New Zealand: South Island....
Hello to you!
Well, Lynn and I have left New Zealand and we're now in Sydney, Australia.
My original plan had been to tell you all about New Zealand's South Island and our 3 day stopover in Sydney both in this one episode. However, our 3 day stopover in Sydney should have ended yesterday with a flight to Mumbai, India. But we're not on our way to India, we're not even at the airport waiting to go to India. Nope, we're sat in an internet cafe in downtown Sydney.
"So, what's going on? Why are you still there?" I hear you cry.
Well, the basic jist of it is this....
The week before leaving England back in February, 2006 I thought I would do a bit of homework and find out all I could regarding what visas were needed for what countries and whether they had to be applied for in advance or whether they were issued at the border.
[I'm sure you know where this is heading now!]
Some, infact most, countries on our itinerary issue the visa upon arrival in the country ie. you fill out your visa application on the plane (or bus for land border crossings) then customs officials check the information is to their liking before giving you a big, fat stamp in your passport and wishing you a pleasant stay. Sat at home in Swindon, phone in one hand, pen in the other I'm merrily going through my little list of countries with the visa department of the travel agency we booked our flights with....
"New Zealand?"
"You fill out the visa application form on the plane before you land."
"Ok. Australia?"
"You need to apply before arrival in Australia. You can do it all online."
"Fair enough. India?"
"Same as New Zealand. You fill out the form on the plane and get a 6 month tourist visa upon arrival in the country"....
About a week ago I got an email from a couple of friends who are coming out to India in a month to meet us for a holiday and in that email they told me that they were having to go to the Indian Embassy in London to get their visa. Very strange, I thought. We didn't have to do that. I had a little look on t'internet at the Indian Embassy website and lo and behold, they were right, we had to have our visa issued before we got on the plane. There was nothing we could do in our final few days in NZ so it would all have to wait until we got to Australia. A further look at the website uncovered the fact that it takes a week to get your visa issued in Sydney if you are Australian, 2 weeks if your not. So, 3 days in Sydney, but 2 weeks to wait for a visa for India.... something had to change and that's basically the story.
I didn't see any of Sydney's world famous landmarks in my first 24 hours here - I spent alot of time staring at the far wall of the waiting room inside the Indian Embassy. I spent alot of time in the Trailfinders travel agency office and I spent alot of time in the Qantas Airlines office.
One good bit of news is that we have been assured that our visas and passports will be ready in one week and not two. They will be ready for collection on Friday 13th (ooh, bad date!) apparently and I hope they're right as we now have a new flight booked to India on Sunday 15th October.
So, our 3 days in Sydney are now 10. We're not too bothered though - I mean, there are worse places in the world to be stuck for a week!
All of this means though that Sydney is now going to get its very own episode on the blogsite when we finally leave because it'll just get too big this time otherwise.
[Lynn's just asked me how far I am with my blogsite because she's just finished hers. "Erm... about to start the story. See you in 3 or 4 hours, I guess."]
So, where did I finish up last time? Ah yes, Picton, top of the South Island....
There are 3 routes out of Picton. The ferry which we came in on or a couple of roads. One road is a circuitous highway and the other is a marginally shorter but very windy lane that hugs the northern coastline all the way to Havelock.
"We'll take the coastal route" I said, "It'll be more picturesque." It was. But with a van full of rattly pans it was also the noisier route too!
After our eventual arrival at Havelock we proceeded west through Nelson to Richmond and then turned sharply north all the way up the Golden Bay to Pohara, a little village just east of Takaka. On the way we clocked up our first 1,000km at the wheel since getting the van. When we get to Pohara we check into a campsite for a couple of nights but don't hang about for long. Before we go to bed tonight we have a mission to accomplish. Do you remember me mentioning the postcard we took out of the 'barrel on the beach' in the Galapagos Islands and vowed to deliver? (Have a look at the episode entitled "Galapagos Islands 02...." if you can't remember). Well, the address on the postcard is at the very northern end of Golden Bay, about an hour from Pohara, and so this is the closest we are going to get to that address. It's time to fulfil our vow and go deliver some mail!
The address on the postcard simply gives a name and a road in a town. No house name, no number. We wonder how difficult it's going to be to find the right house but when we eventually reach the town (actually we find to our relief that it's just a few houses and a petrol station) we realise that it won't be too difficult. We stop at the petrol station, get out the postcard and ask if they know this person.
"You want the fifth house down with the green mailbox" we are told.
We park up and go through the gate up to the front door and knock. A woman answers.
"Hi, are you Heather?" we ask, showing her the postcard. It turns out that she is so we hand over the postcard and proceed to explain how we came to be standing on her doorstep delivering it. We are invited in for a drink and a chat and we find out that the postcard is from Heather's parents who are on a lengthy holiday. On the postcard they ponder whether they will be back home before their postcard arrives.
"When are they back?" I ask.
"In a couple of weeks time." Heather announces. We just about beat them with the postcard then!
We chat for a bit longer and leave our email and blogsite addresses before bidding farewell and heading back south again to Pohara. Mission accomplished!
It rained badly in the night and is really dull and overcast the next morning. By lunch-time though the sun has come out and the clouds have cleared so we decide to take a trip to the nearby Abel Tasman National Park. When we get to the entrance to the park we find out that it's another 10km on a rutted muddy track to get to the carpark. I wonder whether we're insured to take this van off-road before proceeding into the park. Before long the track is getting slippier and muddier and we are getting increasingly unsure of having made the right decision as we descend deeper and deeper into the park. The track is too narrow and steep to turn around so we have no choice but to continue. It eventually takes over an hour to reach the carpark although not all this time was spent driving. 20 minutes of it was spent helping a local woman dig her vehicle out of a hole that she'd accidentally found herself stuck in. We crossed 2 muddy streams and wheelspan up or skidded down countless precarious sections of track before we could breathe a sigh of relief as the car park materialised from out of the trees. The Abel Tasman National Park is on the coast and the car park is on the edge of a big tidal inlet. At the moment the tide is almost fully out so we wander down onto the sand and march off across the bay. The park is beautiful but after the spoils of the Galapagos Islands it seems devoid of life. We spot a few crabs and the odd wading bird but otherwise it feels empty. We spend a wonderful few hours ambling about but by 16:00 we're back at the mud-caked campervan. It's going to be a hazardous enough drive back as it is, we certainly don't want to be risking it in the dark! Fortunately we get back to the road safely (Just don't tell Maui what we've been doing with their van!) despite 1 or 2 moments where we desperately struggled to maintain momentum on particularly steep and muddy stretches.
The next morning we left Pohara and headed back south all the way to Richmond. From Richmond we headed southwest to Greymouth, on the coast and then followed the highway south down to Franz Josef where we arrived after about 8 hours and 500km! The weather was lovely until Greymouth and then it started to rain and the wind started to howl. Still, it saved us a job cleaning the van!
We booked ourselves in for 2 nights at the campsite. Enough time, we hoped, to visit the nearby Franz Josef Glacier. We were awoken at about 02:00 in the morning by the most almighty rainstorm pounding away on the campervan roof. This was soon followed by howling winds, mighty thundercracks and a lightning display that would have put the millenium fireworks celebrations to shame. My first thought, being in a campsite, was "Thank God we're not in a tent!". My second thought was "Although sitting in a metal capsule in the middle of a field is hardly the most recommendable of places to be during such a major lightning storm. After 10 minutes of worryingly peering through the window I had my third thought. "I need a wee." The toilet block is atleast 50 metres away and the rain is coming down so hard it's bouncing up again off the floor. I try to cross my legs and grit my teeth but it's no good I'm going to have to go. Amazingly, the rain eases just as I throw back the duvet so I hastily throw on my jeans and trainers and thrust the door open against the driving wind. Atleast the almost constant lightning is illuminating all the puddles for me as I leap or zig-zag the huge puddles on the ground. I was in the toilet block for no more than 2 minutes but in that time the rain had regained its previous torrential levels and the wind, not wishing to be outdone, went up a notch too. I can tell you now that that 50 metres back to the van is quite likely the fastest 50 metres I have certainly ever and will ever run. The wind was behind me and on top of this I also ran like a man posessed, ignoring all the puddles I'd been so careful not to step in on the way out. I reckon 4 seconds, maybe 4.2 at a conservative guess. I joke of course, but it was quick! And despite being out in the elements for an estimated maximum time of 4.2 seconds, when I slammed the van door behind me, gasping and breathless, I was absolutely drenched to the skin!
The next morning providing the weather was nice (as if!) we had planned to go up to the glacier. It wasn't good so instead we went to the internet cafe where I wrote the previous episode of the blogsite on the North Island. The day after this the rain was still coming down in sheets, the wind was still about gale force 50 and the cloud was so thick we couldn't even see the end of the campsite let alone this elusive glacier. Oh well, we're off today, 400km south to Queenstown - adrenalin capital of the world.
We spend 4 days in Queenstown and fortunately the weather is lovely the whole time. It's freezing at night but there's no wind or rain and that's a relief. Amongst the many things we get up to in Queenstown the most memorable is definately the Nevis Highwire Bungy Jump. It is the highest bungy jump in New Zealand at 134 metres (400+ft). Lynn wouldn't do it. Hell, she wouldn't even come along to watch me do it such was her fear! I have to admit, I was a little nervous beforehand. The skydive was fine, I had absolutely no fear of that at all. Maybe it's because at 4,000m you can't see the detail. It's too high to comprehend. But the bungy jump is different, you can see all the detail. You can see exactly where you're going to splat!
It's a 40 minute drive from the centre of Queenstown to the site of the bungy jump. The 'site' is a huge canyon with a series of steel cables stretching across from one mountain of rock to the other. From these cables is attached a huge 'pod', kind of like a big metal conservatory suspended from the cables in the middle of the canyon which is where we jump from and reachable only via a little cable-car shuttle which zips backwards and forwards along the wire ferrying worried jumpers. Just to make matters even more nervy for us, the pod has a glass floor! When we get there we are weighed, harnessed up, weighed again, our weight is written on our hand and then we are put into order of who will jump first. I was listed 5th out of about 18 people. At first I'm relieved that I wasn't going first but after watching through the floor as the first guy jumped I instantly changed my mind. We all watched him go, gulped and turned a very pale shade of green. No one who witnessed that wanted to go afterwards. This was serious. The thing is you watch him go and he just kept going down and down and you're thinking - the bungy's going to start stretching now because he must be nearing the bottom but he isn't and it doesn't. He just keeps going, getting smaller and smaller until he's virtually just a speck far, far below. It was at this point that all the nervous banter and laughter stopped completely and we all just went into our own little worlds, focussing on what we were about to do.
When my turn came I was ushered through the barrier that separated the people waiting to jump from the ledge. I was motioned over to one side and into some sort of dentist's chair before being unlocked from the pod (everyone is attached to the centre of the pod whilst they await their turn) and my feet were pushed together. My feet are then velcro'd, strapped, tied and finally attached to the enormous bungy cord. Is there anything I'd like to say to the camera before I go? I am too terrified to be able to think of what to say. After an age, I utter a barely audible "Bye" and give a very nervous wave to the camera.
My legs are swung round and I'm pulled up and onto my feet. It's not easy to walk out on to the end of a long, thin ledge which is hovering 134m above the ground when a) your feet are strapped together so you can only waddle and b) you don't really want to anymore. I stumble out onto the platform. It would help if there was something to hold on to. A bit further. A bit further. The big, red bungy attachment lies on the ledge infront of my feet, it shuffles along the ledge ahead of me as I go, the cord trailing off into the abyss to one side. Half a metre to go and it goes over the end. It's heavy and gives you a jerk forwards and you stumble a couple of steps nearer your doom. A bit further. You have to have your toes hanging over the edge before they tell you to stop. My toes reach the end. A bit further. Keep shuffling. I tell myself to look ahead, not down. Yeah, don't look down, ok? DON"T WHATEVER YOU DO LOOK DOWN! I look down. Oh shit. I look ahead. Ok, just keep looking at that mountain, chin up, standing proud, eyes towards the horizon. A big breath. Extend my arms. 3... 2... 1... Jump!
There's no time to think about it now. I dive out from the platform, the skyline disappears from my vision as I go head first downwards and is replaced by a blur of rocks and a rocky floor that is getting bigger and bigger at one hell of a speed.
I can't believe how long I freefall for. As the ground hurtles towards me I'm waiting for the tug on my legs that tells me the bungy has reached its length and I'll start to slow down. It happens a lot later than I expected but eventually the rushing ground slows down, then stops. I have a brief nanosecond of being completely still before I'm heading up again. The recoil isn't very big and it's surprisingly smooth.
I bounce 2 or 3 times before they start to pull me up back to the pod. There's a release mechanism attached to my ankle and when you pull it, it flips you the right way up. I can't get the thing to work but finally when I'm about halfway back up I manage to get it to release so I'm the right way up again.
When I'm finally back in the pod and disconnected from the bungy I can hardly stay still. I have so much adrenalin flowing through my veins that my legs are shaking like crazy. It feels amazing though and I have an ear-to-ear grin. I get the obligatory DVD, photos and T-shirt.
Whilst in Queenstown we also go for a trip on the Shotover Jet which is a high speed ride down the Shotover Canyon on a jet boat with over 500bhp. It's great fun and Lynn and I have the 2 front seats next to the driver so we get soaked.
We also go on a 4x4 tour called "Safari of the Rings" with a company called Nomad Safaris. It is a half-day tour around the scenic Queenstown area visiting all the locations that were used in the filming of "The Lord of the Rings". Our guide and driver is an avid LOTR fan was also an extra in the film (he played a dead orc in "The Two Towers") so we had lots of information about the filming and the stars. Some of the places we visied were Deer Park Heights where the scene of the Rohirrim refugees fleeing Edoras was shot. We visited Twelve-Mile Delta which is the lookout where Sam and Frodo first set eyes on the Oliphant. We visited Paradise Reserve where Isengard, Fangorn Forest and the elven forest of Lothlorien were located. It was a terrific tour and amazing to see in reality the locations that were used for one of my favourite movies.
We left Queenstown on Friday 29th September after a brief trip to the garage to get our campervan repaired. We ran out of electricity late Thursday evening whilst cooking dinner. After a bit of time we managed to work out that it wasn't the electrical outlet we were attached to that was the problem which meant it had to be the van. The mechanic replaced a faulty battery charger and we were on our way. From Queenstown we headed northeast towards Christchurch, stopping for the night in a little place called Geraldine.
The next morning we headed through Christchurch and off north to a little town called Kaikoura. We are spending 2 nights here before heading back to Christchurch but it's all the time we need in order to see what just about every other visitor to Kaikoura wants to see. The whales. Kaikoura is one of the best whale-watching places in the world. Infact, the company we went out with offers an 80% refund to anyone on a trip that doesn't see a whale. The average per trip (which lasts 2-3 hours) is 1 - 2 whales. We saw 4 Sperm Whales so were really lucky. On the way back to shore we encountered a pod of dusky dolphins that numbered in the hundreds if not thousands. It was absolutely incredible. The whales may have been the reason we went on the trip but the dolphins were the highlight for me, definately!
Back in Christchurch we had 3 days before we were due to fly out to Australia and we spent them staying with Sue and Mike and their newly born son, Spike. I used to work with Sue a few years ago and so it was nice to see her again and meet Mike and Spike and catch up on old times. It was also nice to get out of that bloody van after 3 weeks!
The weather wasn't too good to us whilst we were in Christchurch but Sue and Mike did their best to show us the sites of the city. Lynn managed to get hold of some new prescription sunglasses whilst we were there. Actually, she ordered them whilst we were still in Auckland but they weren't ready in time so we had them sent down to Sue and Mike's house where we could collect them later. It was a good job really that she didn't have them a couple of days before, in Kaikoura, because she'd only have thrown them in the sea, just like her last pair!
So, that's about it from New Zealand. Next stop is Australia and you already know it's for 10 days and not 3!
A couple of campervan statistics for you before I go though:
Number of nights spent in the campervan: 23
Number of nights I was cold in the campervan: 22 (I was ok on the night I was pissed!)
Distance covered in campervan: 3,253km (1,963 miles)
Number of times banged head on campervan roof: 460 (Well, it seemed like 20 times a day to me!)
Number of times swore at campervan: 1,746,918
Number of CDs we had to listen to for 3,253km of driving because you can't get a bloody radio reception in 98% of NZ: 4
Number of days I hope to spend in a campervan again: a BIG FAT 0!
See you in Oz!
Rich
[Oh, just before I go - 2 things. Firstly I have spent the best part of 3 hours trying to upload some bungy jumping pictures to this blogsite and it just isn't working and my patience is hanging by a thinner thread than the bungy cord so it doesn't look like you're going to see them for the time being. If I can add them at a later date then I will. Secondly, I have 'enabled' comments to be added on this blogsite so should you wish to write something you can now do so. Oh, and many thanks to everyone who's emailled me recently. To anyone who hasn't, please send me an email if you get a spare moment. Amazon is my most frequent sender, closely followed by eBay and that's pretty sad!]
Well, Lynn and I have left New Zealand and we're now in Sydney, Australia.
My original plan had been to tell you all about New Zealand's South Island and our 3 day stopover in Sydney both in this one episode. However, our 3 day stopover in Sydney should have ended yesterday with a flight to Mumbai, India. But we're not on our way to India, we're not even at the airport waiting to go to India. Nope, we're sat in an internet cafe in downtown Sydney.
"So, what's going on? Why are you still there?" I hear you cry.
Well, the basic jist of it is this....
The week before leaving England back in February, 2006 I thought I would do a bit of homework and find out all I could regarding what visas were needed for what countries and whether they had to be applied for in advance or whether they were issued at the border.
[I'm sure you know where this is heading now!]
Some, infact most, countries on our itinerary issue the visa upon arrival in the country ie. you fill out your visa application on the plane (or bus for land border crossings) then customs officials check the information is to their liking before giving you a big, fat stamp in your passport and wishing you a pleasant stay. Sat at home in Swindon, phone in one hand, pen in the other I'm merrily going through my little list of countries with the visa department of the travel agency we booked our flights with....
"New Zealand?"
"You fill out the visa application form on the plane before you land."
"Ok. Australia?"
"You need to apply before arrival in Australia. You can do it all online."
"Fair enough. India?"
"Same as New Zealand. You fill out the form on the plane and get a 6 month tourist visa upon arrival in the country"....
About a week ago I got an email from a couple of friends who are coming out to India in a month to meet us for a holiday and in that email they told me that they were having to go to the Indian Embassy in London to get their visa. Very strange, I thought. We didn't have to do that. I had a little look on t'internet at the Indian Embassy website and lo and behold, they were right, we had to have our visa issued before we got on the plane. There was nothing we could do in our final few days in NZ so it would all have to wait until we got to Australia. A further look at the website uncovered the fact that it takes a week to get your visa issued in Sydney if you are Australian, 2 weeks if your not. So, 3 days in Sydney, but 2 weeks to wait for a visa for India.... something had to change and that's basically the story.
I didn't see any of Sydney's world famous landmarks in my first 24 hours here - I spent alot of time staring at the far wall of the waiting room inside the Indian Embassy. I spent alot of time in the Trailfinders travel agency office and I spent alot of time in the Qantas Airlines office.
One good bit of news is that we have been assured that our visas and passports will be ready in one week and not two. They will be ready for collection on Friday 13th (ooh, bad date!) apparently and I hope they're right as we now have a new flight booked to India on Sunday 15th October.
So, our 3 days in Sydney are now 10. We're not too bothered though - I mean, there are worse places in the world to be stuck for a week!
All of this means though that Sydney is now going to get its very own episode on the blogsite when we finally leave because it'll just get too big this time otherwise.
[Lynn's just asked me how far I am with my blogsite because she's just finished hers. "Erm... about to start the story. See you in 3 or 4 hours, I guess."]
So, where did I finish up last time? Ah yes, Picton, top of the South Island....
There are 3 routes out of Picton. The ferry which we came in on or a couple of roads. One road is a circuitous highway and the other is a marginally shorter but very windy lane that hugs the northern coastline all the way to Havelock.
"We'll take the coastal route" I said, "It'll be more picturesque." It was. But with a van full of rattly pans it was also the noisier route too!
After our eventual arrival at Havelock we proceeded west through Nelson to Richmond and then turned sharply north all the way up the Golden Bay to Pohara, a little village just east of Takaka. On the way we clocked up our first 1,000km at the wheel since getting the van. When we get to Pohara we check into a campsite for a couple of nights but don't hang about for long. Before we go to bed tonight we have a mission to accomplish. Do you remember me mentioning the postcard we took out of the 'barrel on the beach' in the Galapagos Islands and vowed to deliver? (Have a look at the episode entitled "Galapagos Islands 02...." if you can't remember). Well, the address on the postcard is at the very northern end of Golden Bay, about an hour from Pohara, and so this is the closest we are going to get to that address. It's time to fulfil our vow and go deliver some mail!
The address on the postcard simply gives a name and a road in a town. No house name, no number. We wonder how difficult it's going to be to find the right house but when we eventually reach the town (actually we find to our relief that it's just a few houses and a petrol station) we realise that it won't be too difficult. We stop at the petrol station, get out the postcard and ask if they know this person.
"You want the fifth house down with the green mailbox" we are told.
We park up and go through the gate up to the front door and knock. A woman answers.
"Hi, are you Heather?" we ask, showing her the postcard. It turns out that she is so we hand over the postcard and proceed to explain how we came to be standing on her doorstep delivering it. We are invited in for a drink and a chat and we find out that the postcard is from Heather's parents who are on a lengthy holiday. On the postcard they ponder whether they will be back home before their postcard arrives.
"When are they back?" I ask.
"In a couple of weeks time." Heather announces. We just about beat them with the postcard then!
We chat for a bit longer and leave our email and blogsite addresses before bidding farewell and heading back south again to Pohara. Mission accomplished!
It rained badly in the night and is really dull and overcast the next morning. By lunch-time though the sun has come out and the clouds have cleared so we decide to take a trip to the nearby Abel Tasman National Park. When we get to the entrance to the park we find out that it's another 10km on a rutted muddy track to get to the carpark. I wonder whether we're insured to take this van off-road before proceeding into the park. Before long the track is getting slippier and muddier and we are getting increasingly unsure of having made the right decision as we descend deeper and deeper into the park. The track is too narrow and steep to turn around so we have no choice but to continue. It eventually takes over an hour to reach the carpark although not all this time was spent driving. 20 minutes of it was spent helping a local woman dig her vehicle out of a hole that she'd accidentally found herself stuck in. We crossed 2 muddy streams and wheelspan up or skidded down countless precarious sections of track before we could breathe a sigh of relief as the car park materialised from out of the trees. The Abel Tasman National Park is on the coast and the car park is on the edge of a big tidal inlet. At the moment the tide is almost fully out so we wander down onto the sand and march off across the bay. The park is beautiful but after the spoils of the Galapagos Islands it seems devoid of life. We spot a few crabs and the odd wading bird but otherwise it feels empty. We spend a wonderful few hours ambling about but by 16:00 we're back at the mud-caked campervan. It's going to be a hazardous enough drive back as it is, we certainly don't want to be risking it in the dark! Fortunately we get back to the road safely (Just don't tell Maui what we've been doing with their van!) despite 1 or 2 moments where we desperately struggled to maintain momentum on particularly steep and muddy stretches.
The next morning we left Pohara and headed back south all the way to Richmond. From Richmond we headed southwest to Greymouth, on the coast and then followed the highway south down to Franz Josef where we arrived after about 8 hours and 500km! The weather was lovely until Greymouth and then it started to rain and the wind started to howl. Still, it saved us a job cleaning the van!
We booked ourselves in for 2 nights at the campsite. Enough time, we hoped, to visit the nearby Franz Josef Glacier. We were awoken at about 02:00 in the morning by the most almighty rainstorm pounding away on the campervan roof. This was soon followed by howling winds, mighty thundercracks and a lightning display that would have put the millenium fireworks celebrations to shame. My first thought, being in a campsite, was "Thank God we're not in a tent!". My second thought was "Although sitting in a metal capsule in the middle of a field is hardly the most recommendable of places to be during such a major lightning storm. After 10 minutes of worryingly peering through the window I had my third thought. "I need a wee." The toilet block is atleast 50 metres away and the rain is coming down so hard it's bouncing up again off the floor. I try to cross my legs and grit my teeth but it's no good I'm going to have to go. Amazingly, the rain eases just as I throw back the duvet so I hastily throw on my jeans and trainers and thrust the door open against the driving wind. Atleast the almost constant lightning is illuminating all the puddles for me as I leap or zig-zag the huge puddles on the ground. I was in the toilet block for no more than 2 minutes but in that time the rain had regained its previous torrential levels and the wind, not wishing to be outdone, went up a notch too. I can tell you now that that 50 metres back to the van is quite likely the fastest 50 metres I have certainly ever and will ever run. The wind was behind me and on top of this I also ran like a man posessed, ignoring all the puddles I'd been so careful not to step in on the way out. I reckon 4 seconds, maybe 4.2 at a conservative guess. I joke of course, but it was quick! And despite being out in the elements for an estimated maximum time of 4.2 seconds, when I slammed the van door behind me, gasping and breathless, I was absolutely drenched to the skin!
The next morning providing the weather was nice (as if!) we had planned to go up to the glacier. It wasn't good so instead we went to the internet cafe where I wrote the previous episode of the blogsite on the North Island. The day after this the rain was still coming down in sheets, the wind was still about gale force 50 and the cloud was so thick we couldn't even see the end of the campsite let alone this elusive glacier. Oh well, we're off today, 400km south to Queenstown - adrenalin capital of the world.
We spend 4 days in Queenstown and fortunately the weather is lovely the whole time. It's freezing at night but there's no wind or rain and that's a relief. Amongst the many things we get up to in Queenstown the most memorable is definately the Nevis Highwire Bungy Jump. It is the highest bungy jump in New Zealand at 134 metres (400+ft). Lynn wouldn't do it. Hell, she wouldn't even come along to watch me do it such was her fear! I have to admit, I was a little nervous beforehand. The skydive was fine, I had absolutely no fear of that at all. Maybe it's because at 4,000m you can't see the detail. It's too high to comprehend. But the bungy jump is different, you can see all the detail. You can see exactly where you're going to splat!
It's a 40 minute drive from the centre of Queenstown to the site of the bungy jump. The 'site' is a huge canyon with a series of steel cables stretching across from one mountain of rock to the other. From these cables is attached a huge 'pod', kind of like a big metal conservatory suspended from the cables in the middle of the canyon which is where we jump from and reachable only via a little cable-car shuttle which zips backwards and forwards along the wire ferrying worried jumpers. Just to make matters even more nervy for us, the pod has a glass floor! When we get there we are weighed, harnessed up, weighed again, our weight is written on our hand and then we are put into order of who will jump first. I was listed 5th out of about 18 people. At first I'm relieved that I wasn't going first but after watching through the floor as the first guy jumped I instantly changed my mind. We all watched him go, gulped and turned a very pale shade of green. No one who witnessed that wanted to go afterwards. This was serious. The thing is you watch him go and he just kept going down and down and you're thinking - the bungy's going to start stretching now because he must be nearing the bottom but he isn't and it doesn't. He just keeps going, getting smaller and smaller until he's virtually just a speck far, far below. It was at this point that all the nervous banter and laughter stopped completely and we all just went into our own little worlds, focussing on what we were about to do.
When my turn came I was ushered through the barrier that separated the people waiting to jump from the ledge. I was motioned over to one side and into some sort of dentist's chair before being unlocked from the pod (everyone is attached to the centre of the pod whilst they await their turn) and my feet were pushed together. My feet are then velcro'd, strapped, tied and finally attached to the enormous bungy cord. Is there anything I'd like to say to the camera before I go? I am too terrified to be able to think of what to say. After an age, I utter a barely audible "Bye" and give a very nervous wave to the camera.
My legs are swung round and I'm pulled up and onto my feet. It's not easy to walk out on to the end of a long, thin ledge which is hovering 134m above the ground when a) your feet are strapped together so you can only waddle and b) you don't really want to anymore. I stumble out onto the platform. It would help if there was something to hold on to. A bit further. A bit further. The big, red bungy attachment lies on the ledge infront of my feet, it shuffles along the ledge ahead of me as I go, the cord trailing off into the abyss to one side. Half a metre to go and it goes over the end. It's heavy and gives you a jerk forwards and you stumble a couple of steps nearer your doom. A bit further. You have to have your toes hanging over the edge before they tell you to stop. My toes reach the end. A bit further. Keep shuffling. I tell myself to look ahead, not down. Yeah, don't look down, ok? DON"T WHATEVER YOU DO LOOK DOWN! I look down. Oh shit. I look ahead. Ok, just keep looking at that mountain, chin up, standing proud, eyes towards the horizon. A big breath. Extend my arms. 3... 2... 1... Jump!
There's no time to think about it now. I dive out from the platform, the skyline disappears from my vision as I go head first downwards and is replaced by a blur of rocks and a rocky floor that is getting bigger and bigger at one hell of a speed.
I can't believe how long I freefall for. As the ground hurtles towards me I'm waiting for the tug on my legs that tells me the bungy has reached its length and I'll start to slow down. It happens a lot later than I expected but eventually the rushing ground slows down, then stops. I have a brief nanosecond of being completely still before I'm heading up again. The recoil isn't very big and it's surprisingly smooth.
I bounce 2 or 3 times before they start to pull me up back to the pod. There's a release mechanism attached to my ankle and when you pull it, it flips you the right way up. I can't get the thing to work but finally when I'm about halfway back up I manage to get it to release so I'm the right way up again.
When I'm finally back in the pod and disconnected from the bungy I can hardly stay still. I have so much adrenalin flowing through my veins that my legs are shaking like crazy. It feels amazing though and I have an ear-to-ear grin. I get the obligatory DVD, photos and T-shirt.
Whilst in Queenstown we also go for a trip on the Shotover Jet which is a high speed ride down the Shotover Canyon on a jet boat with over 500bhp. It's great fun and Lynn and I have the 2 front seats next to the driver so we get soaked.
We also go on a 4x4 tour called "Safari of the Rings" with a company called Nomad Safaris. It is a half-day tour around the scenic Queenstown area visiting all the locations that were used in the filming of "The Lord of the Rings". Our guide and driver is an avid LOTR fan was also an extra in the film (he played a dead orc in "The Two Towers") so we had lots of information about the filming and the stars. Some of the places we visied were Deer Park Heights where the scene of the Rohirrim refugees fleeing Edoras was shot. We visited Twelve-Mile Delta which is the lookout where Sam and Frodo first set eyes on the Oliphant. We visited Paradise Reserve where Isengard, Fangorn Forest and the elven forest of Lothlorien were located. It was a terrific tour and amazing to see in reality the locations that were used for one of my favourite movies.
We left Queenstown on Friday 29th September after a brief trip to the garage to get our campervan repaired. We ran out of electricity late Thursday evening whilst cooking dinner. After a bit of time we managed to work out that it wasn't the electrical outlet we were attached to that was the problem which meant it had to be the van. The mechanic replaced a faulty battery charger and we were on our way. From Queenstown we headed northeast towards Christchurch, stopping for the night in a little place called Geraldine.
The next morning we headed through Christchurch and off north to a little town called Kaikoura. We are spending 2 nights here before heading back to Christchurch but it's all the time we need in order to see what just about every other visitor to Kaikoura wants to see. The whales. Kaikoura is one of the best whale-watching places in the world. Infact, the company we went out with offers an 80% refund to anyone on a trip that doesn't see a whale. The average per trip (which lasts 2-3 hours) is 1 - 2 whales. We saw 4 Sperm Whales so were really lucky. On the way back to shore we encountered a pod of dusky dolphins that numbered in the hundreds if not thousands. It was absolutely incredible. The whales may have been the reason we went on the trip but the dolphins were the highlight for me, definately!
Back in Christchurch we had 3 days before we were due to fly out to Australia and we spent them staying with Sue and Mike and their newly born son, Spike. I used to work with Sue a few years ago and so it was nice to see her again and meet Mike and Spike and catch up on old times. It was also nice to get out of that bloody van after 3 weeks!
The weather wasn't too good to us whilst we were in Christchurch but Sue and Mike did their best to show us the sites of the city. Lynn managed to get hold of some new prescription sunglasses whilst we were there. Actually, she ordered them whilst we were still in Auckland but they weren't ready in time so we had them sent down to Sue and Mike's house where we could collect them later. It was a good job really that she didn't have them a couple of days before, in Kaikoura, because she'd only have thrown them in the sea, just like her last pair!
So, that's about it from New Zealand. Next stop is Australia and you already know it's for 10 days and not 3!
A couple of campervan statistics for you before I go though:
Number of nights spent in the campervan: 23
Number of nights I was cold in the campervan: 22 (I was ok on the night I was pissed!)
Distance covered in campervan: 3,253km (1,963 miles)
Number of times banged head on campervan roof: 460 (Well, it seemed like 20 times a day to me!)
Number of times swore at campervan: 1,746,918
Number of CDs we had to listen to for 3,253km of driving because you can't get a bloody radio reception in 98% of NZ: 4
Number of days I hope to spend in a campervan again: a BIG FAT 0!
See you in Oz!
Rich
[Oh, just before I go - 2 things. Firstly I have spent the best part of 3 hours trying to upload some bungy jumping pictures to this blogsite and it just isn't working and my patience is hanging by a thinner thread than the bungy cord so it doesn't look like you're going to see them for the time being. If I can add them at a later date then I will. Secondly, I have 'enabled' comments to be added on this blogsite so should you wish to write something you can now do so. Oh, and many thanks to everyone who's emailled me recently. To anyone who hasn't, please send me an email if you get a spare moment. Amazon is my most frequent sender, closely followed by eBay and that's pretty sad!]
Comments