I've always wondered what it would be like to fly. Aged 4 I distinctly remember trying to fly down the stairs, which ended with a bust lip. Well, I can now proudly announce I have done it. Yes KIRSTY MACKAY did a sky dive. After 3 attempts to book a more gentle paraglide at Wanaka and Nelson, I bit the bullet - why drink wine when you can have champagne?! A spontaneous decision on 17.05.2012 with the weather absolutely stunning, I took myself off to Abel Tasman at the north of the south island. I jumped out of a plane strapped to a complete stranger and a parachute at 9,000 feet. After 20 seconds of freefall the parachute opened and a 20kmph drift back to the ground allowed plenty of time to take in the views. The Abel Tasman national park on one side, snow dusted mountains the other. The sea, golden beaches ahead and below the famous orchards glowing their orange and red autumn colours. A stunning experience. Had I jumped at 16,000 feet I could have even seen the north island! I have a DVD for those who want to see the evidence and facial expressions (I will see if I can upload it to the blog). I'm glad I've done it, I'm even more proud that it was a spontaneous decision! I really am literally moving out my comfort zone, and New Zealand was such a perfect location for this once in a life time experience.
Anyway, enough of that, allow me to pick up where Marie left off. From Queenstown we headed north to lake Wanaka. This would have been my paraglide location of choice, a beautiful lake with the back drop of the mountains, however it was too windy. We did a few walks around the lake, and visited puzzling world. This was a great way to spend the afternoon, completing the 2 storey maze, taking photos in the illusion rooms and studying the holograms. The strangest being a room on a slope where all the furniture is set at 90 degrees. Cue balls roll up a table, and a stair lift rolls down, but actually goes up stairs. It was good fun!
From Wanaka we drove north to the glaciers- Franz Josef and Fox. We had a mint time! (turns out fox glacier mints aren't big elsewhere in the world!). Not knowing much about the geography of glaciers I decided to book myself on a half day hike. Poor Marie was ill and Nicola wanted to do a skydive. It was a great trip with a knowledgeable guide. We donned the crampons (metal spikes you strap to boots so you can grip the ice!) and walking poles and went onto the ice. Essentially a glacier is compacted ice that during the last ice age (15,000-20,000 years ago) reached the sea. The region in New Zealand sits at the point where the Pacific plate and Australasia plate meet, the former pushing the latter up. Our guide showed us the layers of rock that are emerging as mountains. Also he talked us through the 20 year journey from snowfall to the ice at the tip of the glacier. Apart from a small advance in general the glaciers are retreating here faster than any other glaciers in the world. So it was a unique experience to see, and walk on the sites which may well not be here in years to come. The faster rate in which the glaciers melt is due to the weather conditions.
From the glaciers we continued north to Nelson. The drive was a long, but beautiful one. I really cannot describe what it is to drive on the open road with mountains, blue skies, lakes and the sea for company. Hours fly by and you feel like you are on a continuous movie set. If we haven't sold New Zealand as a place to visit yet, hopefully we have now!
Nelson was the place/day from which I did the sky dive. We also walked to the centre of New Zealand, the pitch where the first Rugby game was played and had local cider/mulled wine. Whilst I was throwing myself out a plane Marie and Nicola enjoyed the town of Nelson with it's galleries and possibly the most ugly Cathedral in the world (mixed marble with concrete).
Our final destination in the beautiful south Island was Picton. From here we booked on a wine tour. A great way to finish off our time, sipping the world famous sauv blancs in the Marlborough region. Contrary to guide books, the weather has been amazing, despite the cold we've had great scenery and pictures but the rain hasn't held us back from anything. Having covered 4000km in the south island we head onwards and upwards. We have said farewell to Bilbo and look forward to the next trusty steed in Wellington. And yes, as a man in a hostel in Wanaka pointed out, we are the kind of girls who name their car. Thats all for now folks!
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