Skydiving Lake Taupo

Just when you thought we were done jumping off cliffs and waterfalls...we decided we weren't finished with the adrenaline rush yet. 

So... We decided to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. We went skydiving! 

On our second day in Taupo Doug and I got picked up at our hostel in a limo with five other people to go to Skydive Taupo. Doug and I were nervous but not nearly as much as we were to bungy jump. Once we got to the location, we had to watch a couple videos on safety and what not and then we were fitted into our blue dive suits and harnesses. 

We met our camera men and the skydive instructor we would each be attached to. My guy was named Chris (which was ironic and funny because that's my dad's name and he would definitely not approve of me jumping out of a plane). 

When it was our time to go we got on a plane with ~14 other people. 

Doug was second to jump and I had to be first. (First?!?... Okay that made me nervous, I admit). I was last to get on the plane and had to sit on the floor with my instructor facing backwards from the front of the plane. Doug was on my right side and to my left? Well... That's where we jumped from and as we taxied to our takeoff spot the door was open the entire time. 

Luckily they shut the door before we took off! 

Once we got to 8000ft I had to sit on my instructors lap and he strapped me to him. Then at 12, 000 feet it was time!

The door opened and Chris flung my legs out the door as my cameraman hung on to the outside of the plane like he was Spider-Man or something! And within a matter of seconds... Kow-wa-bunga! 

I was flipping out of a plane, going towards the ground, screaming my head off! 

Fortunately the cameraman got the entire moment on film so I can relive my embarrassing reaction for years to come! 

Since Doug was the second person to jump we were able to be in the air at the same time and I got to see him fall out of the plane.

We both loved the adrenaline rush and enjoyed falling from the sky :) The view of Lake Taupo was breathtaking (well, it was either the view or the fact that jumping out a plane literally took my breath away, either one). 

Doug and I had the best time! We both thought it was easier than bungy jumping because we had no control over when we jumped. 

After the skydive, the limo (courtesy of Skydive Taupo) dropped us off at our next hostel. The room was nice and it was a pretty normal day until our new roommates came in. That night Doug and I had by far our worst night in a hostel yet. 

One of the new roommates, a male, came into our room and he reaked up the entire place. 

He had just done the Tongario Crossing (that's the same walk Doug and I did- the time I fell down the side of a volcano) and decided that he didn't need to shower...what?! 

It looked like he hadn't showered in weeks. Not only that but he decided it was totally appropriate to sit in his sweaty underwear all day long. 

Now maybe I sound like I'm overreacting, but there was a shower 3 feet away from him! Come on man, at least rinse off! The stench was awful and he didn't even get the hint when I opened the door and sprayed Doug's body spray all around the room. Really?! 

I don't know if I've ever smelled anything worse....I'm not joking. 

To make things better he wore the same exact clothes the next day and didn't brush his teeth, wonderful. 

At the time it wasn't that funny, but now Doug and I can't stop laughing about it.  Thankfully we've only had one stinky roommate this entire trip and considering the amount of hostels we've stayed at, I'd say that's pretty good! 

Regardless, skydiving Lake Taupo was incredible! Doug and I would both do it again in a heartbeat. New Zealand has been so much fun and we definitely ended our journey the right way! 

New Zealand was incredible, but I'm ready to see what Thailand has in store for us :) 

Side note: while we were in Lake Taupo Doug found the best McDonalds ever, because it was in a plane! Check it out :) we didn't eat there, but Doug insisted we go inside! 

Wandering Through Wellington

February 3rd-6th Doug and I stayed in a hostel known as "Base" on the outskirts of Wellington. It was a nice place with clean rooms and we were thankful for that! 

(Doug modeled the room much better than I did.) 

We had stayed there previously so it was nice to be in a familiar place for once. We arrived late in the afternoon on the 3rd after taking the ferry from Picton. We didn't have much planned for that evening so we strolled around the city for the most part and walked to New World for a few groceries. I've finally gotten used to the grocery store names (New World, Countdown, Pak & Save).  

Doug and I played cards that night and ate bowls of wheaties-nothing too exciting to be honest, until we tried to do laundry. 

 It was actually kind of a frustrating evening because it took us SO long to do our laundry....long story short? 

-the machines were full 

-French girls wouldn't get their clothes 

   out of the dryer 

- I took out the clothes (I was taking a  

   stand) and put ours in the dryer

- ...bad idea 

- ... karma 

- ...the machine broke 

- ...and it ate my money 

- went to reception to get a refund... no 

   receptionist

- put French girls' clothes back in the    

   busted dryer (in case they came back   

   and got mad) 

- had to wait 30 min to get a refund and 

   a new machine 

- finally got our clothes in the dryer: by 

   this time it's midnight and Doug and I   

   just want DRY CLOTHES! 

It was pretty funny because it was just one thing after another. Apparently we needed to learn a lesson in patience that night :) 

The next two days in Wellington we stayed pretty busy venturing through the very windy city... 

We spent 4 hours at the Te Papa Museum exploring everything from whale and dinosaur skeletons to art and a virtual plane exhibit..

We boarded a cable car to the Wellington Botanical Gardens (and yes, Doug took more pictures of flowers). I support his new hobby :) 

We ate at a Pita Pit and Doug made me try beets, which I surprisingly really liked. 

We watched American Sniper (phenomenal) at a local cinema and ordered way too large of a popcorn for the two of us. 

Funny story: Doug and I are the only people in the entire cinema...we are sitting in the center of the theater... A man comes in...looks around..glances at us ...and then comes and sits right next to me. I mean he was directly beside me, with at least 100 empty seats surrounding us! I could not stop giggling and Doug certainly didn't help the situation. I shoved a handful of popcorn in my mouth hoping it would muffle my laughter (it didn't). Needless to say I think the man did it on purpose ( touché on his part because it was hilarious) and he ended up moving to another seat before the movie started. 

We also planned for our next adventure which will be in Thailand once we finish up in New Zealand. 

We watched random strangers play on a colorful community piano by the water. 

Doug pushed a man in the ocean (not really). 

We enjoyed the famous shark art wall! 

Lastly, we left a little bit of ourselves in Wellington. Doug and I scratched our initials and the year into a lock Doug had on his backpack. 

We took the lock and placed it on a bridge in Wellington where hundreds of other people have left locks of their own. It was a very cool moment and we were happy to join in on the tradition. 

A stranger even stopped and took a photo to capture the moment. He ended up taking about 8 photos (7 of which were of his feet) but it was the thought that counted and he was super sweet. 

We set the lock code and twisted the numbers to read 260 (our Indiana area code- we are so clever!).. 

In all Wellington was a great time. We enjoyed the change of landscape. I think that Doug and I both would prefer the mountains over the city any day. However, Wellington is a city full of culture and life and we liked taking a break from the bus in such a diverse place. 

After Wellington we only have Lake Taupo 

and Auckland left on our journey through New Zealand. I can't elaborate enough on how much we have loved it here! Can't wait to see what's to come :) 

Have a wonderful day! 

A Spontaneous Snorkel Trip

I love spontaneous decisions, especially when they involve swimming with dolphins! On our way to Kaikoura Doug and I made the unplanned decision to go on a dolphin snorkel trip. Kaikoura is located along the coast of New Zealand on the South Island. It is a location famous for its wide array of marine life including: sperm whales, killer whales, the albatross and the dusky dolphins. We had heard about the dolphins in the area and about the amazing experiences people were having with them, so we took the advice and went for it (why not?!). 

While signing up we learned that the dolphins were much more present and playful early in the morning and tend to feed later in the afternoon. Therefore, (because we wanted to get the most out of the experience) we scheduled our snorkel time for 5:30 am, which we soon regretted at 5:00 am the next day. However, we made it on time to the Dolphin Encounter building where we were fitted into wetsuits, flippers, and snorkel gear. We next went on a short bus ride and boarded the boat. 

It took about 25 minutes to a see a dolphin, but once we did....They were everywhere! 

Doug and I were ecstatic to learn that there were roughly 400-500 dolphins surrounding our boat. Quickly we slid off the back of the vessel and into the ocean. 

Within seconds we saw dolphins  swimming underneath and all around us!

It was unreal! The dolphins came up so close to us we could have touched them. I just could not believe how many there were. It was one of those moments in life where you think to yourself, " oh my gosh, is this really happening right now?!?" And it was really happening. 

There we were in the middle of the ocean, making silly noise in our snorkels (the dolphins were super playful), and swimming in fast circles like a bunch of crazy people trying to keep up with these amazing creatures. 

The dolphins  we swam with are known as Dusky Dolphins. They are fast, playful, and famous for their repetitive jumps out of the water. Doug and I loved watching them from the boat just as much as we enjoyed playing with them in the water. 

In all, we got in and out of the boat three separate times to swim with the duskys. By the third time Doug and I were both exhausted. We slid ourselves back into the boat and took off our gear before rinsing off in hot water. We changed quickly and were given ginger snap cookies and hot chocolate from the crew.

  And then it happened...we both got a wee bit sea sick. I spent the remainder of the time sitting in the front of the boat with my eyes closed and my head down. Doug, meanwhile is at the back of the boat nibbling on ginger snap cookies. We basically did the divide and conquer method. We split up to take care of ourselves, because if one of us puked-the other was definitely going to. Looking back swimming in circles while whistling the theme song to jeopardy in my snorkel probably wasn't the best thing. And Doug diving in and out of the water filming with his go-pro probably wasn't his smartest decision. Nevertheless, we had a blast and the dizziness soon subsided. We had a wonderful experience and are thankful to have shared such an adventurous time together. 

After the snorkel trip we went back to our hostel and took about a four hour nap. We didn't mean to, but it was necessary after such a crazy morning. Later on we went for a walk to a supposedly "near-by" seal colony (we walked over 6 miles). 

We only saw a few seals but it wasn't a total bust. We had great views of the ocean and got to see (a lot) of Kaikoura. 

We also discovered a random bench along the path where we sat and enjoyed absolutely random conversation with one another: ranging from gardening to politics. 

That night we had dinner with our friends Chloe and Danielle whom we unfortunately had to say goodbye to the next day. Side note: my parents actually got to meet Danielle one day while I was face timing them and they accidentally hung up on her (which I found hilarious). 

Anyways, Kaikoura proved to be full of marine life and we very much enjoyed spending a couple days there. Kaikoura was our very last stop in the South Island. On February 4th Doug and I took the 3 hour ferry ride to Wellington. Currently we have been in Wellington a few nights and will soon be heading to Taupo. The next blog will be all about our time in Wellington :) 

Enjoy your day and be nice to people! :) 

Until next time --Doug and I wish you all very happy days.