Auckland & Taupo

Seattle Down Under &
Free Falling
Over Taupo

New Zealand has been a mix of dreary lows and extreme highs so far. The country is beautiful and lush, which consequently means it rains a lot. It is ironic how the dark and dreary days are what make the sunny and scenic days so amazing.

Our arrival point and first destination here in New Zealand was Auckland [ABOVE: Me in front of the Auckland skyline; photo by Mike]. While it is a great city with lots of interesting things to see and do, it was much more depressing than inspiring for me. The city is exactly like Seattle, except in the other hemisphere. There is an amazing bay running right up to the city with beautiful views out over the water to distant mountains, just like Seattle. The city is clean and modern with plenty of style, just like Seattle. It rains all the time, just like Seattle. They even have a giant towering spire with a rotating restaurant and observation decks, just like Seattle. Don't get me wrong Seattle is a great city. But to be reminded of it constantly was depressing because of what Auckland does not have... Kala, good friends, and my own bed.







Anyways, we did get to do some fun stuff in Auckland. We checked out the Auckland Museum which was nice, but fairly standard for a big city museum. I went up the Sky Tower, which helped to lift my spirits [ABOVE RIGHT: Me inside the Sky Tower; photo by passing tourist]. Increasing elevation just has a way of doing that to me. Probably a side effect of being a climbing junky. Mike perused the awesome vinyl shops in Auckland. Then we also took a ferry out to Rangitoto island and climbed the volcano [ABOVE LEFT: Mike taking a picture of a lava flow]. Rangitoto is a large volcano jutting out of the water in Hauraki Gulf and overlooking the city. It gave us some great views of the city along with some good exercise.

Next we pushed inland to the small lakeside city of Taupo. Where we decided to take the plunge and go Skydiving! We booked the jump through Skydive Taupo and they came and picked us up from town in a limo to go the airport. Then in relatively short order we suited up and before you could even think about it we were on the plane and climbing up to 12,000 feet [BELOW: Pete and I before the jump; photo by Skydive Taupo]. The plane leveled off, adjusted its winds to slow airspeed, and then the door was opened and the wind rushed in.

The most intense part of the whole experience for me was watching the first pairing disappear out the door of the airplane. One second they were sitting in the doorway and then poof they were gone. After the two other pairs in front of me also bailed out, me and my skydiving partner Pete slid over to the edge of the doorway. I stuck my legs out and curled them under the plane trying to make the banana shape as we were instructed. Then Pete tipped forward and we feel out of the plane!

The first couple second are still vivid in my mind. I saw the wing of the plane rush away out of the corner of my eye and the beautiful blue lake Taupo come into view directly below me. All totaled it was 45 seconds of awesome free fall. The wind blasting you as you hurtle towards the earth. However, surprisingly it was kind of a calming experience (outside of being totally jacked to be skydiving). I could see the waves on the lake getting steadily bigger and the horizon moving closer, but their approach was smooth and fluid. It was just simply beautiful to see the earth from above. The giant blue lake sprawling out below us, the lush green hills and jagged volcanic mountains on the horizon, and a patchwork of sun and shade laid over everything by the scattered clouds.

After the free falling for 7,000 feet, Pete opened the parachute and with a jolt we changed from a plummeting flightless kiwi bird into a soaring hawk. The rush of the wind subsided and everything was calm as we floated gently above the shoreline of lake Taupo. I relaxed and just absorbed the scenery [LEFT: Me skydiving; photo by Skydive Taupo]. After a little while, Pete pulled the parachute into a sharp downward turn. We swung out wide and dropped rapidly in a spiral towards the ground. Then he leveled the parachute out again and resumed the slow floating decent. I was amazed by how agile and maneuverable the parachutes were. For the rest of our decent back to the ground we alternated between the steep banking turns and graceful floating.

Ultimately we came in for a soft landing directly behind the Skydive Taupo building [RIGHT: Pete and I coming in for a landing; photo by Skydive Taupo]. The only slight mishap being that a small gust of wind dragged us a couple feet across the grass. After getting our legs back under us, we took all our gear off and headed into the small makeshift theatre inside the building. There we got to watch video from our skydiving partners hand held cameras. It was fun getting to relive the experience and see what the experience was like for other jumpers. We watch three videos all together. The first one of a German girl was good. She was really freaked out during the free fall, but still enjoyed the entire jump.

The second video was of a German guy and it was hilarious, but bad at the same time. He could not bring himself to look down. During the free fall he stared at the horizon averting his eyes from the approaching ground. His face and lips went limp with fear and they flapped crazily in the wind. It was really funny, but I also felt bad for the guy. Even after the parachute was open he just stared into the camera and avoided looking down. He just was not mentally ready for skydiving.

Last we watched my video, and it came out great. I was dramatically more composed than the other two. It looked as though I genuinely had a blast throughout the whole skydiving experience, and it was because I did. It was an intense rush for sure, but I trusted the gear and Pete so I was able to just relax and enjoy the awesome ride. To an extent I think being an avid rock climber made it much easier for me because I had already learned to entrust my life to the gear and my climbing partner.

After watching the videos we went took the limo back to our hostel. Then Mike and I sat in the hot tub and contemplated how awesome skydiving was, and how because it all happened so quick that in a weird way it almost felt like it never even happened. But it did, and it was awesome [LEFT: Pete and I post jump; photo by Skydive Taupo]. Skydiving is an amazing thrill and I would highly recommend it.

As always,
-Russ

[Pictures from AUCKLAND & TAUPO]