Day 10

11 April 2010

Today, we set out to tackle the rather unassuming Rob Roy Glacier track. The track is about an hour's drive away from the township of Wanaka. In actual fact, it would take a big-sized campervan almost 2 hours to reach the track as we had to endure a stretch of gravel road. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.

sheppish sheeps

As soon as we enter the gravel paths, things began to look much more interesting. The uneven surfaces forced us to go at a much slower pace and in return, we were treated to some very vernacular sights and sounds.

green green grass of home


Needless to say, we were greeted by livestock. Livestock had never posed as a problem until today.

cows-a-crossing

more cows

The cows were, I don't know, travelling from one side of the road to another. In front of us there was a sedan trying to squeeze through. In the end, we could not move an inch, so we just stopped there while the cows figured out what exactly it is that they want to do.

bottle neck rampage

I will admit to a few moments of uncalled-for panic as the cows are afterall, capable of toppling our van over. The cows did not want to move, or could not decide where to go, because most of them are moms and our vehicles separated them from their young, so the moms are doubling back to fetch their kid.

"I see where you get your good looks from"

The cow fiasco delayed us for a mere 10 minutes before we moved on. We reached the Rapsberry Flat Carpark. It did not look as delicious as it sounded. There were about 5 other cars there when we set off. The weather was not very encouraging and I had half a mind to call it off.

know a 'Nazgul' when you see one

For the first leg of the walk,the wind was very much in our faces, sweeping sand bits into our eyes. I had to keep my hood way over my head and since I misplaced my gloves, tuck my hands way into my sleeves. Except for my legs, I do look like a walking void. The best way to walk was to slant towards the wind.

rob roy suspension bridge

The bent walking would end as soon as we crossed this slim, hanging bridge because we will be entering the birch forest and shall be sheltered from the winds.

the first incline

Because we have had a workout yesterday, mentally, we found the trek ahead less daunting. Physically, I was in no better shape. The view was gorgeous though, as the path we travelled was parallel to a rocky river.

cantilevered human-pancake maker

HAHA! Yes, a very scary protrusion indeed. Along the way. we encountered evidence of past erosions - uprooted trees, fiords, and chunks of the route tumbling down the edge of the treks.

Glacier river

D took a lot of the river photos as we all know now of his morbid obsession with the icy, glowing, pure blue waters. I dipped my hands into the river and found it excruciatingly painful, one minute later. It was pretty cold. It's a wonder it's still flowing.

"v" on air

Regardless of how tired I was, there was still a "V" jump to execute. The jump is not so different from the travelling garden gnome concept. We will try to do a "V" jump at any major landmark. Also, even though the temperature was probably 10 or so degrees, you can see that I have gotten rid of my jacket.

rob roy glacier

Finally, we arrived at the, em, well, end of the trail. There isn't really a summit to this trek and the images are disappointingly bad, but this is apparently where we should turn back. Yes, 3 hours of sweating and toiling in the chilly autumn afternoon to see some blardy ice. I suppose, if you are in a hurry, it would be alright to give this trek a miss. Unless, of course you are a nature walk enthusiast.

ice that is pretty far away

Proof that we were there

Munched on some snack bars before we began the descent, this time with a German in tow. If there is anything about NZ, it's the Germans. They are everywhere in NZ. Nothing against them of course, but it must have been all young German's rite of passage to come to NZ for a trip.

Someone was there

Packed on the jacket, and off we go. The weather does not look like it will hold, as dark clouds are gathering, slowly but surely. Surprisingly, we did not get caught up in any rain or storm. The journey back was pleasant and much faster, as we were declining. Also, when you are with company, time seemed to fly.

There and back again

It would have seemed that we completed the trek in less than an hour, by the way I am documenting, but in actual fact, we probably spent about 4 hours to and fro.

Rapsberry Flat

It was approximately 2.30pm when we got back to the car. We bade goodbye top German No.2 and decided to stop for lunch, again, at the roadside. Lunch at the roadside is usually instant cup noodles.

shadowplay

We have had many sunny days and balmy weather while we were in NZ up till now. Today, the sun has toned down a bit and we get to see the gloomy, heavy clouds surrounding the valley we were in. Witnessed some light and shadow play with the mountains as backdrop. Unassuming. But nice : )

Day 9 Afternoon

10 April 2010 PM

After a very satisfying breakfast, we went on our way to Wanaka. There are 2 different routes you can take to Wanaka from QT. We took the shorter way through the hills. I can't remember what was the hill route called, but it was a pleasant enough drive.

rolling hills

It was uphill for the first half of the journey and there are plenty of lookout points along the route. We took our time as the campervan isn't much of a climber. Arrowtown looked gracious & lovely, from afar, dressed in its Autumn attire.

a poor image but this is the best i've got.

It is moments like this that makes you wish you own an SLR or a semi-pro. Cost unfortunately is an issue right now, but it is not hard to commit such a scene to memory.

more 'sony' moments

I don't normally enjoy lengthy car rides, but driving in NZ is quite therapeutic after all. (Note: - Therapeutic is not the synonym for hypnotizing, ok!) I do agree the images don't do NZ justice, but most of these shots are taken while zooming by at 100km/h with a crappy Sony Cyber-shot.

downhill

It was probably because we were driving down a windy downhill road, that the hills looked very much alive to us as we approached at different angles. Also the sun was vivid and it brought out the layers of the hills by casting shadows in the valleys. Again, you shall have to take my word for it.

The names 'tussocks' suits these plants well. They look like a 'tussock' & feel like a 'tussock'.

We reached Wanaka in an hour's time, minus the stopping & gaping. Wanaka is another of NZ's picturesque lakeside town. Pity we did not bother with photos. Was in a hurry to visit the loo. Ate too much, the both of us.

We did however, stopped at a nearby i-centre and was advised that there are plenty of tracks we could explore. We decided to hike a 45-mins walk around the Diamond Lake trek, which was just 40 mins' drive away.

Hiking isn't much fun to read about and even less fun to execute (for someone who has forsaken exercise anyway). What started out as a 45-min trek turned out into a 3-hour trek as we advanced from the Daimond Lake trek to the Rocky Mountain trail. We did not have much up our sleeves anyway.

Rickety stairs

We trudged through sandy paths, muddy walkways, bushland and some rickety stairs. It has been a couple of years since my last trek and I was sweating more than a pig 30 minutes into the trail. Not to mention I can hardly breathe. I felt like a woozy, doozy ashmatic. Going uphill reminds me of how age is catching up...

But of course, we soldiered on. Climb every mountain, cross every stream eh? The thing about stamina is if you don't give up and keep going, it will somehow come back to you. I was feeling much better 2 hours into the trek. Besides, the the view was getting better.

Lake Wanaka

We had to pass through a ledge that hugs the edge of the mountains. The trail was tiny, rocky and steep. It was a long way to fall. The adrenaline we get walking along that narrow ledge fuels us on. We were almost near the summit.

dizzying heights

And finally, we arrived, just like that. It was as if stumbling upon a plateu, out of the blue. Where I was used to arriving at summits that announced itself with signs, banners or monoliths, there was nothing man-made / artificial on Rocky Mountains to suggest that we have arrived on a checkpoint at all.

as above so below

blue & gold horizons

"summit"

Rocky Mountain expresses its summit in the quiet beauty of its surroundings, and the astonishing colours of the lake, trees and meadows. And of course, thoughtful visitors would leave those trademark piles of stones to mark their presence.

me napping beside stone pyramid

Climbers collect stones & pile them up to resemble a pyramid as an environmental & sculptural way of saying, "we were here". I'm not sure if we were suppose to add to it, or make another one, but we didn't bother. These stone pyramids are quite a common occurence in NZ's hot spots.

Some other climbers

Of course, there were other climbers as well, besides us. This was a funny sight. D had to do the trademark "V in air" with a family sunning themselves in the background. We eventually ended up having a chat with them later on. It is food for thought, that we meet so many people on the trip & shared so many snippets of our lives, but we never exchanged names.

enya ~on my way home, i remember, only good days ~

After resting and chatting for some time, we finally got up and make our way downhill. There were more than 1 track so naturally, we took the other track.

4pm wheatfields

Going downhill was of course, less taxing, but more burdensome to the ankles and thighs. The track this way was more rocks, than views.

rocky paths on Rocky Mountains

more embedded stairs

Indeed, its one of those 'boring' entry, for the lack of a better word. Trekking is, I surmise not fun at all. It is in itself, slow, steady and highly rewarding. It is, free entertainment after all, and no 2 treks are ever alike. NZ offers memorable and challenging treks good for beginners and professionals. Try it. You may resent it. Or you may make it a lifelong hobby.

Day 9 Morning

10 April 2010 AM

We slept in this morning. Usually we would be up & about at 0800 hours, but today, we didn't start moving till 0900. It was a bright morning, the sun was all cherry & welcoming. Though it was pleasant enough, this morning was quite cold.

bye bye Queenstown!

Regretfully, we bade farewell to the mesmerizing QT. QT has given us so much and we'll always have a special place for her in our minds.
All good things will come to an end, so we didn't linger and we headed out towards a little hamlet situated just outside QT - the pristine Arrowtown. I did not know much about Arrowtown's yesteryears or its present stories, but I presume it's history would have something to do with the mining industry.

Main street_looking in

The town was still quiet and looked like it was just about to wake up when we arrive. Our first stop was a souvenir shop - called the "Gold Nugget". Guess where I got the notion that it was a mining town ...

Main street_looking out

Not unlike a 'cowboy' town with one main high street, Arrowtown has all the vintage charm you could ever ask of such a young country. Like any rural townships in Australia, Arrowtown is a conglomeration of old and the new buildings, with more new than old. There are new structures that strive to appear aged but they usually ended up looking neither here nor there.

clever little spaces

But in the rare occasion when new areas are successfully grafted within existing spaces, the results are often satisfying & pleasing. It would feel so right, so matched, so pretty, and it would make you wonder how such different elements could look so well together. Arrowtown unfortunately presents no such a space although there surely is potential for some.

The reason we stopped in Arrowtown was of course, also to procure breakfast. Although it was my first time here, I already knew where we should grab some food. There is a little cafe, named "bonjour" and all we have to do is to find it. Because none other will do.

Bonjour's street facade_summer

The cafe was on the other side of the main street, facing the park. Its street frontage was nothing spectacular although the al fresco caught my eye. There are plenty of attractive outdoor dining in OZ, but I have never seen one that lays warm fleece blankets draped over their al fresco chairs. How thoughtful.

Foyer

I have nothing but utmost respect (& desire) for French cuisine. Forget their superior complex or French attitudes, but you have got to hand it to them when it comes to cooking & eating. This is our very first experience dining in a French cafe and the menu + decor excites me! A cafe that uses starched cotton tablecloth should get an extra tick, especially a red & white checkered one. It was as if I have stepped into a Mayle novel!

fleece blankets

I do not know much about ordering food, but for me, less is a bore. I usually go for the item that has the longest description or anything that looks like you would be getting a whole heap of stuff. That is also how I used to complete my objective questionaires.

red & white squares

We ordered set menu A & B. There was a sweet crepe with nutella spread, a scrambled omelette with parsley, a fresh seasonal fruit salad (rockmelon + apple + orange in syrup), baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat, poached eggs on toast, thick slices of cheddar, smoked ham along with condiments (apricot jam + honey) and hot drinks (hot choc + latte). All for NZ$37.

bounty

It was magnifique albeit being such a simple fare! The honey had a wild-flower scent. The drinks were strong. The eggs were fresh. The crepe was sublime. The croissants were crispy yet soft. The ham was memorable. I do wonder what they serve for tea?

The toilets left quite a good impression although French plumbing is known to be atrocious. Nothing wrong with NZ plumbing, but instead of crass paper towels or noisy electric handryer, they laid out thick wads of towels & a laundry basket. Not very environmental, but a luxury nonetheless.

Cafe Bonjour has left us pining for more and has got everything right, but they had to include French arrogance in their setting. Waiters in the cafe wears their own special uniform - a pastel blue T-shirt with a caption at the back. There are only two different captions and each waiter is assigned one based on their nationality. The shirts proclaimed "I'm French" or "I'm not French".

France versus the world eh?

Day 8 Afternoon

9 April 2010 PM

Our rafting expedition did not end until it was well over 12pm. We headed back to QT and had a small lunch of Subway's while waiting for our next assignment. We were quite drowsy and sleepy as we had had a great workout in the morning, but the day is not over yet.

That is because, we had some more important thing to do this noon. We are going to take the plunge.

A NZ entrepreneur with a couple of loose screws in his head decided to commercialize an activity inspired by an ancient rite-of-passage performed by Vanuatuans. He offered what was thought to be insane plus ridiculous, and had to hire a special team of solicitors to apply for ultra-special permits to carry out activities that challenged boundaries.

Today, we were introduced to Alan John Hackett, businessman and adrenaline junkie and the brainchild of his - the commercialization of bungy jumping.

Think Altitude
Think Momentum

Think Zero Gravity

D had wanted to do the bungy jump before we embarked on the trip, before we even hop on the plane. It was in his bucket list, his item-to-do-b4-he-dies, his dream adventure.
Me on the other hand had avoided the thought of bungy altogether because frankly speaking, I do not want to do it. Why would anyone want to do something like that? Why would anyone want to jump off into voids, throw themselves into oblivion, and risk their lives and limbs? The answer still eludes me.
I was grumpy and apprehensive, but in the end, against my better judgement I signed up too. Reason being, I could not not do it. No, I'm no adrenaline junkie, nor am I a lunatic, but I don't want to look back and regret. And, I do not want D to exclusively own the bragging rights : )

Bungy Centre

At 2pm, we found ourselves queuing up to register for the event. We have previously booked & paid, but we needed to sign more disclaimer forms and had our weights taken. The correct measurement of your weight is a matter of life & death when it comes to bungy. It took about 10 minutes of paper work and 30 minutes of waiting. The waiting was not fun.

Similar to the rafting, we were taken on a bus journey to the jumpsite about 45 mins away. The journey was pretty mundane which was good, because I do not think my nerves could handle anything more than normal-grade tar road.

Cantilevered Cabin

All too soon, we reached the jumpsite. Obediently, I got off the bus, although I'm quite happy to sit there and wait. The first sight that greeted us was the rack of bungy harnesses located at the entrance of the jump site building.

safety harnesses

The personnels came out and handed us the body harnesses whilst explaining how to wear it. I had lost the ability to absorb instructions, so I just stood there dumbly. When the friendly staff sees you standing dumbly, they will help you into the harnesses. I suppose that's the safest option, seeing that you might not strap yourself properly and may end up slipping, then falling, crashing into the mountains, breaking into a million little pieces, suffering a painful death, looking ugly in your funeral, dontinkaboutit, dontinkaboutit, dontinkaboutit, why r u still tinking abt it?

wearing a body harness & a nervous smile

After stuffing our stuff in lockers provided, we were led to the outside of the building where we were briefed on a pedestal overlooking the gorge. The personnel was droning on and on but I was not & could not listen, so I don't know what she was saying. I was just looking at the minuscule little cabin hanging on steel cables stretching from one end of the mountains to another. It did not look real.

Little faraway cabin & cable-car suspended in the air

Next thing we knew, we were locked into a tiny cable-car sort of device and were being transported into the little cabin hanging in the middle of nowhere. The car, a metal-grille box was enclosed by metal rails and while we were travelling on it, we were hooked to the wires above which was supporting the cable-car and the cabin. I never doubted their safety measures, not for a minute. I just doubted myself.

Locked in the car with a personnel & other jumpers

river below_don't even know what river that was.

Metal grate floor of the cable-car

I could not look down as it was an alarming sight. I could not look at the surroundings as the valleys remind you how deep they are. I could not close my eyes as it would be embarassing. It was a horrible position to be in. Almost like a caged animal, perhaps.

Not so far now

All too soon, we arrived at the cabin. There was an electronic sliding door that opens when we bumped into the side of the tiny structure. We were unhooked, and stepped into the tiny space. I've already advanced from sweating profusely to the next phase - buckling knees.

entrance to the suspended cabin

The Cabin is a tiny room, approx. 3 x 4m wide area. It is flanked by 3 sides of steel cladding and windows while one side was completely open - the side where jumpers take off. A section of the floor has been sliced away & replaced with a piece of tampered glass for you to witness the jumpers' fall. It would not take much for me to throw up by now.

Someone being hauled up

There were 3 personnels in the room, along with about, 10 other jumpers (maximum) at one time. It was horribly constricting and my throat was closing in everytime I look over at the open side. 2 staff members were administering the jumps and the hauls. They worked speedily as if processing people in a factory. There were so many jumpers, they just strapped people on, say goodbye, wait for them to finish the jumps, then haul them up. Over & over routinely. I hope they know what they were doing.

The open elevation

This is the side where the 2 personnels were working on. One is the jumpmaster and the other, someone to haul you up. Both are clipped to a safety rope in the cabin. This side of the room is cordoned off from where we were waiting by a 1.2m high vertical metal fence. The little metal platform protruding out is the jumper's last terra firma. The cabin was blaring with loud techno music. One of the staff had "Butterfingers" clipped to his shirt. They must have thought of everything to make the jumpers at ease.

i dare you

I had to witness a lot of jumps before it was my turn. We are allocated the jumps according to our weights. I was comparatively light so I had to suffer a long wait. Jumpers are called out by their names and led into the cordoned-off area. Once there, you will be strapped to the safety cords above with your carabina. Then you will be led to a chair not unlike an electric chair.

the electric chair

You make yourself at ease while Jumpmaster strapped ankle cuffs to your legs. A very important note is to wear secure shoes. Tightly-laced fitted boots or sneakers highly recommended. I think if your shoes are loose fitting & slipped during your jump, the ankle cuffs may slip as well. After that, make absolute sure that the Jumpmaster hooked the bungy cord to your left leg, right leg AND your body harness.

the specially engineered elastic cord

For the next short moments, your life shall be literally hanging off this cord, depending on your weight. After you are strapped in carefully, Jumpmaster will lead you to the platform of death. Just kidding. He will hold your body harness and make the count 3-2-1!

3-2-JUMP!

When the Jumpmaster finished counting, do yourself a favour and jump! Because if you hesitate, it will be very difficult to continue.And for pete's sakes, don't hug the jumpmaster. Do not weigh your options, do not speculate and do not think at all. Remember what nike used to say?

JUST DO IT!

8.5 seconds of freefalling

D executed an adventurous lunge into the void with an excited yell. He embraced the jump and came up loving every second of it. He was flushed with adrenaline and looked as if he won a million dollars. Then it was my turn.

My expression bares it all

Needless to say, I was scared shitless. My knees were seriously buckling and it was an awfully tense moment.

Video below should explain all of it. In a blink of an eye I felt myself being led to the platform. I was gripping the Jumpmaster's arms really tightly & I could not walk properly with the cord between my ankles. Standing on the tiny platform was the last thing I wanted to do. I forced myself not to look down but ahead. Then I waited for the dreaded countdown. I had already stopped thinking at this point and I had set my body on autopilot to jump at the count of 3. That was because, you should not bring your brains with you whilst standing on the platform.

Apologies for sideway video

At the Count of 3, I dived ... into nothingness. And immediately regretted it. Sure, it felt brave to depart from the platform but after that it was pure, blinding fear. I could not handle zero-gravity and I made the mistake of trying to brake. Yes, brake. Do you know how futile it is to be falling at 100km/h and trying desperately to defy gravity?

Instead of diving gracefully, my arms are flailing, my eyes are bulging and there is a painful grimace on my face. I can't scream because there is so much air in my lungs. I can't shut my eyes because I have paid for this jump and I'm not going to miss any second of it! you can't take the shrewdness out of me even in the face of death. I suppose my shit would have turned green with fear.

Finally I have stretched the length of my cord and I felt myself being tugged up for the rebound. It felt sooo good to stop falling. But once the rebound reaches it's maximum length, its the dreaded freefall again.

I wasn't prepared for it. It was as if my breath was rudely snatched away & I thought I was going to pass out in a massive heart attack. Quite frankly, by now I was extremely angry at Gravity. Totally pissed off. Again, I was trying to brake. I was like a drowning woman clutching at straws, literally! How dumb could I get? Suffered mid-air bimbo moment.

The view down below

My brain was functioning again after the second rebound. I was still hanging upside down, bouncing away like a ragdoll when I remembered then I needed to pull off my left leg strap. This was tricky because physically I had trouble heaving myself up to reach my legs in a topsy-turvy position. Mentally I don't feel like pulling anything, lest I pulled the wrong thing & plunge to my death.

Of course I managed to pull the strap resulting in me returning to an upright position. A magnet-like thing plunked from the top and I was pulled up towards the cabin again. The mountains & valleys don't look so murderous now.

Home again

Butterfingers hauled me in & I'm happy to say his name did not do him justice. Jumpmaster said, "Please to meet you!" but no, I don't feel like a new person. I didn't feel like I have conquered some sort of obscure inner fear or obtain some sort of inner strength, that was just pure bullshit. I just felt ... extremely relieved.

The conclusion is, D deduced that he loves adrenaline and will do it over & over again. I swore off bungy jumps from then. Also, please do not google bungy jump fatalities before you do your jump because there are a lot of freak accidents out there.

Most importantly, I know now more than ever, there are some journeys you can only take alone. Nobody will not shove you, push you or any of the sort. You and you alone have to make the dive. That is to me, the essence of Bungy Jumping.

And once you have made the jump, no one can take that away from you.