This morning was reserved as a back-up day for heli-hike in case of bad weather yesterday. To me, good planning includes having back-up days as such so that we don’t miss activities we like! Thankfully, we had good weather yesterday and it only rained this morning!!
Today, we had to do a 3hr drive to Wanaka for our next adventure: skydiving!! Usually, when google maps show 3hrs, we would take longer than that because of pit stops to rest or to take photos.
We skipped breakfast at the town because I wanted to visit a salmon farm and dine there. Sadly, the salmon farm cafe that I was looking forward to was closed! So we drove in hunger for about an hour till the next town we came across: Haast.
I would say I enjoyed this stretch of the drive the most. We cut through a few national parks and visited a few waterfalls. First, we came across the Thunder Creek Falls, then the Fantail Falls and finally the Blue Pools! Once again, it’s never wrong to follow the crowd. Follow the other cars in front. If you see many of them stopping by the road, you won’t go wrong following them and the trails! There’s must be something worth exploring!
Finally, we reached Wanaka for our Skydive! Similarly, this deal was bought through bookme.com! Since New Zealand is known for such extreme adventures, we felt that we had to do it here. And the reason why we chose to jump at Wanaka instead of Queenstown is purely because it was cheaper at Wanaka! Haha!
Many people shared about the heights and the thrill of jumping out of an aeroplane. Yes, these are all true. Did I make the right decision to do skydiving? Yes. Would I do it again? No.
Nobody warned us of the possible motion sickness. From the moment I dangled outside the plane at 12,000 feet while strapped to my instructor, my life was in his hands. It was thrilling yet terrifying! There was immense pain in my ear due to air pressure during the first 10 seconds of free-falling. I thought we would glide down gracefully and slowly once the parachute was opened. OMG, that was when I started to feel the motion sickness kick in!
Although I had words written on my palms and was all smiles for the camera, I couldn’t wait to land. We were spinning round and round while approaching the ground, possibly to steer ourselves to land on the right spot. When we finally landed, the instructor gave me a high-5! I smiled, returned the high-5, turned around and walked to my husband like a drunkard. It was so bad that I just sat next to the grass patch and had no energy to review the videos taken earlier. Any thoughts or reminder of the jump made me nauseous for a few days.
Given my state at that moment, I could not drive. Hubby took the drive and we decided to head for our Airbnb straightaway. Usually, I would talk to the owners to find out more about the area and ask for food recommendations. That day, I headed straight for the room (bed in particular) and lied down to rest while hubby and the male owner helped to move our luggage up to the 2nd floor of the apartment.
By the time I woke up, it was dinner time. Still feeling nauseous, we headed out for dinner and came across a restaurant The Cow. Although the owner recommended Indian cuisines (they seem to like Indian food in NZ), we decided to dine at The Cow. It was an absolutely right decision I have to say! They had a cosy ambience and we had a table next to the fire place. We ordered a pasta and a pizza to share. My appetite came back instantly!
Perrine Travels 