Sunday morning started at Hertz, where we picked up our rental car to road trip on the left side of the road. We drove to Arrowtown, an old mining town and walked around. There, we learned about the lonely Chinese migrant workers who came for gold mining in the 1800s. We then drove to Cardrona to a charming old hotel pub for a delicious cheese scone.
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| Cardrona Hotel |
We finally made it to Wanaka. Our skydive was canceled due to weather so we rescheduled it for the morning and went to Puzzling World instead. We did a challenging human maze with people of all ages. Then, we went to the illusion rooms which messed with our heads in every way possible!! Reference points were manipulated so things seemed to defy gravity. We were very impressed but left completely exhausted from all the mind twisting games. We raced up Mount Iron for a quick hike and nice views of Wanaka before dark.
We got back to the hostel and met our roommate who promptly went to sleep and slept until after we departed in the morning. We, on the other hand, went to the supermarket for ingredients, made and wolfed down black bean and beat(root) burritos and then went to the coolest, wackiest
movie theater. We sat on a couch amidst seats taken from an old airplane and watched Nice Guys. During the intermission, we bought their famous homemade cookies and Adam was insulted by the cashier in the funniest way.
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| Skydive Wanaka |
In the morning, we went for a sunrise run along the lakefront. And then the adventures began! We drove to the airport, jump-suited and harnessed up, and then boarded the smallest airplane I have ever squeezed into. About 15 of us squeezed onto 2 benches and filled the plane, which quickly ascended to a scenic12,000 feet. It was a unique ride in that I was okay having a strange man run his hands along my body as he tightened my harness and secured my harness to his. The doors opened and pairs of people jumped out the open door. When my turn came, I slid along the bench toward the door and got into jumping position - head resting on my handler's shoulder, legs back, hands on my shoulder straps - and he pushed us out the door. Free falling at ~120 mph, wind smacking my face and whistling in my ears, my stomach was leaping and knotting in my torso. We tumbled and spun around as we quickly dropped 7,000 feet. The feeling in my stomach went away and then suddenly we slowed. The parachute had opened and I exclaimed my first words since jumping, "Oh my God" as I started to appreciate my magnificent surroundings from a birds eye (or paratroopers) view.
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Haast Pass waterfall
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The guy showed me how to steer the parachute and I spun us in circles one way and then the other. As we floated downwards, he pointed out Adam as the green parachute floating downward in the distance. All too quickly, he instructed me to lift my knees to prepare for landing. The whole thing was incredible! Skydiving was the most exhilarating experience!!
Still riding the high of skydiving, we set off to drive to the West Coast to Franz Josef Glacier. Unfortunately, it started pour and we didn't get to enjoy most of the beautiful pitt stops along the Haast Pass. We did bear the rain to stop at one waterfall though before the rain got too heavy. Eventually, we checked into our hostel in Franz Josef, where we rearranged our plans to account for the storm, which is supposed impact the next few days. We were standing in the reception area making plans when in walk our 3 American friends from the Whitsunday boat trip!! New Zealand sure is one beautiful, adventurous, and very small world.
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Sunrise run in Wanaka
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| Haast Pass |
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