Skydiving and Walk to Mordor...

Over the weekend I went on a little camping trip with some IES friends. We decided to drive 5 hours down to Lake Taupo and Tongariro Crossing. This weekend was 100% about thrill seeking adventure. Point of the Trip: Go skydiving, climb Mount Doom, and go on a hike through Tongariro Crossing. The crew consisted of Laura, Ian, Jeremy, Zach, and myself. We rented a car and took off Friday afternoon. Thankfully no one let me drive. On the way to our campsite, we saw a really beautiful rainbow that touched down on both ends. I crossed my fingers that it wouldn’t rain this weekend. We made a quick stop at the supermarket to get the essentials for survival: bread, peanut butter, nutella, raisins, peanuts, and fruit. The drive was nice and scenic and we arrived in good time.

It was dark by the time we got to the campsite. We set up tent and crammed our five selves into our four-person tent. We knocked out some card games and taught Laura the way of Hearts. She shot the moon, which is pretty impressive for a first timer. After that we crashed for the night. As I was trying to sleep I realized a couple of things. First, I could use a sleeping bag. A blanket is just not enough to trap in heat for the night. Second, even though I DESPISE wearing socks to sleep it was a necessity for survival. My feet were frozen and numb. I couldn’t get into the car because it was locked and it was the dead of the night. I didn’t want to wake up anyone so I just tried warming up my feet with my hands. Not so successful. Luckily, Jeremy woke up and threw me his socks. Chivalry is not dead. Or maybe it was just watching me pathetically try and warm up that evoked pity to chuck me socks. After I put the socks on I finally got a good hour of sleep before we all had to get up to start our day.

This last Saturday was my definition of a perfect day. I’ll take you through it start to finish, but I’m pretty sure it may be one of the best days of my life:

Woke up to Happy Valley, our campsite. It was nice and sunny. No rain to be found. We packed up and decided to go check out Huka Falls before our main event. We got to the park and the falls were absolutely stunning. It pours out massive amounts of water, giving off a Niagara Falls feel, but it’s not crowded with tons of tourists. We went hiking around there for a little while and then decided it was time to take off for our next adventure.

We all went on this trip to go… skydiving. Yes, the insane act of falling out of a perfectly good airplane for the heck of it. We get to the shop early to make sure our reservation was all ready to go. When we got to the desk they informed us that the wind was suppose to pick up during the day, so we might as well just go right now. Uh… Um… Not quite sure if I was ready for that. We watched this video of what jumping out of an airplane looks like and it was less then comforting. Then they shoved a piece of paper at us to sign away our life. It is not their fault if we die or get hurt. Great… I just signed my death sentence. I’m sitting on the coach in a complete bundle of nerves. They take us outside to get suited up and ready to go. We put on fire truck red jumpsuits, funny cap with goggles, and gloves. Then they strap on a lifejacket around our waist, since we’ll be diving over the lake. After that they hooked us into our harnesses. I met my instructor, Rhys. He was a pretty attractive kiwi skydiving instructor. I figure, hey if I’m going down at least I’ll be strapped onto the back of a beautiful man. We head towards the plane and hop onboard. Everyone looked terrified. My instructor told me his first time to go skydiving was when he was 8 and he didn’t want to go. His father was an instructor and took him along for the ride. When I was 8 I was terrified of roller coasters. I couldn’t imagine jumping out of a plane. I was fourth to jump. Watching everyone go ahead of me was not the least bit encouraging. I started thinking about all those thoughts that run into your mind when you panic about dying. But then I knocked myself back into my senses. This guy is a trained professional. He’ll get me to the ground. No worries. My turn finally came and I sat on the edge of the airplane. I refused to look down at my doom. Then Whoosh! I was out the plane. 12,000 feet, 45 seconds of straight freefalling. It was intense and exhilarating. The view was spectacular. At times it was really tough to breathe, because the wind was smacking my face so fast. Skydiving is the closest I will ever feel to being a bird. As I was falling I started to wonder when the parachute would go off. Would it work? Luckily it came out and it did indeed work properly. So, I just spent the remainder of my flight, floating along with the wind enjoying the glory of the fall. I was happy when we touched down onto land and could hardly believe I actually went skydiving. The whole thing happened so fast that it was hard to swallow the whole experience.

After we finished, we decided to cruise around Taupo. We saw a stop for launching off goofballs out onto the water. I spent a buck to swing a golf ball to try and make a hole in one. I figured my golf ball was lucky. I was wrong. I swung and barely tapped my golf ball, which proceeded to roll down the hill into the water. It was crazy windy outside. Zach, one of the guys on our trip is a super athlete. He got two golf balls onto the plank. I thought it was near impossible. The weather conditions were unreal it was amazing that he landed two of those shots. Afterward, we stopped at a Honey Shop and taste tested all the different types of New Zealand honey. Then we went to a park that had a hot water spring. Hot water springs are a phenomenon: Hot water coming from a waterfall producing it’s own mini hot tub area and then the water eventually gets cold the further you trail out. I jumped into the water in my sports bra and dry fit shorts. Why waste an opportunity to go swimming in NZ? No one needs a swimsuit. The hot springs were incredible and rewarding after such an extreme day. After that we grabbed pizza to go and headed to our next campsite. We got to the campsite and jumped on a trampoline like 5 year olds for a little while. Then we devoured pizza and wine.

Overall it was a picture perfect day. Huka Falls, skydiving, launching golf balls out onto Lake Taupo, test tasting honey, swimming in hot springs, jumping on a trampoline, and wine with pizza. What a life.

Sunday we woke up bright and early to start our hiking trip. I woke up with my feet frozen even though I busted out 3 layers of socks. I decided to put on every layer of clothing I brought the night before. It was a good concept. It worked for the most part. We got our tent all packed away and we road a bus to Tongariro Crossing. I packed my Northface hiking backpack up with all the food necessities and was ready to rock the hike. The beginning wasn’t too bad. It was steep and I was wearing way too many layers so I had to shed them as the morning went along. It was super foggy around 7am and we could see where the clouds came down to meet the ground. The hike was 12 miles for Tongariro Crossing and then we also planned on hiking up Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings.

We got to Mount Doom and decided we’d take a whack at it. What a joke! Mount Doom is not a mount to hike up. It’s absolute insanity in the form of a mountain. There is no path. There is no safe or easy way up this thing. It’s just a ton of unstable rock and dust. The boys jetted off and were more then excited to tackle this hike. I was not in the mood to climb up to my death. Laura and I trekked up the mount together. It was awful. The incline was intense. I was not wearing proper hiking shoes. My backpack made me a bit unstable and I was sliding all over the place. I was terrified. We met pleasant tourists along the way. Not a single person we met was a Kiwi. Kiwis know better then to hike up this thing. Heck, I’m sure Peter Jackson and Elijah Wood never hiked up this mount. They just happily hopped on an airplane and flew up to the top. I have few words to describe the sheer agony I felt on this hike. I’ve decided to rename Mount Doom: Mount Turn Around, Mount You are An Idiot, Mount Suicide, Mount Irrational, Mount Hell. Any of these are suitable. People are morons for trying to hike this mount. After we decided we had enough, we decided to hike down. Hiking down wasn’t any easier then hiking up. I’d find myself constantly sliding and loosing my balance. I slipped and fell more times then I could count. I ate Mount Doom more times then I’d like to admit. I was not up for the challenge. I finally made it down to the bottom of the Mount and thanked God for sparing my life despite my idiotic attempts to climb Mount Doom. I am not a Hobbit. I did not enjoy my trip to Mordor…

The boys eventually caught up to us and decided we should get on with the rest of our journey. I was already physically wiped and now it was time to go on the Tongariro Crossing. It’s oh, only a four-hour hike! This is Outward Bound in a day. I needed my Fakahatchee Crew with me to make light of the situation. We started up the mountain and my legs were already cursing my existence. I toughed it going up the first half of the hike. We finally got to the top and the view was absolutely unreal. There were small ponds of emerald green and red rocked mountains off into the distance. We continued on the hike and the rest of the way was incredible. It’s the best hike I’ve ever been on. Tired and all it was absolutely worth it. We walked through tall grasslands with purple bushes. We walked past streams. We walked past lakes and tall mountains. And to end of our hike we walked through a semi rainforest. It was sweet. The people who made this trail knew exactly what they were doing. My body was so tired. When we finished our journey, I was never happier to see a car. We had quite the adventure. What a weekend.

This blog does not do this experience justice. And if you read through this whole thing, props to you. I wrote a ton. It’s good to be alive and it’s good to be on the ground.

Fishing Initiation

Dear Friends, I survived my first week of school. I only ran around frantically the first couple of days and then I got the hang of it. By the end of the week, I felt like a rockstar at Auckland University. So to treat myself, I decided to hop onboard a boating trip this weekend with my Kiwi family. Trish came and picked me up at the Uni and away we went. We drove up to the Northland to Tutukaka: Welcome to the Motherland of marine life.

I stepped foot onto Maxifun boat, expecting it to be just that... maxi and fun. Boy was I in for a rude awakening (we'll get to that later).

The boat is beautiful: well equipped with plenty of shelf space, a couch for me to sleep on at night, and our very own espresso maker to keep my caffeine addiction at ease. My first night of sleep was solid. I caught good zzz's, counting sheep.

The next morning we got up with the sunrise to start our fishing day. Greg, my Kiwi dad signed up his company in this intense fishing competition. This is why I get to be here this weekend. But first let me put a little disclaimer on the situation: The last time I went fishing was with my Grandpa when I was 6 at a dinky pond in Sedelia, Missouri. Needless to say, I know nothing about fishing. We eat a quick roll and then set off onto the water.

I had a lot of thought going into this weekend. What I expected it to be like. What I thought I'd get out of it. Here is the fantasy I painted in my head:

Wake up to a beautiful sunrise welcoming us into the day. Calm waters with a slight breeze and the sun shining down on our boat in all its glory. Going exploring through caves and coves and getting glimpses of the beautiful islands. Catching a huge Marlin shark on my first attempt fishing. Getting my tan on. Oh and also seeing dolphins. Plenty and plenty of dolphins.

Well friends. As we all know fantasies don't ever quite pan out. Here is what actually happened:

I woke up. The sun was quite lost in the clouds. The air was a bit chilly with no sunshine to reign down upon us. The waves were incredibly choppy and enjoyed controlling our boat and where it went. I failed to catch a Marlin shark on the first go. In fact, I didn't catch a thing on the first go. The second try I caught something!!! It was a baby snapper. We had to throw it back in because it was too small to keep. Pity. Oh and I have terrible sea legs. They asked me before we left if I ever had motion sickness. I said no in my confident, cocky ways thinking I can handle anything. Well, I was wrong. My stomach kept tossing and turning with the waves. Constantly rolling and no way to escape the feeling of being ill. I tried for as long as possible to fight off my stomach, but it finally caught up to me. The crew tried to encourage me to look at the horizon line if I started feeling queazy. I stared intently on the horizon line with all my might. Fail. Ladies and Gentlemen I left my DNA in the Pacific Ocean. My gift to the sea. I saw no coves or dolphins. But I felt well acclimated into the boating world. I roughed the water and I stuck it out.

On our way back to the marina harbor we hit some pretty intense waters. There were tons of reports in the morning advising boats to stay inland and to not go out on the water. Well, this is a fishing competition, and there are fish to be caught, so there was no stopping this crew. Maybe we should've taken the advice. As we are cruising back to shore I can feel the boat fly up out of the water and smack down to the rolling waves. We bump and crash into the waves and I can barely hold myself down from flying out of the seat. I looked at Trish to see if I should be concerned, but she pulled off her motherly composure well. I thought well, this must be... normal? All we needed to add to this scenario was a huge thunderstorm and Lieutenant Dan from Forest Gump shaking his fist angrily at God. This is the moment I experienced. We we plowing through 4 meter waves. That is equivalent to 12 foot waves. No biggy right? They don't make rides at Disney World this intense. Well here were the sign that made me realize huh, maybe I should start to worry.

Warning Sign # 1: Stuff is flying left and right inside the boat's living space. Apples go flying, the teapot goes flying, magazines hit the floor.

Warning Sign # 2: The boys from upstairs come down and hand us all life jackets to put on. Huh... that's no good. I don't really feel like going for a swim

Warning Sign # 3: Trish takes the dry bag and starts to put cellphones, cameras, and other electronics in.

I thought we were goners.

Luckily, Greg is quite the Skipper and he drove the boat all the way back to the harbor without crashing. We fought the storm and came out on top. Again... I left some DNA in the Pacific Ocean.

Overall, this was quite the ordeal. But we did get a great feed out of the deal. I had some quality fish for dinner. Tried Hapuka for the first time. Probably the best fish I will ever have. Tried smoked Marlin. Greg won a marine TV. I tried oysters for the first and last time in my entire existence. I also got to meet the famous NZ fisherman, Matt Watson. Matt caught a Marlin shark while on a surfboard once upon a time. He's been on David Letterman and 60 minutes. I guess that's pretty legit. First time boating was absolutely epic, and I lived to tell the tale. Great fish, great trip, great people, and great adventure.

We drove back Sunday to see Lauren perform her gig for the Saints and Sinners Tour. On the drive back, they closed off a portion of Motorway 1, the country's main highway. So instead of going back the way we thought we would, we had to cut across to the Westland and then down. I felt pretty seasick still in the car. I just tried to force myself to sleep through most of it. We stopped and grabbed a bite at the Bay of Islands. I could see where the Treaty of Waitanga was signed. It's quite a historical place in NZ. We got back to Auckland just in time to quickly throw on a dress and get ready to head out for the gig. We grabbed pasta on Parnell Street and then went to the show. Lauren was incredible. Her voice has gotten better over the years. The trio was fantastic and the overall sound was great. I was impressed at how many instruments she picked up in the concert. She's quite a classy lady. All in all, this was a great weekend.

I'm happy to be on land and I'm happy to be alive.