hiked 19.3km, another 4 miles couldn’t be that bad could it? It was actually quite nice. I walked on the path along the lake and stopped to get ice cream along the way. It was about 5:30pm when I made it back to the house. Brandon and Jenn had plans for the evening and were out the door soon after I got back. I spent the evening resting and relaxing and boy did it feel good!

Getting an early start.

Notice the estimated time of the hike.

Mount Ruapehu

Mount Doom (Mount Ngauruhoe)

The large flat area

One of the views from the top

On Sunday morning I woke up and went to church with Brandon and Jenn. After church, there was morning tea (fellowship). We were going to another families house for lunch so we quickly went back to the house to prepare food to take. We spent the afternoon with three other families. It was a good afternoon. It was close to 5pm by the time we got home. We each did our own thing (I came close to taking a nap) before coming back together for dinner. Again, there was great conversation and then we were all off to bed.

Monday. Today. Brandon and Jenn dropped me off at the I-Site on their way to work. It was there that I made reservations to go skydiving. Yes, today was the day that I was going to jump out of a perfectly good plane. My reservation was set for 3:10pm so I had some time. I began walking towards Huka Falls. Along the way, I came across the place where they bungy jump. I stopped for a while to watch. Also there were three Swedish guys and a German guy who were doing the bungy. I began talking to them and learned that they too were going to Huka Falls. They offered to give me a ride and I readily accepted. I hopped into their campervan and off we were. We walked around the Falls for a bit and then parted ways. From there I walked to Honey Hive. It was free and I figured since my parents couldn’t be there to go themselves, I would go for them. J There were free taste tests. So now the question is, which is better, my parents honey or New Zealand honey? And the winner is…my parent’s honey. Without a doubt. New Zealand honey is good, but very different. By the time I left there, time was ticking to get back to town in order to go skydiving, a reservation I did not want to miss. I booked it back. I made it back in time and because the shuttle was running a bit late, I had to wait a bit. What were my thoughts at this time, knowing I was going to be jumping out of a plane soon? To be honest, there was a part of me that wanted to sleep. I was calm and wasn’t hyped up at all. When the shuttle van arrived, we were taken to the airport where we were told what to expect. We then put our jumpsuits and harness on before watching a safety video. I then met Darcy, the guy that would be doing the tandem jump with me. We had to wait a bit for the plane to get ready. The whole time, I could do nothing but smile. I was so excited. The plane was very small and with 14 of us on board, it was quite cozy. We sat in two rows, each of us with our tandem jumper seated behind us. It was to take about 20 minutes to get to our jumping elevation of 12,000 feet. As we got closer, I had to sit on my instructors lap and he harnessed us together. I then donned my flying cap and eye protection. The moment to jump out of the plane was approaching. Again, there was nothing but a smile on my face. I was so excited. There wasn’t a hint of nervousness. The door opened. Two girls jumped and then it was my turn. As they jumped, I thought of just how crazy this was. I was going to be free falling for about 40 seconds covering a distance of 10,000 feet and going 200km/hour before the parachute would open. My turn came. We sat at the door, took an exit photo, and then off we were. Wow! I don’t even know how to describe the feeling. There is nothing to compare it to. Within the first few seconds of leaving the plane, it was like we were tumbling in the air, I think there may have been a point when I was facing upwards rather than down. Within seconds, Darcy tapped me on the shoulder letting me know it was okay to put my arms out (when we first jump, we were told to hold on to our harness). The free fall was awesome. What a rush! The parachute opened and with a small jerk, we quickly slowed down and were pulled into an upright position. We then floated towards the earth with a view of Lake Taupo on the way down. Within a few minutes, we approached the landing strip. I raised my legs, as Darcy brought us to a stop. It had come to an end. I survived. It was an awesome experience, possibly the most thrilling thing I’ve done. We went back to the hanger where I took a few photos, removed my gear, and then watched a video of the jump. A shuttle then brought me back to the house where I sit now. I have taken the past few hours trying to get my thoughts together and writing in order that you may read about my adventures. On the way down, my right ear plugged from the pressure and is still plugged several hours later. Bed bug update: there are times when they don’t itch at all and I think they are going away but then before too long they flare up and itch something fierce. Tomorrow morning I will be boarding a bus that will take me to Wellington. I will be there for two nights before I fly to Queenstown. Next thrill seeking adventure: bungy jumping.

Huka Falls

Getting ready to skydive!

In my skydiving attire

Nothing but smiles :)

My beautiful view as I write this

*This took me approximately 3.25 hours to write. I don’t say that to complain but to give you perspective. Can you imagine how long it took me to write papers in college when I would analyze everything I wrote?