The curvature of the earth

When Hoff left you, we had just arrived at the campsite in Abel Tasman National Park. Situated right at the top of the South Island, it’s a beautiful forest, almost tropical in nature, which leads right down to the waters edge, where turquoise seas lap against bright white sandy beaches. If you’d gone to sleep in England and woken up here, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in the Caribbean.

On our first night, we decided to have a wander around the local town, swigging wine from our travel mugs. Classy, I know! More of a hamlet in size, we found a few b and bs, two kayak hire places, and a burger van. The burgers looked tidy so we resolved to come back the next evening. Back at the campsite we whipped up a quick meal of pesto pasta and ate it before running back to our tent through the rain. It then proceeded to bucket it down for most of the night. The following morning it looked a little better so we decided to head off for a trail run along the Abel Tasman coastal path. We weren’t going to have much opportunity to walk in the park given our itinerary, so we figured a run would be a good way to see as much as we could.

We set out sights on Anchorage Bay around 13km away. It was a beautiful path right along the coast and we weaved in and out of the trees, eventually running down the long hill to the beach in the bay. There we scoffed down some bars and a load of fizzy worms – our new favourite running energy sweets – before tipping the sand from our shoes and setting off back to the campsite. It then started to rain very hard. Before we knew it we were soaked and really not enjoying ourselves. 20km in and I think it is fair to say we were feeling pretty miserable, Hoff running low in energy and getting tired of my efforts to chivvy her along. Eventually, after 26 and a bit km, two very wet, bored and tired runners limped back into the camp. We stumped up the $2 for a shower and began to feel human again. In hindsight, setting out to run over half a marathon off road without any training beforehand had probably been a bad idea, but at least we’d earned our burger. We stopped off at the local bar for a quick happy hour beer then wandered to the burger van, where we tucked into a monster burger with all the accompaniments. Sadly, we were a bit let down by the end result and it wasn’t quite what we had been hoping for, but we wolfed it anyway – we were so hungry after our run that we’d have eaten anything, plus we were getting assaulted by sand flies so wanted to get back to the relative safety of our tent.

We slept pretty well that night and awoke the next day to a cool, crisp, but clear morning. After a hearty porridge breakfast we went to hire our kayak. Our original plan had been to kayak to one of the bays, camp overnight, then come back the next day, but we were still tired from the run and neither of us fancied a sandy night out being eaten by the wildlife, so we settled on a day trip. Suited and booted, we set off along the coastline following the track that we’d run the day before, then turned right and headed out away from the shore to the nearby island. There we saw a few seals lounging around in the sun. It was lovely to be able to see them so closely, as we silently coasted by. We pulled our kayak up onto a small beach around the corner from the seals and had lunch, harassed by a cheeky seagull who was desperate for some tidbits. Then we paddled across to the next island, over the top of some sting rays who flitted under us looking for food on the sandy bottom, and then back to the beach where we started.

We’d only been out for four hours but were pretty knackered after all the paddling, so we loaded our kayak onto the tractors and made our way across the sand back to the campsite. It was quite a walk as the tide had gone out a long way, and we had to wade through a tidal lagoon (Hoff was scared that a shark would come and eat her so she walked around it). The tractors just boshed straight across it, the water almost over their bonnets. Dinner was another big bowl of pesto pasta washed down with some red wine, and we squeezed into our tent – we’d been surrounded by other campers whilst we were out – and settled down for what turned out to be a pretty chilly night. As previously mentioned, the sun in NZ is very strong, but on a clear day, once it goes in, things get pretty cold pretty quickly, and that means it can get a little bit nippy in the tent. We’ve since solved that by sleeping in both our sleeping bags and the duvet, and it makes for a pretty toasty night.

I awoke the next day, my stomach a knot of anticipation and nerves. For today was the day that I was due to to jumping out of a plane. I was determined to do a skydive and had wanted to do one for a long time, and with a cloudless sky and not a breath of wind forecast, the previous day I had taken the plunge and booked it in for 10am today. We packed up and headed off after breakfast, which I surprisingly managed to wolf down despite the nerves. We stopped off at a supermarket beforehand to get some supplies, and looking for the various bits and pieces took my mind off it for a few minutes. However we were soon pulling into the airfield and before I knew it I was waving goodbye to Hoff, zooming down the runway in a tiny little plane, dressed in a boiler suit and sitting almost uncomfortably close to Rod, my skydive instructor. The noise was deafening and the smell of avgas was overwhelming, but it all added to the excitement.

On the climb up to 16000 feet, Rod gave me a commentary on what we could see. We could look all the way back to Abel Tasman National Park on one side and Mount Cook on the other. It was spectacular. Then suddenly the engine throttled back, the door opened and I felt a rush of cold air enter the cabin. The first two jumpers went out, the door closed again, the throttle went forward, and we started the ascent up to our exit altitude. To be honest, I never really felt nervous about the jump at all, but at this point I realised we were basically at the point of no return. I knew the airplane would be making a seriously steep and bumpy return to the airfield as I’d seen it doing it before, and I really didn’t fancy that at all, so figured my best bet was to crack on and just jump. Rod strapped an oxygen mask to my face and shortly after the pilot shouted “30 seconds”. The door slid open again and the jumpers in front of me went out, and before I knew it I was at the door, feet curled back under the ledge, head back staring at the wings, feeling the rush of air buffeting us as we got ready to jump. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rod slam down his visor and I knew this was it…..

And then we were falling. I watched the plane getting smaller and smaller above me as we started hurtling towards earth, before we suddenly flipped around and looked downwards. Hoff had told me that at this stage, when she did her jump a few years ago, her brain really span out and she forgot it all, so I really tried to keep my fears in check and focus on the ride. I was trying so hard to take it all in that I didn’t feel Rod taping me on the shoulder, letting me know it was ok to take my hands off the harness straps and assume the free fall position. It was absolutely amazing – the cold air rushing up your nostrils, the wind buffeting your body, the incredible scenery from so high up – it was just mind blowing. We fell for what seemed like an eternity and then I felt a drop, a catch and then a sharp tug from below, and the next thing I knew we were under the canopy, gliding silently to earth. Rod threw in a couple of steep turns, the g force pushing me out to the sides, and then it was in for a textbook landing. Although I was glad to be back in one piece, I’d thoroughly enjoyed myself and was keen for another go….

Alas, we had places to be and things to see, so we headed back to the car just as Rod came back out of the hangar with his next victim, sorry I mean customer. The cafe next door had run out of bacon butties so I celebrated by wolfing down a chocolate bar and, high on endorphins and sugar, we set off towards Queenstown. Adventure Town here we come!