The Greatest Thrill of All!

We left Queenstown at 3pm on Sunday. Shortly after leaving, we stopped at Puzzling World in Wanaka (http://www.puzzlingworld.co.nz) where we participated in life size puzzles and completed a complicated maze. One of the best ones was the room where one person appeared larger than life and the other person appears tiny. I was in a similar room in Holland at the Escher Museum in the Hague. Very cool!

We biked into our next campsite, a beautiful location beside a tranquil lake. It was a super windy evening and some of us hung out in the bus, singing songs and playing the guitar. We were a much smaller group now, with many people having left in Queenstown.

The next morning we left for a jet boat ride on the Makarora River. It was awesome! I was the lucky one who got soaked when our guide Hayden did 360's, but it was lots of fun (although a bit chilly~ even with my toque!). After the boat ride, some of us cycled down the Haast Pass, one of three passes through the Southern Alps. It was a thrilling ride, all downhill with lots of turns. We stopped at a waterfall, which was lovely, and then for lunch a little further down the road at Pleasant Flats (or Unpleasant Flats, as Grant called them, due to the amount of sand flies). We had been introduced to sand flies the day before at our wilderness camp, but they really came out full force at Pleasant Flats, making it difficult to eat lunch. Lots of us got bitten, with welts decorating our legs and feet. It wasn't pretty!

Upon arriving at Fox Glacier, Jodie and I biked further on to Lake Matheson. If you're lucky you can see the reflection of Mount Cook in the water. It was a very cloudy day for us, thus no reflection. It was a nice walk, however, and an excellent bike ride too.

The following day was our full day hike on Fox Glacier. After getting kitted out in borrowed boots and socks, we hopped on the bus for the short ride to the glacier. Our American guide Tyler was awesome and we learned a lot of glacial facts that day. The hike was amazing and we got to climb right on the glacier. The views were amazing, the ice so beautiful.

In the evening, we camped at Okarito Beach. We had a beach fire, which was awesome. In the morning we left for Hokitika, where we visited the National Kiwi Centre and a greenstone factory. I actually saw a live kiwi. They're funny looking birds with long snouts. It went around trying to dig around for food with its beak. It was quite amusing. I also ended up buying a greenstone necklace, even though it's bad luck if you buy one for yourself. So far, so good....

That afternoon we arrived in Punakaiki, where we were to stay for the next two days. We got to see the pancake rocks (so named because they look like pancakes!) before heading to camp. The following day we went on two hikes, the Truman Track (short walk, but ended up on a beautiful beach and had it all to ourselves) and the Pororari River Track (a 2+ hours walk through LOTS of mud, but well worth the effort). The weather was very up and down. It would rain down hard for 20 minutes, then lighten up for 20 minutes. After one particularly hard downfall, we sought shelter in the Punakaiki Tavern, where we warmed up in front of the fire. The tavern itself was something of a find, as it had different countries' currency all over the support beams. I found a $1 Canadian bill and a $5 Canadian bill.

The next day, Friday, January 18, was sky dive day! All during the tour, I kept waffling back and forth about whether I was going to do it or not, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't, so then the decision became 16 500 feet or 13 000 feet? I decided to go with the higher altitude, as I would probably only do this once (it's expensive!) and you got a longer free fall (70 seconds vs. 40 seconds, or somewhere thereabouts). I'm so happy I did, because I loved it! It was the best feeling, I can't describe how exhilarating it was. I was very proud of myself for having the courage to do it too. It was definitely the greatest thrill of all!

The fourth and final instalment of my Flying Kiwi Ultimate Adventure will follow soon. I have to start posting about my teaching exchange too, so stay tuned to hear about how hot life is in Karratha, Western Australia.