Blog 14: Outdoor Adventures

Time to check out some outdoor activities! In my case I wanted to try water rafting and a skydive. 

For the rafting I picked the Buller Gorge. I haven't done it before and chose a grade 3—4 rafting without knowing what that means. A lot of fun; that's what I can say by now. Only two more people from Australia joined and we had three exciting hours with our local guide on the river. 

Also I planned to do a skydive from 13000 feet (meaning 50s of free fall)  close to the Fox Glacier. Marama selected a helicopter flight with snow landing. For both of us it was a personal birthday gift since our birthdays will be within the next week. ;) Nevertheless, the weather was too rainy and windy for jumping and flying and we had to stay longer in the glacier area than originally planned. 

I haven't been as nervous as I was  in a long time in the hours before jumping. Two times I went to the skydiving center but the jump was cancelled due to heavy wind. Luckily the third time I was allowed to jump. My tandem guide was a funny and entertaining Indian. The airplane was incredible small. During the free fall it was hard to  but the feeling all together was wonderful. Subsequently I was allowed to control the parachute myself. Moreover, the location was perfect: glaciers, lakes, the ocean and the mountains. I would love to do it again :)