Travel for the soul - New Zealand

Amazing New Zealand

A dream to travel..
A dream to explore the world..
A dream to be one with nature..
A dream to ignite myself with thrill and adventure..

All of it was a dream until when my husband came with an idea and said.. LETS DO NEW ZEALAND!!
I never thought I could visit New Zealand. It was always out of my reach and budget.
But, thanks to my darling husband, Arpit, it turned into reality.

We worked on it for 1 whole year, with the help of my cousin, Sanket who had also visited New Zealand a year back. We planned the unplanned considering the minute details provided by Sanket and numerous other itineraries and prepared the best itinerary for ourselves.
It was my first 15 days long trip.. It was my first road trip.. It was my first trip with so many unknowns and adventures..
The things that I always wanted to do since my last memory have always been Skydiving and Experiencing snowfall.
Skydiving was an activity which can/may be fulfilled in this trip, which made this trip significantly close to my heart.

We reached Auckland on 17th April, 2015 at around midnight and were supposed to collect our first car for the first lap of our journey - North Island, New Zealand.

We had planned for Waitamo Glow worm caves the next afternoon as a warm up activity, or so we assumed, and somehow survived the same. It was quite tough, but totally worth it, seeing the caves lit up by the beautiful glow worms, was a mystical sight.
This is the closest sight to reality and we were quite awed with the fact that such a world actually exists since millions and millions of years back.

We also did a few other activities like Grade 4 white water rafting and moved on to the South Island, after experiencing some hot pools and geysers at Rotorua.

Akaroa, Christchurch

Christchurch - A beautiful garden city which was affected by an earthquake in 2011, has still to recover. Nevertheless, it did not stop to mesmerise us with the scenic views we got on our way to Akaroa, another beautiful little town. Akaroa was picturesque as we kayaked in the midst of the sea for a real view of the dolphins and penguins and tonnes and tonnes of seals.

We then drove down towards the Glacier Country to witness the vastness of the Alps on the West Coast via a beautiful city called Hokitika. We got our first glimpse of the Tasman Sea here which is also a home to some beautiful birds across the beach, and some warm people and the Fat Pippy's pizza by the beach. The Hokitika Gorge located a few kilometres away from the city blew our minds away with its  vivid turqoise blue water.

Well, the next destination was the most anticipated one of all, the Franz Josef Glacier. The two most significant things that we had planned here was the helicopter ride over the glaciers and SKY-DIVING - 16000 feet (the highest jump in the world). We reached here at 5 pm and it was a bright sunny evening with the perfect view to the snow and glaciers from the city. We had our skydive slot at 9 am the next morning and we surely knew, we will be getting no sleep that night.

As the quote goes..

"And, when you want something, ALL the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

                                                                                                 - Paulo Coelho

Well, in my case, it did not happen anything close to this. It was vice-versa and it seemed like the entire universe had conspired to not let me achieve what I so wanted.
To elaborate more on this, the evening that we reached was beautiful. We saw the helicopters all over the sky and the sound of them hovering above us, was already pumping the adrenaline which we had saved for our jump. Well, as the sun set and it became darker, the weather brought in the clouds from nowhere and it started raining. We kept checking all night, if the rains had stopped, but to our disappointment, it was getting heavier by the moment. We then checked the weather forecast on our sophisticated iPhones, and saw that it showed Rainy for the next 3 days. Well, we were here for the next 3 days. We did not want to believe it and waited for the morning and prayed for some weather transformation so that we could do our skydive jump. We also checked with the Skydive office but they had called the day off. And, we were in one of the most beautiful places of the world, with heavy rains and literally nothing to do.  [Attempt 1]
So, we decided to take a walk and explore the small town. In a few hours, we had visited every corner of the town, bought a lot of souvenirs, tried a few restaurants, bakeries, etc. The weather had not improved that day. So, we scheduled another appointment for the SKYDIVE for the next morning hoping the rains would stop. But, this time the iPhone was correct with its forecast and the rains were heavier than the earlier day.

Franz Josef Glacier

So, we decided to walk up to the glacier to get a peek of one of those rare glaciers that are accessible to humans.  It was a 2 hour walk from where we started. But, the views we got were incredible. The magnificence of the glaciers left us spellbound. All in all, we missed the helicopter view as well, but we satisfactorily saw the glaciers.

Eventually, we did not skydive at Franz Josef and I was quite disappointed with that. I felt the trip would be incomplete. But, my brilliant husband, who just cannot see me upset, came up with an exceptional idea. He suggested we could try for a jump at Wanaka (our next destination) since another well known Skydiving club was located there. With sparkle in our eyes and a new ray of hope, we contacted the Wanaka SkyDive centre and they confirmed that the weather was good for a jump there. So, off we were from the Glacier Country towards Wanaka. We reached Wanaka Skydive Centre at around 2 pm with excitement. We parked our car and confirmed our slots at the centre. Our jump was scheduled for 3 pm. We waited for 15 mins, and in sometime, the Skydive officials said, that the clouds are coming in and they may not jump for the rest of the day. Grrrrrrrrrr [Attempt 2]

Lake Wanaka

Nevertheless, we explored Lake Wanaka which carried its own solitude and peace. The temperatures had dropped considerably here, but autumn was at its best, with yellow and red leaves all around, which was a sheer delight to our eyes and soul.


That same evening, we drove further down to Queenstown. Now, Queenstown is a city that can immerse you in itself. Its peaceful, vibrant with colours, buzzing with activities. It has something for everyone. I personally loved this city for its aesthetics, the apartments, the streets, the trees and the majestic Lake Wakatipu. Well, we still wanted to try the Skydive and Queenstown was again quite popular for the same. So, we booked a slot for the next morning again (well, we decided to convince the universe) for a jump, and I know it looks too dramatic and exaggerated, but Queenstown had clouds as well. [Attempt 3]

Queenstown

With a smile on our faces, we enjoyed the Ferg Burger, one of the most happening joints in Queenstown. We had also booked the famous Milford Cruise at the Milford Sound and it was a surreal experience. On our way to the Milford Sound, we came across Te Anau known for the beautiful Fiords. The drive to the Milford Sound itself was enough to soak us in its heavenly views.

We had an extra day with us which we still had to plan. So, what else, we looked for a way to do our Skydive before we leave New Zealand. So, we checked the weather forecast on our smartphones and saw that Wanaka was supposed to be sunny for the next 2 days, as against Queenstown which was still cloudy and we took the slot for our final attempt of skydive.


We reached Wanaka Skydive Centre at 10 am and it was a lovely sunny day. We strapped up ourselves with, now some bit of nervousness and excitement. Now, till we got onto the plane, and landed back, we were not convinced, we were doing it.

And, yes, we were finally off in the plane to jump from a 15000 ft in Wanaka city with overwhelming views and snow capped mountains. And in our fourth attempt, we finally Skydived, my dream had come true and the top of my wishlist item was checked - Done!! I don't know if the universe conspired for helping me achieve it or vice versa, either ways, I realised my determination and efforts help me achieve anything I want in life.

The trip was complete, a road trip of 15 days, me and Arpit, memories for a lifetime.

If I were to plan my next trip, I would visit New Zealand again, this time in a caravan for the next level of adventure.
Also, if anybody wants to plan a trip there, with all our research and experience, it would be our pleasure to help you create an itinerary for you, as per your needs at a minimal fee.

Please e-mail me with your feedback or queries at swatigupta22@gmail.com

Looking forward to the next road trip..

Swati
Rediscovering the world - Inside and Outside

Enjoy the journey as much as the destination!!!