There is not much that can describe what it is like to sit, feet dangling, on the edge of a plane at 12,000 feet knowing in a couple of seconds you will hurl yourself out. We could not have asked for a better morning. It was warm, sunny, and little wind over the Bay of Islands. As we climbed to our altitude, we got great views of the bay, its islands, and just about the rest of the north island (at least it felt that way!). The initial fall was thrilling, the remaining 45 seconds of freefall was both fast-paced and calming, and the couple minutes floating under the parachute were breathtaking. As we hit the ground, we were overcome with elation, relief, and residual adrenaline.
View from the plane above the Bay of Islands
In the plane
Bobby freefalling from the plane's perspective (I am at the bottom of the picture)
The color of the water was a beautiful jade as we took a boat between the 100+ islands in the bay. There were islands in all directions covered in lush green foliage, caverns, and both black and white sand beaches. We took a jet boat from pier in town and speed in and around many of the neighboring islands. Our boat took us at high speeds over waves, splashing us with water, and into caverns and through arches. Our room was on the water with a great view and the food was great… especially the fish and chips and Joo’s oysters. It is really one of the places we would want to make a repeat visit to in the future.
The view from our room
Paihia town!!!
On the boat along the coast
On the boat... we went through that archway. Amazing!!!
The Kauri Tree is famous in New Zealand for the size, age and beauty of the trees. We took a day trip to the forest and saw some trees wider than 10ft and a couple hundred feet high. We actually met someone from Southern California working on Yogi Bear the movie staring Alex Baldwin and Justin Timberlake (I think I lost Joo’s attention a short while after our new friend uttered the word “Timberlake”). The wood from the Kauri Tree is used locally by Kiwi’s to make many of New Zealand’s crafts. It is really hard to capture the sheer size of the trees in the pictures so I hope they do it a little justice.
The "Honesty Box" where you pay what you think and take what you need
We trekked through trails flanked with sink holes, lakes, and great views. The volcanic activity made it one of the most unique places I have ever been. The sink holes were as large as 150 feet wide and were filled with molten mud and steam firing up from the bottom. The most picturesque site was a shallow reflection lake with awesome greens, yellows, and reds under boiling water spitting out large amounts of steam. Some of my favorite pictures were taken here!!!
We went canyoning just outside of Queenstown. Canyoning consists of trekking through, over, and down a canyon with a river flowing through it. We traveled on a zip line over the canyon and then rapelled down towards the river. When we got to the river itself, we swam down the rapids and slid through and jumped over a sequence of waterfalls down the river.
Welp… we made it to Queenstown and after a daytrip to Milford Sound (AMAZING!!!) we were able to go on a multiday hike on the Routeburn track on the south island of New Zealand. Accomplishing something like this was something Joo and I can be REALLY proud of. We were extremely nervous about the potential for harsh weather, rough terrain, and strenuous hikes with 30lbs of gear on our backs for 6-8 hours a day for 3 days straight. The forecast was for rain, heavy at times, and we spoke with a couple who has just finished a day before we got there and said how strenuous it was with the rain & snow they received. As it turns out, we got about the best weather you could ask for and had one of the most amazing experiences full of some of the most breathtaking views I will ever come across.
As the first day passed, we saw some spectacular vistas, waterfalls, and “Lord of the Rings”-type terrain and got great weather. We were beat up a little physically but were pretty happy with our day. We were pleasantly surprised that our second day was also pretty good weather… and the views actually got even better. We hiked along side a mountain range covered in beautiful snow patches, lush green foliage, all while looking down on expansive lakes and fast flowing rivers through never-ending valleys. The sheer size and scope of the landscape is impossible to grasp by any single photo but we tried. The third day was not quite as strenuous but beautiful nonetheless. We walked alongside teal green rivers filled with water from the glaciers above, tramping over swing bridges and through beech trees to our finish line. I hope you like some of the pictures from our journey thus far and know there is more to come!!!!!
The view from the waterfalls above The Routeburn Falls hut (where we stayed on night #2)
Harris Lake and Routeburn Valley
The view down the Routeburn Valley from snow capped mountains behind us
This is at the top of Harris Saddle on Day 2 of our hike. BeautifulTry and Find Joo in the middle of this photo... I love this picture
_0000.jpg)
_0051.jpg)
_0048.jpg)
_0043.jpg)
_0038.jpg)
_0026.jpg)
_0009.jpg)
