NZ Adventures Continued

New Zealand Adventures Continued
After sea kayaking in Milford sound we headed up to the top of the pass where we spent the evening. This is when we encountered the dreaded Keas of New Zealand……Keas seem really cool when you hear someone describe them, and we thought they were too at the beginning of the trip. Keas are mountain parrots which usually feed on berries, worms, and occasionally meat that is already dead. (Or that’s what we were told) They can get rather large (maybe a little smaller than the crows from home) We woke up the next morning to the sound of claws racing up and down the top of the campervan. Not only that one of the Keas was trying to get in through the sun roof with its beak, which we had left cracked for the night. There must have been at least 8 Keas on our car. If you have ever seen Jurassic park when the raptors make that sound with their claws as they walk across metal, that’s what the Keas sounded like. We got out of their as quickly as possible and when we pulled over down the road, one of the Keas had chewed thorugh a wire connecting something at the top of the van!! We pulled into Lake Tekapo and read a guidebook about Keas. Apparently they had been “implicated” (using the exact words of the book) in the death of sheep and have been known to pick the weaker or sick sheep off in packs and eat them! We felt lucky to have survived the night.
The plan after Queenstown was head up to Christchuch, spend the night there, then the next day drive to the top of the south island to catch the 5:45 am ferry ride. However, our RV (Priscilla or Prissy for short) had other plans…….We made it about 200 km north of Queenstown and stopped at beautiful lake Tekapo with wild Lupin surrounding the waters edge and snow capped mountains of Mt. Cook reflecting in the turquoise water. As we started up the hill out of the Tekapo basin Prissy’s RPM’s started to go crazy even in neutral. We pulled over and called our car company appollo. Luckily we decided to get full coverage insurance before the trip so we had zero liability if anything were to happen. Well we got towed back into Tekapo and the mechanic determined after an hour of work that he didn’t know what was wrong and that we had to stay for the night. This is when people started to stress out because we were scheduled to take the 5:45 am ferry on December 1 which left us around 36 hours to get to the ferry which is about 10 hours from where we were stuck. This might not seem like a problem but at the time we had no idea how long we were going to be stuck and if it wasn’t fixed by 8 pm the next day there would be no way to make the ferry. There were two reasons why we had to make this ferry. First of all, it cost over $500 for everyone and we chose the cheaper ticket (which is non-refundable), Secondly, Kelley and Lauren had a flight out of Auckland to Fiji on Dec 4 and all of the driving was timed to get them there right before their flight. As you can guess, it was a restless night in the campervan however we tried to not think about it and watched Superbad while drinking some Tui (definitely one of the better beers in NZ, Tui is the north island beer, where as Speights, another good one is “the pride of the south.”)
So the next morning around 10 am we got the final decision…..the campervan was not going to be fixed and they were sending a new one down from Christchurch for us which would be in Tekapo by 3pm. So besides the 10 hour straight car ride, we had made it! The new campervan (which we named Lady Madonna) was ten times nicer than Prissy with tile on the floor (instead of old plastic) and suede upholstery! We did a quick drive through of Christchurch, which looked pretty cool from the car at least and continued north towards Picton. We now believed that we were actually going to make the Ferry. Then we realized that we forgot to fill up on gas in Christchurch. This might not seem like a big deal either however unlike in the states the vast majority of gas stations close around 8pm and 24hr ones are extremely rare. We realized the gas situation and on the gas we had left we would fall 60 km short of Picton. The road in this area was definitely the worst we had driven, not only that it was night, we were literally in the middle of no where, no cell reception, fog was rising off the pavement, and at one point Sean had to swerve to avoid a boulder that had fallen into the road, which happened to be at the edge of a cliff with ocean on the other side. So things weren’t looking too good for us. Our last hope was this small town called Kaikora, which looked pretty small on the map, but we all hoped that there would be one gas station still open (it was about 11:00 pm at this point). As we pulled into town we saw a station in the distance that looked like it was still open, and luckily for us IT WAS!! We had about 30 km left in Lady Madonna at this point so we all gave a huge sigh of relief as we pulled up to the station. Crisis number two of the last 48 hours averted. We felt very accomplished as we boarded the ferry the next morning….we had actually made it!
We pulled to the side of the road in Wellington to allow the drivers to rest (at this point they had driven 11 hours straight.) However, we were still on schedule, next stop: Lake Taupo. We stayed at our last RV park that night and I made avocado, cheese, tomatoe, and chicken sandwiches for everyone (which were much better than the PB and J’s we had all been having the last two weeks. I got some rest because the next day I was going to do something I have always wanted to do, but lacked the guts to do it……SKYDIVING!!!!!! Sean, Kelley, and Lauren arrived in Auckland 3 days before me (while I was in Daintree) and they all went Skydiving at Lake Taupo, if they could do I why couldn’t I? Since they already did it I was the only one actually diving, but everyone was there for moral support/taking pictures for me. My instructor and I were completely attached (which is why its called tandem skydiving) so I was just along for the ride As the plane climbed higher into the sky I looked out the window knowing that the only way down was to jump. I was the first one to jump so I sat right next to the window that opens where you jump from. The adrenaline was pumping and my tandem instructor strapped me in. We were at 10,000 ft and still climbing. Then I heard the door open and the deafening sound of wind was all you could hear. The green light was on which meant it was time to go. He scooted me to the door where I sat and my legs dangled outside of the plane at 12,000 ft. He scooted me closer and closer to the edge until……….. we jumped and we were off at 200 km/hr straight towards the earth! It was like nothing I have every experienced. I did not get the roller coaster feeling in my stomach at all and everything around me seemed so peaceful. Once we reached terminal velocity it was almost relaxing in a weird way. The jump offered the best view of Taupo you can get and after 40 seconds of freefall the shoot was pulled. My guy let me steer the chute for a while until we came in for our landing where the rest of the crew was waiting on the ground cheering me on. Now that I have done it I can say that it is WAY scarier to think about doing it than to actually do it. You honestly have no time to think about it, before you know it your at cruising altitude and since your attached, you gotta go. They don’t sit and wait until your ready, you go whenever your guy jumps. The scariest part was imagining it the night before. I think about the jump at least 5 times a day now and I can’t wait to do it again.
After skydiving we spent the rest of the day at Taupo and made our way back towards Auckland. Our last night in the campervan L. We brought Kelley and Lauren to the airport the next day and they are in Fiji right now. Chris, Sean, Michelle, and I returned to Auckland. The next day Chris and I explored the city and during the night took advantage of some of the Auckalnd night life. Then the next morning Michelle and I were off to Waitomo caves! We drove Chris and Sean about 200 km south of Auckland and then they began their crazy adventure of hitchhiking down to Wellington. Apparently hitch hiking is really easy in NZ and I am excited to hear about their adventures. Michelle and I continue south for Black water Rafting! Blackwater rafting is basically trekking through a cave down waterfalls with a giant rubber tube while you dodge stalagmites and stalagmites and enjoy the massive amounts of glow worms on the roof of the cave. It was spectacular. I felt like Indiana Jones as paddled my way though the dark, frigid waters. After they feed you warm bagels and hot tomato soup which was exactly what I needed. Black water rafting was definitely one of the highlights of my entire travels.
The next day Michelle and I headed to a native bird sanctuary where I finally saw a real Kiwi!!! It was one of the most awkward/cute animals I have ever seen. They walk really funny with long beaks and fluffy feathers. We got to watch a feeding too. Unfortunately Kiwis are highly endangered due to introduced predators. Since they are flightless they have no defenses against invasive species like rats, or weasels which eat their eggs and babies. There are 5 species of Kiwi left and mini-reserves are being set up on some of NZ’s many islands so hopefully future generations will be able to enjoy them. I felt very privileged to see such a rare and interesting creature. Michelle and I also swung by Rotarua to see the thermal pools which were a lot like the one from Yellowstone, although there was a slightly different sulfur smell to them. Tomorrow I am off to Fiji for 15 days where I will be doing a Cruise for 7 days with Michelle and Ashley, then meeting up with Sean when I get back. NZ was even better than expected and I can't wait to come back.