I just hope my shoes stay on

The 28th of September 2007, a day that neither Jackie or myself will ever forget. It started with me making a 7am phonecall to an office in Fox Glacier Town to check if our 7:45 skydive was on. I raced back to our van to break the news to Jacks, we were good to go. We rushed to the airstrip where we were kitted up and shown the banana position, where to put our arms and legs and the fairly important procedure of getting all of oneself out of the plane at the intended time.

You can skydive all over New Zealand and we were tempted at Lake Taupo but resisted, deciding that for our first jump, and possibly last, we should really go for the best. Not only do you get to fall 12,000 feet with the backdrop of the Southern Alps but in addition you get a 20 minute flight over the mountains taking you over the Fox Glacier and up to Mount Cook and Tasman.

We met Greg and Emily (our tandem partners) and jumped into the 2 seater Cessna, squeezed in between their respective legs in a manner that would certainly be deemed inappropiate in any other circumstance. The great thing about the company that dives over the glaciers is that they let you take your own camera along, so for the 20 minute flight I was clicking away much better, possibly trying to distract myself from the upcoming event. After a quick recap from Greg I tapped Jacks on the shoulder and told her to enjoy it. Next thing the door was open and Jacks and Emily were no longer there. I shuffled on my bum, slipped my legs out, crossed my arms and waited. Our departure was seriously disorientating. Greg had told me to look up and left as we jumped, which I did, and the view of the plane diving next to us was unreal. For a few seconds I felt upside down and out of control but after a tap on the head and me reaching my arms out, all was good. The freefall was so much smoother than I ever imagined and the view of the mountains and coastline and the feeling of falling 200km/hour completely engulfed my mind and I was totally caught in the moment. I felt a few tugs and then there was silence, the parachute was up and we were floating. I noticed Jacks in the distance and pulled my camera out (the shot of Greg and myself was at 4,000 feet). Greg then asked if I liked roller-coasters and I responded with a slightly confused yes, which was followed by us spiralling rapidly towards the ground, probably close to what an ant feels like when it's flushed down a toilet, skidding to a halt in a paddock. I jumped up and got some shots of Jacks landing.

Jacks enjoyed it as much as myself and we both agreed that it's without a doubt the highlight of our trip so far and probably the most exciting thing we'd ever done. It took the rest of the day to recover and the crazy thing is that we'd have gone up again 5 minutes after landing.

Franz Josef Glacier

The Franz Josef Glacier is not on the same scale as the Perito Moreno in Argentina but spending a day walking on top of it and exploring it's crevices and caves was unforgettable. You really get a better appreciation of just how big these guys are and the nature of their ever changing pavlova like surfaces. We started fairly cautiously but ended jumping around like klipspringers, soaking up the sun and making the most of the experience.

The We(s)t Coast

Our drive down the west coast, one of the wettest parts of New Zealand (and the world), was blessed with near perfect weather. It's a really wild coast with a rugged beauty that would probably be just as impressive in the rain but we felt really lucky to have blue skies above us and saw as much as we could, stopping to walk along the coast at Cape Foulwind (Pic 1) and exploring the amazing and still largely unexplained pancake rocks (2). Every corner gave us a new surprise and brought us closer to the snowy peaks of the Southern Alps. We also found our best camping spots along the way, the first at Okarito Lagoon (3), where we enjoyed our first braai and then on the beach near Haast (4).

Abel Tasman from the sea

A large national park with an interesting history. A dutch woman who had lived in the area for some time wanted it to become a national park and had sent many letters to the New Zealand authorities. She was ignored repeatedly, so changed her approach by sending a letter to the dutch royal family, inviting them to the opening of the Abel Tasman National Park, named after the dutch explorer. They accepted and all New Zealand could do was comply.

The park has a magnificient coastline of granite rock and pure blue waters. There is a 51km coastal walkway but we decided to rest our legs and explore the coast on a guided kayaking trip that lasted the better part of a day and took us to some beautiful bays along the way. Our lunch stop was a bay called Tupu or Tapu or something similar meaning cursed in Maori. It received it's name because of the local iwi (tribe) chief's practice of strapping the dead chiefs of conquered tribes to a tree in the bay and eating them bit by bit. The Maori's were not a bunch to be taken lightly.

Farewell Spit

The sandbar at the northern end of the south island. A nice place to stretch the legs and, in the extremely likely event of a downpour, a good spot for a coffee with a view.

Rugby?

The Kaikoura Coast

Looking for a place to spend the night we ventured off the main road onto a dirt track towards Ward Beach. After reading that it was a reserve and that camping was not allowed we were about to leave when a scruffy fellow approached us and said that we could camp on his farm. We took him up on his offer and parked with another van (an older local couple) on a flat section of grass. I briefly chatted with the boys about the state of the nation and informed them that Zimbabwe was not part of South Africa. Farmer boy was very happy because he'd just sold some sheep in town and bought himself a car. We woke up to a beautiful morning and strolled along the beach to a seal colony about 30 minutes away.

Kaikoura is an amazingly picturesque town, with snow-capped mountains tapering off into the sea. Tourists flock to it's shores to swim with dolphins or to go whale watching but fortunately for us there was a heavy fog, so we didn't see too many tourists. Kaikoura means crayfish food in Maori and it's famous for the stuff. On our way out we pulled into Nin's Bin, a roadside caravan that has been selling crayfish since 1977, and bought ourselves a whole cray with garlic butter. So, so fresh.

Renwick by bike

On our way south we found ourselves in the town of Renwick, pretty much in the bullseye of the Marlborough Wine Region. The weather was perfect, so an afternoon adventure of wine tasting by bike began. At Isabel, our 4th of five vineyards visited, we were told that we couldn't miss the estate of Fromm. The time was 3:47 and Fromm closed at 4pm so we quickly staggered out and raced against a strong headwind, turning into the driveway at 3:57. The cellar door host spotted us and was about to close the door when she realised that I would just cycle straight through it. With some reservation she allowed us to taste some of their wines and we finished off our tour on the peppery note of their syrah.

Jackies picks - Forrest Estate Riesling

Isabel Pinot Noir

Brad's picks - Forrest Estate Riesling, Sauv Blanc and Noble Riesling and ..... all good

Isabel Sauv Blanc

Framingham Pinot Noir

Havelock - the mussel capital of the world

Don't confuse Havelock with Benoni, the muscle capital of the world, it's home to the beautiful looking and tasting green-lipped mussel. We stopped for lunch at the Mussel Pot and tucked into the mussel chowder and 2 steamed varieties (one with bacon and guinness, the other with coriander, ginger, chilli and coconut milk). Absolute perfection with a glass of the local Sauvignon Blanc. I was a very happy boy.

The Queen Charlotte Track

A 71km track, from Ship Cove to Anakiwa, along the Queen Charlotte Sound, made easy by a ferry service that transports you to the start and then takes your food and excess bags to your night stops along the way. Mountain biking or kayaking is also really popular but we decided to be traditional and walked the route over 3 days.

Besides a rainy third morning we had pretty clear skies the whole way giving us amazing views along the way, the water changing to different shades of blue throughout the day. The best thing about the walk, probably only occuring around this time of the year, was that there were only a handful of other people on the track.

Heading South

After 2 weeks of driving to all corners of New Zealand's North Island we felt that we were ready to head south, so made our way down to Wellington and booked our ferry crossing for the next morning. This gave su a day to explore the city and see if there were any sights. We started at an asian food market and then made our way to the Te Papa museum which, without question is one of the best we've ever been to. Entertaining both children and adults will all sorts of creativity from a detective challenge to an international festival of dance featuring acts as far off as Bolivia and Ireland. The most entertaining was a group of 5 woman from Zimbabwe, who walked onto the stage and told the audience to wake up and shake a bit. They were brilliant and the audience loved them. The rest of the museum covers New Zealand's history, it's fauna and flora and the geology of it's land mass.

We spoilt ourselves for dinner and went off to a restaurant called Kai that specialises in Maori-fusion cuisine. I went for the Hangi, which is a dish of meat that is cooked in a hole in the ground using hot rocks. My chicken was rare and the rest of the dish looked and tasted like roadkill. Highly recommended by many but definately not by us, never ever go to Kai!

The ferry the next morning left an overcast and wet Wellington at 8 and arrived in Picton, at the top of the South Island, at 11:30am. Somewhere along the way the weather had dramatically improved and we sailed into the Marlborough Sounds in wonderfully clear and calm conditions.

Rafting the Eel Food (Kaituna) River

If you're looking at the Kaituna River from it's banks you'll most certainly wonder how anybody could ever call it a grade V raft. That's probably if you haven't seen the 7m waterfall, the highest commercially raftable falls in the world.

The build up to the falls was fairly gentle, with a few easy rapids along the way. The boat that took on the falls before us lost and there was some chaos at the bottom. As we approached I remember the river vanishing, us going vertical and then being under water, the boat and all 7 of us. The amazing thing was that we all came up the other side, in one piece and all aboard.

Downhill on a luge

Like going down a cemented racetrack on an open bobsled with wheels, but even more fun than that sounds. Not that I really need any help, but it honestly makes you feel like a kid again. Even though it was impossible for me to fit into the chair and I had to arrange myself into the internationally recognised egg-laying position, we had a superb time and raced down the track 5 times. Our second race was quite amusing with us going down the advanced track without knowing it. It all happened very quickly and somehow we made it down to the bottom without losing a limb.

Kerosene Creek

Taupo, Rotorua and their surrounds have all sorts of geothermally themed tourist attractions. Most of the ones we passed were fairly busy and probably not worth the entrance fee. Especially because we'd heard about a place that was pretty unknown and that didn't cost a cent. We turned off the motorway down an unsealed road named Kerosene Creek. No signs or indications that we'd arrived, but a short walk later we'd found what we were looking for. A natural hot water river, with waterfall and all. A quiet spot in the middle of nowhere, without tourists or people trying to sell you photographs of yourself. I wonder if it will stay that way?

The Tongariro Crossing : NZ's greatest 1 day walk

After arriving in Taupo, at the Northern end of the lake of similar name, we made our way to the tourist office. We had quite a few plans but these all changed when we found out the the weather the following day was going to be perfect. The famous Tongariro National Park was not too far away and we just couldn't let the opportunity pass us by. The very helpful folk at the info centre said that there was a lot of snow on the track and they recommended going with a company. We booked and paid and the next morning at 8:15 we set off from the hut.

The walk is truly spectacular and fully deserving of all the praise it receives. In no time at all you are above the clouds, surrounded by volcano's and endless views. If any of you reading this are thinking about doing the walk in winter I would definately recommend going with a guide but please, in summer, go on your own. Tongariro Expeditions, the company we used (highly recommended in the Lonely Planet and many other publications) must have started out taking children to the zoo and they haven't come a long way since. They do show you how to put crampons on and get you from A to B, so I suppose their value would be somewhere in between that of the apple in your backpack and the longdrop at the start of the track.

Also, if any of you think it's a tough walk I can categorically say that it's not. It's easy. The section called the 'Devil's Staircase' should rather be called 'The Smurf's Staircase'. It's, as my dad would say, a little shinny.

Walking the track in winter gives the additional excitement of crampons, which we'd never used before but will hopefully be using again soon, because it is awesome. You feel super-human and can literally walk up a seriously steep snowy slope.

Our lunch stop was overlooking the red crater and emerald lake, between the parks volcano's with the impressive sight of Lake Taupo in the distance, a great spot to tuck into a squashed and soggy sandwich made earlier that morning. As we were leaving I heard one of the guides say that we wouldn't need our crampons for the way down which confused me somewhat, considering our snow-packed environment. I soon had the answer and was sliding down the whole way on my backside.

Cape Kidnappers

A wonderful part of coastline named because the local Maori's tried to kidnap Captain Cook's servant boy but now famous because of the seasonal presence of a multitude of gannets. We made the most of a wonderful morning and wandered along the beach (from our campsite in Clifton) to the Cape. The beach was beautiful, with crumbling cliffs and forests of trees desperately clinging to their edges. Nature was in abundance with a surprise seal encounter and of course the sights, sounds and unforgettable smells of the gannet colony.

Fine wine

We'd already visited a couple of the New Zealand vineyards but on arriving in Hawkes Bay we decided to concentrate our efforts. These chaps seem to take their wine-making a lot more seriously than a lot of their South African brothers and sisters. You just couldn't help feeling that there would be some sort of interrogation after the tasting. Most of the 'cellar doors' also charge for tastings but our South African charms (and possibly the sight of our camper pulling in) ensured that wouldn't apply to us.

Wine picks :

Jackie - Mission Estate Ice Wine
Mission Estate Syrah


Brad - Vidal Reserve Chardonnay
Te Awa Boundary Red
Mission Estate Cab Sav/ Merlot
Vidal Noble Semillon

East Coast Isolation

We'd heard and read about the wonderful scenery and authentic Maori culture of the East Coast and decided to spend a day exploring the area. The beaches and quaint towns were fantastic, I'm just not sure where all the people were. The only 'real' Maori we came across was at the Meeting House in Te Kaha. He was telling an american chap about the meaning of the intricate carvings of the house but the tattoos covering his face were far more impressive. Even the bravest among us would most certainly run for our lives if we came upon him in a dark alley.

White Island

New Zealand's only active marine volcano, White Island is a must see. We spent the night in Whakatane (pronounced Fuk-a-taanie) and jumped on a boat the next morning for a half day excursion to the island. Walking around the constantly changing lunar landscape with hard-hats and gasmasks, we were told during our short safety briefing that we should take cover if 'she erupts'.

It really is an amazing place with bubbling water and mudpools, hissing steam, crater lakes and yellow sulphur crystals and the thought that at any time you could witness an eruption.