What a picture to start this next entry (Kate is progressing in her skills). Nothing like freefall from 15,000 feet the clear your lungs of sulphur! If you are wondering if I had any nerves, the truth is: No, I didn't - I didn't have time. We just happened to turn off the main road to enquire about a jump. Within half and hour I was in the plane with a Kiwi strapped to my back - apparently they can fly!
An amazing experience but now want more. Many thanks to Dougal for my Christmas present which funded this crazy activity including the photos and DVD!
After the high adrenalin delights of Taupo we decided to head to the hills for something more down to earth and walk New Zealand's most popular one day tramp. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is meant to be a 7-8 hour walk one way through some amazing scenery.
As you can see from the pictures it was a bit of a dull day and our views were rather spoilt by low cloud. What views we did see were beautiful so we can't complain. The walk took us below the peak of Mt Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom) which could have been climbed but as the weather was so poor we decided against it - no point if we couldn't see anything from the summit.
During the walk the clouds did occasionally clear and we were rewarded with some great vistas. The landscape is barren and lunar in it's appearance due to its active volcanic properties and unusual geological features.
My hopes of escaping eggy smells were dashed somewhat by the numerous sulphur pools but the colours were stunning. We smashed the tramp in 4.5 hrs and had our lunch in the carpark at the bottom. We then started to walk back along the main road to our campsite, fortunately we were picked up by the local school bus and had a lovely lift chatting to a couple of locals. We checked in with the walk office who was rather surprised to see us back so early!
Our next few days were spent making our way down south. We stopped off in Napier - a predominantly art deco town due to the majority of it being destroyed in the 1930s by a massive earthquake.
We then headed to the west coast beaches at Waitarere (above) and Waikanae. At Waitarere we searched in vain for the wreck of the Hyderbad, however at Waikanae we were treated to a junior life guard competition which was quite exciting. But this stage of our journey was mainly about getting to Wellington for our ferry to the South Island.
We were very lucky with the weather in Windy Wellie! Blue skies and sunshine! We spent our time shopping and generally chilling out as we have had such a tough time! Oh and also watched Avatar in 3D - because we could!!
An amazing experience but now want more. Many thanks to Dougal for my Christmas present which funded this crazy activity including the photos and DVD!
After the high adrenalin delights of Taupo we decided to head to the hills for something more down to earth and walk New Zealand's most popular one day tramp. The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is meant to be a 7-8 hour walk one way through some amazing scenery.
As you can see from the pictures it was a bit of a dull day and our views were rather spoilt by low cloud. What views we did see were beautiful so we can't complain. The walk took us below the peak of Mt Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom) which could have been climbed but as the weather was so poor we decided against it - no point if we couldn't see anything from the summit.
During the walk the clouds did occasionally clear and we were rewarded with some great vistas. The landscape is barren and lunar in it's appearance due to its active volcanic properties and unusual geological features.
My hopes of escaping eggy smells were dashed somewhat by the numerous sulphur pools but the colours were stunning. We smashed the tramp in 4.5 hrs and had our lunch in the carpark at the bottom. We then started to walk back along the main road to our campsite, fortunately we were picked up by the local school bus and had a lovely lift chatting to a couple of locals. We checked in with the walk office who was rather surprised to see us back so early!Our next few days were spent making our way down south. We stopped off in Napier - a predominantly art deco town due to the majority of it being destroyed in the 1930s by a massive earthquake.
We then headed to the west coast beaches at Waitarere (above) and Waikanae. At Waitarere we searched in vain for the wreck of the Hyderbad, however at Waikanae we were treated to a junior life guard competition which was quite exciting. But this stage of our journey was mainly about getting to Wellington for our ferry to the South Island.
We were very lucky with the weather in Windy Wellie! Blue skies and sunshine! We spent our time shopping and generally chilling out as we have had such a tough time! Oh and also watched Avatar in 3D - because we could!!
2 comments:
Dave, I'm enjoying your blog so much! Looks like you're having an amazing time. Gem xx
Loving the leather cap, not often that you get a sky dive and bondage thrown in as a 2 for 1.
Post a Comment