Steve We didn't wake up last Wednesday morning planning on jumping out of an airplane, but when we got to town at noon we learned Taupo Tandem Skydiving had an opening, so 5 hours later we were enjoying a birds eye view of town. They picked us up from our campground and drove us to the airport, and everything happened so fast neither of us had time to be nervous. It was just us and one other guy jumping from 15,000ft so it didn't take long to get geared up and onto the plane. It was about a 15 minute flight up, and on the way our instructors pointed out some of the mountains in the area, and the wreckage of another skydiving plane that had crashed into the lake a few hours before. Lucky for us the it was the other company, and the odds of that happening twice in one day are pretty slim so we weren't worried about it. Besides, if a plane is going to go down it might as well be one where everyone is wearing a parachute... everyone made it out just fine including the pilot.
Jennie Since I was in the back of the plane I was the first to jump. We had to wear oxygen masks right up until the door opened, and then we didn't waste any time getting to the opening and hanging our feet over the edge. We paused for a second to take in the view and then leaned forward out of the plane. The free fall lasted almost a full minute, and although I didn't feel the typical falling sensation you would expect, it was so windy up there it literally took my breath away. Once we pulled the chute everything became incredibly peaceful, and we floated down over the lake swinging from one side to the other and taking in the scenery. My instructor even let me steer the chute for a while, and let me do a few tight spirals that brought my stomach into my throat. Before I knew it we were touching down lightly on the ground... it was definitely over way too soon. I could have stayed up there all day. Steve was the last on the plane to jump, but he touched down less than a minute after I did.
Emerald Lakes We could only afford to stay at the campground in town for two nights, so we arranged for a bus to pick us up at 6am the next morning to take us to the trail head for the Tongariro Crossing. We drove about 45 minutes to the trail head at Mangatepopo car park, and we were told to be at the end of the trail by 430 to catch the bus back to Taupo. There were a lot of bigger busses there as well, and the first part of the hike was very crowded. Constantly passing people and being passed on the narrow trail definitely took away a bit from the experience, we're not used to hiking with such crowds. Eventually the masses thinned out a bit, although there were always loads of people at the best viewpoints.
Mt. Doom The hike was 19.4k and took us just under 8 hours. We had a pretty gentle walk the first few kilometers to Soda Springs, and then a steep climb up to the South Crater between Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro. Ngauruhoe is the mountain they used as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies, and we were tempted to climb it, but we just didn't have the time. From there we crossed the South Crater and climbed up to Red Crater which is still an active steaming vent. From that highpoint we could see for miles across the central plateau and had great views of the Emerald Lakes and Blue Lake. We descended from there down a steep scree field, across the rim of the Te Maari Crater and up another short ascent past Blue Lake before skirting around the edge of the mountain and steadily descending 12k down to Ketetahi Car Park where ether bus picked us up just after 4:30.
The next morning we woke up a bit stiff from our long walk and packed everything up at the campground in town to move to Reids Farm, a free camping area about 3k outside of town. We are tucked away in a nice shady spot well away from the crowds and have been enjoying daily swims in the beautiful blue Waikato River. Yesterday we rode into town to see the final Hobbit movie and eat at the "Worlds Coolest McDonald's," which is inside an airplane. We plan on staying in town for a few more days, and then heading out towards Gisbourne.
To watch us jump out of an airplane, head over to the Movies page, and check out the photos too!
To watch us jump out of an airplane, head over to the Movies page, and check out the photos too!
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