New Zealand Travels (March 10th, 2003 Day of the Jump)

"Woke up way before the alarm with a pang of Fear. This was the moment and a quick peek outside revealed a beautiful clear dawn sky. There was no going back now as far as I was concerned. I got my kit together, checked out, jumped aboard the Taupo Tandem shuttle bus and arrived shortly after at the aerodrome.

Waiting for the shuttle bus gave me ample time to reflect upon the Fear. What, exactly, was I afraid of? Hitting the ground at 200kph was the first answer. That was quickly dismissed by the impeccable safety record of the sport, and my trust in their professionalism. Freezing up at the moment of truth? Nope - the expert I was attached to would see to that. Throwing myself out of a place in the first lace? Bingo. The simple notion of doing something so bizarre as throwing myself out of a perfectly good aeroplane was the basis of my Fear. Once I had realised how silly this Fear was it evaporated. I swear that at no time up until the final seconds did I feel Fear. So let me talk you through it.

We were checked in (I was going up with 2 others also from the Magic Bus) and our names were called almost immediately given that we were carried over from the day before. We removed all loose items from our pockets and climed into our, appropriately named, jumpsuits. A life belt was clipped on and the harness attached. Next came the hat, goggles and gloves. I elected to keep my glasses on for maximum visual acuity. I met Matt, my tandem instructor and about 10 minutes later we were off the ground.

I was to go second so that gave me time to watch what the first guy did and hopefully learn what to do. Matt gave me constant support and advice throughout which help me no end. The only symptom of Fear was a dry mouth and nothing else. No panic-stricken, heart-pounding, sweaty-palmed gasps of breath for me. I was in complete control of my Fear. I still felt anxious but only because I was going into the unknown. I had total trust in my guides and I knew that there would be no problems. It was all down to me to get the most out of the experience. The time came.

I wriggled forward and sat on the edge looked down at Taupo from 12000 feet. It was very far away, 4km in fact. Matt had me pose for the exit camera and then I had to hold my head back to avoid whiplash. That meant I couldn't look down so I peeped down anyway, Matt corrected me. I tried to tell him, "I'm completely in your hands now." and then we left the plane.

Everything whirled around me. I didn't know up from down or left from right. I didn't feel my stomach drop away - it stayed right with me the whole time. I was falling through the air at 200kph and it felt fantastic. I had booked a video (thank God I did that!) and the woman operating the camera was floating right in fornt of me. All I could do was hold my fingers up in a victory salute, smile a lot and stick my tongue out (Sky Dog). We shook hand and cruised around on a pillow of warm air. And then Matt pulled the rip cord and we slowed down.

It wasn't a violent shock, just a cessation of the roaring wind to a complete tranquil silence. Matt and I chatted - admiring the view and generally feeling good about ourselves. We did a couple of spins and then it was time to land. I was told to life my legs up and left him do all the work. So I did and it was only at the last possible moment when insanity took over at the sight of the land pad coming up. I forgot all about Matt and attempted to do the landing myself. The net result was two sky divers (for I had passed through to the other side) lying face down in the gravel. I stuck my thumb up and smiled at the camera. We were both fine.

After that it was back to the hut for our videos (which were ready in double quick time) and to rejoin the waiting room full of beans and extolling the joys of sky diving. What a fantastic way to get rid of a hangover and to the start the day. I suppose the trick now is to sky dive every few months to keep the Fear firmly under control.

The Magic Bus left for Rotorua at 10am and we rolled in about 2 hours later. That included a couple of stops for taking snaps of Lake Taupo, the Huka falls and a geothermal mud pool. On the way I chatted to Simone who was taking some time out before returning to graduate college to study polical economics. The bus was not going to overnight in Rotorua and was instead going on to Mt.Maunganui (the surf capital of NZ). However, my plans were to stay 2 nights in Rotorua so that I could see the volcanic landscapes, Maori cultural scene and, perhaps, mess about within the Agrodome Theme Park.

So Dangerous Dean dropped me off at the thermal village along with my pack and I set about exploring the world of fire and brimstone. It was pretty amazing, with few visible access restrictions out among the mud pools, geysers and assorted fumeroles. The smell of sulphur was understandably quite prevalent, but ny no means overpowering. All in all, it took me about 3 hours to cover the site in a fair amount of details. There was even the opportunity to see some of the performing arts of the Maoris in the form of a song and haka routine in one of their sacred temples. Out of respect for their culture is was necessary to remove shoes prior to entering the temple. Inside there were many carved statues and wall decorations decpecting monsters and heroes from times past. It is often said that the depth a civilisation is measured by the quality it's art. The Maoris have a rich a varied culture that contains an abundance of deep philosophical and community oriented thinking. I came away with a desire to learn more.

A quick bite to eat and it was time to leave. The only problem was that the last bus had left, the shuttles weren't running and I needed some exercise. So I walked the 5km between the thermal village and the YHA. I did overshoot and randomly enetered a local garage to get directions. There was a customer there, a scientist specialising in paper, and he offered me a life back to the YHA. So all in all a good day today."