Sharpie's big skive!
28th Sep 2006Final note from NZ Hi everyone So then, it`s our last day in NZ and in a few hours we`ll be heading off to the airport to fly out to Santiago. We`re both feeling a bit apprehesive about it, however very excited. It`s going to be a shocker as we`ve had it pretty easy for the past four months but can`t wait. The past three weeks or so have been so varried. It`s been a complete mixture of laid back traveling to hardcore adrenalin rush activities. `Windy` Wellington was our first stop in the North island, it`s a really nice city but as the name suggests very windy! We`ve been to the most eastern city in the world, the city to get the first sunrise not that we saw it! The hostel we stayed in in Gisborne was very strange, we think it was an old people`s home that`s half was through it`s conversion to a hostel, it was like staying at your Gran`s! We`ve also been to the most Northern point of NZ where we had a go at sand boarding. Very good fun but really hard work climbing up the sand dunes. The first time climbing up was bad enough however I was determined i could get down faster so climbed up again...only to find half the group up the top trying to get their breath back! It was worth the effort as i went screaming down the sand dune, faster than the first time but got a mouth full of sand at the same time! Rotorura was good fun, however it`s earned the nickname `Fartopoliis` as it stinks of sulphur. It`s surrounded but hot springs, boiling mud and exploding geysers. You could be walking around the town totally oblivious to the smell until a gust of wind blows it in your face....not nice! We meet a couple, Kenny and Ann-Marie in the hostel and caught a lift with them to Taupo, where we kind of persuaded them into skydiving with us! We`d booked ourselves in to jump earlier afternoon but the winds were too strong and the time kept getting pushed back. We decided to go for a drive down to the bungy site. Stupidly i said that if we don`t get to skydive that day I`m going to do a bungy. Well as we were there I thought why not, I can`t come all this way just to talk about it. So I`d paid and had my ticket in my hand ready to go. At this point I wasn`t too bothered about it, still feeling quite calm, that was until they started to strap up my ankles with velcro and attached me to the bungy cord. At this point I was starting to have heart palpitations. I stood there on the platform with my feet hanging over the edge and I made the stupid mistake of looking down, 50 mtrs is pretty high especially when you`re about to jump with a bungy cord attached to your ankles with velcro! Anyway, my legs felt like they were going to buckle and my hand was firmly locked to the bar. That was when the girl prised my hand off and said, `right after 3, jump.....1,2,3 BUNGY`, nope, I`m still stood there my legs weren`t taking me anywhere, my heads saying no, and I`m about to have a heart attack! `Right then` she says `after three` she puts her hand very lightly on my back `lean forward and after three....1,2,3 BUNGY` and that was it, for a split second I had second thoughts but it was too late. My stomach had been left up on the platform and i was hurtling towards the river. I`m not too sure if i screamed as i had my teeth clenched together with fear and my eyes closed! I felt the bungy cord tighten and opened my eyes, that was just a scary as I saw the bungy cord and then the next thing I`m falling again but this time I`m also spinning round. It`s the most frightening experience of my life. I`m glad I`ve done it now, however I`m not sure whether I`d do it again in a hurry! That night we decided to have a few drinks with Kenny and Ann-Marie in the hostel. A few drinks turned into 6 bottles of wine! Next morning we all wake up feeling pretty rough to find out that the skydive is definitely on and that we will be the first to jump at 11am. We got to the airfield and were taken to get into our jump suits, and before we knew it we were packed in the plane like sardines ready to jump at 12,00ft. Gary, one of the lads from our hostel was first to jump, which i think was a good thing as he was so scared. His whole body was shaking with fear, next thing I know he`s gone and it`s my turn. It was happening so quick, you`re strapped to you`re tandem master so tightly there`s nothing you can do. Hanging off the edge of the plane ready to jump is the most surreal moment of my life, not scarey at all, nothing like the bungy. The first second or so feels like you`re falling, but the rest of the time is just amazing, such a buzz. I`d love to go again and again, deffinitely addictive. The adrenalin rush is just awesome. Right I`ve got to go and get my bags sorted out as we leave in about 15 mins. So looking forward to South America, especially getting some sunshine. Take care everyone....see you soon!!!! Leys x
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