Tekapo!

This random 1 night, 1 day stop turned out to be one of the most gorgeous places I have ever been! The third stop on Colleen and I's road trip was Lake Tekapo!

So from Motueka (skydiving and park location) we drive 9 hours south to Tekapo to break up our trip to Queenstown (which would have been a 13 hour drive...).  It's funny because no one ever really hears about Tekapo because it's not a tourist attraction.  Even some New Zealanders don't have a clue where Tekapo is.  I just saw a picture once and decided I needed to stop there so we did.  This is Lake Tekapo at sunset:

 And this is the common room of the hostel we stayed at...

The night we got there we spent a few hours in some hot springs that overlooked the mountains.  In the morning I got up to get a glass of water (around 7am) and planned on going back to sleep, but I saw this amazing sunrise so i had to grab my camera and run outside.  I actually ended up just sitting outside on the beach watching the sunrise.  I was the only one outside and it was really peaceful.  This is Tekapo at sunrise (And yes, these photos are all real and un-filtered.  It really looked like this!)

After breakfast we decided to try and find a nice little walk around the lake.  A guy we met at the hostel we were staying at told us about this nice hike up a small mountain where there's a cafe at the top.  So we decided to do that.  Little did we know this actually was a HUUGE hike that offered amazing views you can't see from anywhere besides King John mountain.

Yes the lake is really that blue! 

And this was the cafe at the top!

Abel Tasman Park

This second part of my trip was supposed to be a day long water taxi tour.  We wanted to rent kayaks, but the really cool parts of the park were only accessible by water taxi (unless you wanted to spend days camping as well, and we just didn't have time).  Unfortunately, we got lost and missed the tour.  So we went at a later time and the water taxi brought us to part of the park and we walked through a trail and ended up at some beach where the water taxi then picked us up and brought us back (but not before I jumped into the Pacific ocean in the middle of winter).  The water was an incredible crystal clear blue.  Here are some pictures:

Driving On The Other Side

Because New Zealand has really inconvenient and sometimes non-existant public transportation, my friend Colleen and I decided the best way to get around this spring break was to rent a car.

 
So we rented this beauty.

It's actually really really easy to drive on the opposite side of the road.  At first I felt like I was learning to drive for the first time again, but after only about 5 minutes it came really natural.  The first time I drove I was driving us to a water taxi so we could explore Abel Tasman Park.  The roads in New Zealand are realllly quite terrifying actually.  They're really really narrow and theres these crazy turns.  Also since NZ is mostly mountains, you will be driving up these extremely narrow and winding roads with no guardrails and a 300 foot drop off 5 inches from the side of the road!

Now that I've made you all nervous for me, it's fine because I'm used to narrow wind-y roads.  That makes me the designated mountain driver and Colleen the designated city/round-a-bout driver (I can't even figure out round-a-bouts in the states).  It's also surprisingly really easy to take turns and such.  I find that if I don't think about the fact I'm driving on the left side then I'm fine.

Since the drive I just made from skydiving in Motueka/exploring Abel Tasman Park (8 hour drive!) was just incredible, here are some pictures I took from the car.

 Yes this river is NEON BLUE. Naturally neon blue.  It's so incredible it looks fake!

Skydiving: The After Post

Well all I have to say about this is:

This pretty much sums up my experience!!

It's going to be very difficult trying to describe to you the feeling of skydiving.  I guess I will just have to start from the ground.

I was preparing to sign my life away on 100 pieces of paperwork.  However, I was VERY wrong.

I signed one piece of paper saying "I understand the PICTURES might not come out as well I like".......yeah......only in New Zealand.  I guess you can't really sue people in New Zealand, so they really have nothing to worry about!

Next we had to be moved to a room to watch a movie.  I was prepared to hear "You maybe will die" or "There is no guarantee your parachute will deploy". NOPE. It was a nice little video of people saying how awesome it was!

Then everything happened really fast. We got suited up, met our tandem divers (the guys strapped to our backs) and our camera men! (Yes, I had my own personal camera man. I'm not famous or anything.) Our camera man then took us out for a pre-dive interview.  Then we were rushed onto the plane.

Me and my AWESOME tandem diver about to enter the plane.

The flight up, although very scenic, seemed to take forever. Also, 13,000 feet is a LOT higher than I imagined! I remember thinking "We've got to be close" and I asked my tandem diver and he said we were only 5,000 feet up. Not even half way! I was really happy it was higher than I thought though.  If I'm going to experience this once in a lifetime thing, I better do it all out.

We also got to write messages on our hands.  I wrote "sweet as" which is a new phrase I learned here (talked about in previous post).  It means "awesome" pretty much, but it's a thing only Kiwi's say.

The camera man took a lot of pictures and video in the plane.  Both him and my tandem diver were incredibly awesome.  The whole way up they were talking to me, pointing out the various views, making sure I was ok, telling me how it will be.  It also helped that we were strapped so tight together.  It made me feel waay more safe and secure.  Also, fun fact- these people jump out of planes up to 20 times a day!!!! (on good days).

There were 4 people in the plane with us.  Colleen went first, and I went third.  I have to admit I was pretty nervous, but as my tandem diver sat me over the edge of the plane (he was sitting on the edge and I was pretty much dangling there) strangely all my nerves kind of went away.  I had to tuck my legs under the plane, push my hips out, and rest my head on his shoulder.  My hands were underneath the straps you can see on my chest in the picture.

Oh hey ground!

And before I knew it, I was falling to Earth at 150mph. YES 150 MPH THROUGH THE OPEN AIR!!!

This is where it gets difficult to describe.  Human depth perception only works up to 5,000 feet.  This is why, for example, you can look off a ledge of a skyscraper and feel a bit woozy, but can be in an airplane and not experience that same woozy feeling.  As you go higher than 5,000 feet your brain can't exactly put things into perspective.  Because of this, it didn't quite feel like I was falling.  It more so felt like I was soaring with a TON of wind being blown up at me.  It was realllllly hard to breathe at some points.  My tandem guy told me if I couldn't breathe to lift my head up, but as I was falling I couldn't quite remember this! They also warned us of "sensory overload", which almost everyone experiences as they skydive.  It's pretty much your brain going "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!" and it starts to shut down.  They tell you to focus on the camera man, as he is the closest thing you can see and sort of brings you back to reality.  I was trying VERY hard not to go into sensory overload because I wanted to remember every detail.  I think I did pretty well, because I can remember almost all of it while other people completely by accident black out the whole experience.  It feels more like someone else did it when I think about it.  I remember it more as a movie, like I'm watching someone else do it.  I guess that's how my brain handled sensory overload. Anyway, here are some pictures of the free fall part!

Because it's Connor's 21st birthday August 27th, I thought I would give him a shout out! Happy birthday Connor, I miss you so much! 

Then at 5,000 feet, it was time to deploy the parachute.  I was actually sad because I really loved the freefall!

This is right after he deployed the parachute and we went FLYING up in the air.  The cameraman kept free falling so he would get to the ground first to capture my landing.  The fly down was really really nice! At first my tandem guy was like "the parachute deployed so you have nothing to worry about now!" and then "Let me make this more comfortable for you" and then I fell about 3 inches as he loosed the harness. MINI HEART ATTACK! I very much rather be tightly attached but you know, I guess it worked out.  You also tend to get very attached to your tandem diver.  It was funny, Colleen and I were talking and we were both like..."I think I love him!" It was really funny. I guess that's what happens when your life literally depends on someone.  Anyway we also did some crazy spins in the air as we got closer to the ground.  The views were absolutely amazing.  It's the only skydive where you can see both the north and the south islands!

 This is me floating down!

Almost to the ground!

aaand land! It was so amazing.  I would do it again in a second.  And if you EVER have an opportunity to skydive do it! There is literally no feeling in the world like it.  And its VERY difficult to describe.  Just all around incredible!

Skydiving (The Before Post)

Well, spring break has officially began and to start it off with a bang, I'm going to free fall 13,000 feet above the earth! (Before the parachute catches me).

I thought I would write a before post because, an hour before I'm supposed to leave, I'm here totally freaking out.

I wasn't always nervous...in fact I wasn't nervous at all up until about 3 minutes ago when it finally hit me that skydiving is really just a nice way of saying "plummeting 13,000 feet to Earth and pray your parachute will deploy".

I was supposed to skydive first thing this morning so I wouldn't have any time to really ponder this insane thing.  But, it was raining all day up until now.  (May I note that I am currently in the sunniest place in New Zealand and they hype up the fact it almost never rains...and yet the day we come and have plans it pours all day....)

Somehow I was all gung-ho about this whole thing this morning but as time creeps closer I'm noticing my heart rate is a little elevated and I cant stop moving my legs. Nevertheless, I'm sure it will be a great experience...or so I keep telling myself!

Volunteer Work on Some's Island

Today the program I came with hosted a volunteer event where we took a ferry across the bay to Some's Island (A very tiny Island) to help the woman who pretty much ran the entire island.

Our journey started with the ferry in Wellington harbour.

....Don't worry this wasn't it. Just a cool looking old boat.

Anyways, these are some pretty cool views of the Wellington coastline:

This picture is not in black and white. It's just that cool.

So we get to this little island and we have to do a special shoe scrape and bag search because there are NO rodents, spiders, and barely any species of insects on this island. Sounds like paradise, right?

EXCEPT FOR SOME REASON THEY LET THESE CREEPY GUYS STAY!!!!!!!

This is also apparently a baby.  Adults are twice this size.  These creatures are actually the reason they got rid of all the rodents on the island.  Apparently the rodents eat them, and they are an insect completely unique to New Zealand and you can't find it anywhere else in the world.  You get props for that creepy guy, but still. We were also told if we were really lucky, we would maybe see some little blue penguins.  This got everyone REALLLLY excited, however we were told it's pretty rare to see them around this time.  I was really determined because penguins are Connor's favorite animal and I really wanted to take a picture of one in the wild for him.

Anyway, after we arrived on this beautiful island we got right to work! There is a cemetery here, and since this island is sacred Maori land, you would think Maori people would be able to come and visit the cemetery.  But they actually believe that after visiting a cemetery, they need to wash with water or else bad fortune will befall them.  However, there was no water source.  So a pipe was dug under ground to give a water supply.  Our job was to fill the trench where the pipe ran through.

To the left is the now filled in trench.

Our next job was to help trim the path that runs through the island. These were our weapon's.

My friend Colleen cutting down trees to later feed to sheep.

 Little lambs!!

Just me looking awkward with a tree and some sheep

And trust me...these sheep REALLY liked the trees.

hahahhaa.

So we were almost done with our trip and still didn't see any blue penguins.  So, I took a picture of their poop because it was the closest thing to them I guess.  Here Connor! You're welcome!!

Speaking of animals, the most interesting part about this strange little island is the animal quarantine biosecurity lab.  It has shut down recently, as most quarantines happen in the country the animals are being imported from.  Anyway, for many many years this was the place every animal would go before entering NZ (they have very strict quarantine regulations).  It was a very creepy place.  It felt like a concentration camp for animals but we were assured it was more like a 5-star hotel.

This is where once upon a time  around 600 cows, alpacas, sheep, etc were sterilized.

And THIS is where they sterilized their pee!

So the day flew by and ended with a ferry back to Wellington.  While we were waiting I stole some pretty shells even though nothing is supposed to leave the island (shhhh).  After a long day, we were all sitting by the shore and relaxing when all of a sudden.....one of the guys from the group spotted a penguin! Man, nothing makes people sprint faster than a penguin sighting I swear, because we all booked it along the shore to where this poor little guy had to deal with us gawking and freakin' out.

 "Yes, I'm cute. I'm awesome. I'm the best part of your day. Now go away."

Even though he was in his little nest and could only see half of him, and he looks like he could kill us all, he is still the cutest! Are you jealous now Connor?

Well, that was my volunteer day at Some's Island!

More impressively, I actually wrote this blog post on the day it happened for once!! (Or less impressively, it's just a side effect of me not wanting to do school work).

Spring break is coming up after this week, so stay tuned for some really awesome posts.  Skydiving is first on the list of spring break activities!