Monday 8 July
We had a lie in today and didnt get up until almost 8am, it was a lot colder as well. After the usual breakfast and pack up routine, and the added find a bin for my poop task, we set off knowing we would be jumping from the pink plane today because it seemed a lot clearer.
We got there around 9.15 and got straight into our suits but were kept waiting perhaps half an hour or so due to wind. After that it was time to get into the plane, we both felt surprisingly calm and ok considering we were flying to 15,000 feet to jump out. It took about 20 minutes to get up, at one point we all had to wear oxygen masks because of the type of plane and how high we were. Then it was time to jump, the doors roll open and it gets very loud and very windy. The first person in front of me went off and just flew away. Then it was my turn, then Liam's after me. You go forward and sit onthe edge of the plane with your feet tucked under it. Then you put your head back, try hard to breathe because of how much wind there is and how high you are, then you're falling veeeery fast. The fall lasted 60 seconds, my ears hurt on the way down, on my video you see me trying to equalise them, and it was cold at around minus 15 at one point, but it was great!! Your stomach lurches into your throat and you're tumbling through the air, then you're falling with more control so it almost feels like you're flying. We landed quite quickly after going round in the Shute looking at the views, which were stunning. Lake taupo is the size of Singapore and looks like the sea even from up that high, that with all the mountains in the distance makes for some amazing views.
Once down we sorted ourselves out a bit and then got to watch our DVDs which was funny. Liam isn't too keen on his one because he looks like he's making a bit of poo in his pants but he says he felt remarkably calm! We think it was more than he was struggling to breathe not so much that he was scared.
We then set off for the next destination and stopped off at a town called turangi because on one of the tour things we read it said it was a rest place. Seemed like not much was there and all we did was get a hot drink from a bakery to take with us. The views of the lake on the way round were lovely,then afterwards the plan was to go to the tongariro crossing for a walk. Somehow we missed the turning and didnt realise until we had driven a good 40km. The reason for that was simply down to the views being wonderful because of the mountains with snow on top. By the time we realised it was too late to turn back, it was already getting too late in the day as it was and we had been starting to run behind on what little schedule we have. We decided we would go to the next kind of national park and somehow missed that too, god knows how we managed it. I was pretty gutted because I really wanted to do some walking around there, the scenery looks beautiful. However we were told that the tongariro crossing was actually closed because a storm was coming, so I guess that made us feel a little bit better. After that we did see some little bush walks we could have done but we didnt feel it would be worth it and decided just to keep going so we could experience the South Island walks sooner.
On the way we stopped off a couple of times for wifi at places like McDonald's to try and figure out where we could stop for the night, I managed to catch Shelley online both times which was great because I really miss her! I also caught Jennifer for a minute two so it was nice to be able to have a tiny catch up.
On the drive we saw some stunning rainbows, the best I have ever seen in my whole life. They were so big and the colours so vivid it was like somebody had just painted them onto the sky.
We arrived at Palmerston North just as it was starting to get dark, and had a little walk about the square, it seemed like a nice place but more for shopping than anything we would be bothered about. Any other activities we saw we had already passed and it was too late in the day anyway. So after some food and little bits and bobs we drove down to otaki beach to unfortunately stay at a powered site. We didnt really need the power we were just out of water and needed to pay for a site to access the hoses and things, but it was a good thing really because it was starting to get a lot colder and the electric heating was accepted gladly!
Tuesday 9 July
We both work up freezing cold this morning,it's definitely getting a lot colder as we move south. We drove straight for wellington this morning, we got a real fright on the way because a big pigeon flew straight into the windshield! Not sure if it was ok or not. We saw wellington coming up quite a bit before we got to the centre, you see it over the sea as you approach it. We parked up and went to ask about ferries, we could either get one at 1.30 ( it was already about 10.30am) or one at 8.45pm. 1.30 was too early and 8.45 too late so we decided to spend the night in the city and get the morning one.
We had a hot drink in a cafe for Liam to use the wifi and sort his bank card out. The girl who served us was extremely rude, so rude in fact that I was a true Brit and showed my absolute distaste for her behaviour by refusing to say Thankyou. I felt terrible but I doubt she even noticed! Liam said he was on the verge of walking out but still thanked her profusely several times. What an idiot!
We chose to ride the cable car up to the botanical gardens, which took about 10 minutes up a steep slope.once up there you could see out across some of wellington, and there was a little museum at the top. It had the history of the cable car and how popular it had been when it was first set up in the early 1900s. It became a major tourist attraction and a popular made of transport with the locals. They be since been updated but in a similar style as the originals. They have one of the originals up there which is over 100 years old that you can sit on. There is an observatory and planetarium up there which we isn't go in to, we walked down through the botanical gardens to the city. It took perhaps an hour or more just strolling down looking at the wide variety of plants. Lots of information boards so you could spend a lot longer, and it was very popular with runners. When nearly at the bottom you then walk through an old cemetery overlooking the city which was also pleasant. We spent some time walking through the city, we went to Cuba street to see the bucket fountain which turned out to be an old half broken tower of buckets that was just splashing water everywhere. We were expecting more from this city, and were a little let down by how unspectacular we found it! That said having just lived in Melbourne it would have taken a hell of a lot to even come close to how much we loved that city so we shouldn't be too hard on wellington. After walking around and also walking a bit of the docks we went to the Te Papa museum. It was free to get in and we were both so shocked, I know that I would have been happy if I had paid a 20 dollar admission fee because it was amazing. I think there were 5 floors but we only got through 3 and had to finish in there early due to it getting close to closing and we had been on our feet for hours so getting tired and sore. There was one floor dedicated to the environment of New Zealand both past and present, with lots of information and interactive things there. They had a preserved giant squid and a video on it which was so interesting. It was 4m long when it was caught, about half the size they expected of a giant squid. It's got a beak, football sized eyes, and swivelling hooks on its tentacles. It really is a beast! They've not yet found any males yet, they only ever find females.
There was lots of information on the landscape of New Zealand and how it's constantly changing due to its positioning on the tectonic plates. Also about how it is changing since mankind found it and what people have been doing to it since they arrived
It had an earthquake simulation room and lots of really interesting stuff on volcanoes, floods and that kind of thing.
It also had a lot of cultural information and the Maori with lots and lots of antiques made of wood and stone. It was just great, we loved it and I would recommend it to anybody who goes to wellington.
After asking about if we could camp overnight in the carpark we moved the 50 meters or so into the museum car park and paid 26 dollars for all night parking which was better than paying almost 49 dollars for a site and having to drive at least 20 minutes out then back in for 7 in the morning! Straight away we set off in the rain and dark to find somewhere to go for a drink by the docks. We quickly came across a place called max brewbar which we loved! It was so charismatic, it was a modern, new and clean place, but the decor was almost like they had just gone to a garage sale ( oh my...isn't it called a car boot back home, what's happening to me), and picked a load of random things. There were clusters of odd lampshades on the ceilings, a bit stuffed moose on the wall with a hat on, old 1950s style tvs behind the bar. We sat at a booth to ourselves and ordered a drink, then some chips which were delicious and a lot of the for what we paid. We spent an hour or so in there before deciding to head back so we could have an earlyish night. Unfortunately we could leech of free wifi from where we were so I ended up chatting to people online until gone 10pm. So despite liam managing the kind of early night it didnt happen for me!
