And, speaking of flying – I just happened to do a bit of that recently. Well, flying, falling…one in the same. *grin*
As it happened, I had woken up pretty early on Monday morning to go whitewater rafting down the Tongariro River, but when I arrived at the rafting headquarters, I was told that the trip had been canceled due to too much rainfall and the river rising to dangerous levels. Shoot! So, back to the hostel I went. But, as it happened to be my day off, I was bound and determined to do something adventurous. So, when my friend Hannah suggested bungy jumping, I was immediately on board! Our other friend Malorie was keen on jumping as well, so it was settled – Taupo Bungy, here we come!
It wasn’t until I walked onto the platform that I started to feel a bit nervous. Peering over the railings, I saw just how high 47 metres was – ummm, yeah. It’s HIGH. Really, really, really high. All us girls were on edge (literally!), and before I knew it, I was sitting on the bench and the bungy masters were strapping my ankles into the bungy holds. Holy Crap! At that point, I started my mini-freakout. “Oh my god that’s high!! Holy man…I can NOT believe I’m actually doing this! Hannah, what the hell are we THINKING!!?!” But, beneath my freakout was a very, very excited woman! I couldn’t wait to dive off the ledge. I even requested to the bungy masters that they give me a full body dunk (a.k.a. Sole Club Jump) into the waters of the Waikato River. After all, the Taupo Bungy is the highest water touch bungy jump in all of New Zealand (and possibly the world?) so I figured, go big or go home. KOWA-BUNGY!! :-D
Finally, it was my turn to jump. Eee!! I shuffled my feet over to the edge of the platform and was really surprised that the bungy cord was so heavy. I turned back and smiled for the camera. Then, I looked straight down over the edge and heard in my left ear, “1, 2, 3 BUNGY!” Woahooo, wait, wait, wait…haha – this is crazy!! Oh my gosh…okay, I can do this…I’ll jump this time. One last glance over the edge. “1, 2, 3…” And off I leaped! As I plummeted toward the blue-green waters, the loudest, most blood-curdling scream just exploded out of my mouth. I didn’t know I had that in me! I rocketed to the water and stretched out my arms, but since I was the first person to use the bungy cord that day, the tension had been done a bit tighter as a safety precaution, and I didn’t end up even touching the water. No worries - as I boinged! back up, I was laughing and still yelping a bit. What a rush!! And, if you can believe it, much scarier then a 15,000 skydive. 47 metres verses 15,000 ft and the smaller number freaks you out more…go figure.
The boat came over to release me from my bungy straps and bring me to land so I could watch Hannah and Malorie take the plunge. My heart was still racing and the adrenaline was a-pumping! Fun, fun, FUN!! :-D
But, the fun didn’t stop there. The next day, I was up dark and early - I say this because I reluctantly left the warmth of my duvet at 5:15am, and it was still plenty dark out! And why, you ask, was I up at such an ungodly hour? To hike the Tongariro Alpine Crossing! Again. And yes, in the middle of the New Zealand winter. When the mountains are covered by snow. And ice. Once again, another crazy, yet awesome expedition!
The shuttle picked me up from Blackcurrant at 6:00am and drove myself and 22 other bleary-eyed and eager hikers to the start of the 19.4 km hike we were about to embark upon. On the bus, our two guides, Sarah and Danny, fixed us up with essential winter hiking gear – rain-proof jacket, fleece pants, hiking boots, cramp-ons, and even an ice axe! We were geared up and ready to rock!(climb). :-)
The mountains looked magnificent in front of a morning backdrop of blue. But, when we looked to our left, far off in the distance, we could see the yellow, thick clouds rolling towards us. Twenty-four (our guides included) sets of fingers were crossed in the hopes that we’d make it to the summit before Mother Nature came knocking at our door.
The first 2 hours of the hike were really pleasant. Good weather and plenty warm. And dry! But, as we climbed the Devil’s Staircase to reach the base of Mt. Ngauruhoe (a.k.a. Mt. Dome from LOTR), the clouds found us. Mt. Ngauruhoe was right in front of us, yet disappeared completely. We had reached the snow and ice on the mountain as well, so it was time to secure our cramp-ons to our boots to keep from slipping and sliding over the mountain.
We crossed the South Crater and you would have thought we were tramping across Antarctica! Nothing but white all around us. But, instead of snowfall, we were getting drizzle. Soon, our gloves, hats, and clothes were soaked through. Our breaks didn’t last long since most of us became quite chilled when we stopped walking for too long. But, we kept on! Up and over the steepest part. It was pretty bizarre to know what views I should be seeing from the top, but not being able to see anything but cloudy fog. Not exactly the ideal Alpine hike I was hoping for, but our group was great and, after convening for a group meeting at the top, we all voted to continue ahead with the hike to the other carpark instead of turning back the same way we came up. Go team! :-)
After our initial decent from the summit, we came to another iced over crater. As we made our way across, someone’s foot went through the ice into the frigid, 7 inch deep water below. Then another foot. And another. Soon, all of us were breaking through the ice, again and again, trying not to lose our balance and fall in completely! All we could do was shriek, curse, and laugh uncontrollably. Unfortunately for us, this meant another 3 and half hours of tramping with cold and extremely wet feet! Brrrrr…
A quick stop at the Hut for a PB&J lunch break, and I was up and off to complete the rest of the hike – the last 90 minutes! We were allowed to hike this last part on our own. So, I cruised down the path, through the National Park, with the carpark and warm shuttle in mind as the final prize!
I made it back to the carpark around 3:00pm – which meant I completed the Crossing in just under 7 hours! I peeled off my sopping wet jacket, fleece pants, hat, mittens, and hiking boots and dumped them in a pile outside the bus. Tired and majorly damp from a combination of sweat and constant light rain, I plopped down into the bus seat, waited for the rest of the group to arrive, and thought to myself, “Tongariro Crossing, you’ve been crossed. Sahweeeeet!!!”
And, as one of the other girls on my bus said, “Yeah, we’re definitely hardcore.”
We certainly are. :-D
*Video Link*
--> My Bungy Jump! <--
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=myuploads#!/video/video.php?v=618713737401
*Photo Links*
A 47 Metre Leap of Faith
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2157604&id=185002768&l=48a15e13f9
Conquering the Tongariro Alpine Crossing!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2157608&id=185002768&l=abb402722d
