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For what felt like the first time in New Zealand, we did have some good fortune. We woke up to beautiful clear skies over the Lake Taupo. Perfect conditions for skydiving.

From New Zealand

We were picked up by a white limo which was a nice touch. We’d booked to do the 15,000ft skydive which is the highest you can do it from New Zealand. “All the way to the top”. Some skydive operators offer oxygen-assistance from this hight, but ours were hardcore.

The 15,000ft dive guaranteed a 60 second freefall. As we ascended to that dizzy height, I did begin to feel a little nauseous which I attribute entirely to the lack of oxygen, not the fear of falling. The freefall was an awesome rush although, unlike the bungee I did in Whistler, at no point did I fear I was going to die. The initial jump out of the plane was the hardest part, but being strapped to an instructor made me feel very secure. Additionally, he was the one that controlled when we jumped out of the place… with a bungee, you have to make the conscious decision to step or jump over the ledge yourself. That said, it didn’t stop Oli holding on to the sides of the plane door for dear life whilst the instructor tried to push him out. I was lucky because with me and my instructor, was another instructor doing a solo dive with a camera attached to his head and taking footage for a promotional video. This was an awesome little bonus as we dot a chance to dive around each other, grabs hands, spin round e.t.c. It wasn’t until after the parachute opened that I was able to take in the awesome views over Lake Taupo. See the “Falling in New Zealand” video for footage from my skydive,

From New Zealand

After the skydive, we drove round the lake and through the mountain range to Whakapapa for some skiing. The drive was breathetaking. (there is some footage of it in the video but it really doesn’t do it justice).

Once we’d sorted out our equipment and lift ticket that evening, we set up camp in Whakapapa. We’d had a tip-off that the lift’s may be “unofficially” opening at 7.30 the next morning even though the advertised opening time was 9am. Being close to the mountain would mean would could get a head start on the rest of the weekend crowd, but we knew it would be a cold night if we didn’t stay at a powered camp-site so we could plug in the heater. So far though, we had not plugged in the van at all and we had to survived, so it was going to be interesting to see just how cold we could “comfortably” camp.

Before going to bed, I dressed for a days skiing. 3 layers on top, wooley hat, and the ski trousers that I had brought in Hamilton for approximately £25. As I was trying to fall asleep, it was so cold, I could see my own breathe. When we got up at 7am, the condensation on the inside of the van had frozen! It really was that cold. I was amazed that the ants which had been living with us in the van since the beginning of the trip were still alive.

The early start paid off through. For nearly 2 hours we had the mountain to ourselves, a benefit we didn’t fully appreciate until we head back into the main system at 10am and hit 10+ minute queues.

From New Zealand

Conditions were far from ideal though with anything off the groomed runs being icy, patchy and scratchy. It was nice to be on skis again and rekindle an old flame with a pair of rented K2 Apache Crossfires, the same ski’s that I trashed a couple of years ago in Les Deux Alps. Twice. It was also nice to have the mountain that all “Lord of the Rings” fans would recognise as Mount Doom as the backdrop.

From New Zealand

From New Zealand

I couldn’t help but think to myself though “This place is no Whistler”.

That night, for the first night on the trip so far, we stayed in a powered camp site in Palmerston North. We would have probably braved another night in the cold, but by this point we really needed to refill the empty water tank and wash some clothes.

We were going to go out to a pub in town to watch the rugby, but when Oli came back after collecting the washing to find me lying down with the heater at my feet and a glass of red wine in my hand, it was clear that I wasn’t going to be moving much more tonight.

The next morning we set off for Wellington, New Zealand’s capital and our final destination on the north Island. Wellington certainly wasn’t what I was expecting from New Zealands capital. It was small and walkable understated. It had a great harbour. It all made sense. I liked it. Oli was particularly pleased he found a Welsch pub. The writing on the sign claimed that it was “The only Welsch pub in the Southern Hemisphere”. Although it was early afternoon and the pub wasn’t open, it looked to me like the place had been closed for years. I took him to an Irish pub for lunch.

From New Zealand

Upon returning to the van and finding a new army of ants on the dashboard, Oli decided he’d had enough of the ants (I think he’s scared of them) and he called the van hire place who organised a change of van for the next morning.

After driving up and down the coast a few times to assess the camping-spots by the side of the road that we would be least likely to get moved on by the police, we decided to be bold and park right near the harbour.

We changed the van the next morning to find that our replacement van had been driven all the way from Auckland through the night (even though there was a depot in Wellington!), we drove onto the ferry and waved goodbye to the North Island and crossed the calm water in anticipation of even colder temperatures in the South Island.