Mid-Sem Tour, Day VII – Taupo

Traversed from Rotorua to Taupo. It was only a one hr journey. We were early at the bus station and the bus driver of the 8.15am bus got us on his bus instead of the 8.30am bus that we were booked one. Quite lucky because the 8.15am bus is the more expensive one. It costs double and I know this because we were told at the travel agent. The bus is slightly more luxurious with more leg space. Another reason for the additional costs is probably because it stops at the Huka Falls look out point.

Taupo is supposed to be a boring place where ppl just spend one night transiting to elsewhere in the North Island, so we were told by Craig, the driver of Dave’s Shuttle. I was asking him what he recommended we did at Taupo because Yeefang did not want to do Tongariro Crossing (which I so wanted to do) and so we had to come up with alternative activities. Well, his recommendation was to do skydiving. Didn’t appeal to me initially because I had previously planned to do skydiving in the South Island. Only when he mentioned the price did my eyes light up!! $140!!! It’s supposed to be the cheapest place to do skydiving in the world. I was set on doing it upon hearing the price. Much to my disappointment, when we reached Taupo, we were informed that the price of skydiving increased due to fuel price and it was now $220. What a big diff. Bummer…But as I was alr so set and excited abt doing it so, I went ahead to do the 12 000 feet tandem skydive (the consolation is that even after the price increase, it’s still the cheapest to do skydiving in Taupo).

All prepared and raring to go! My tandem skydiver.

During the plane’s climb up, I was trying to mentally prepare myself for the jump. At the same time, I was enjoying the experience of taking the plane. The plane is the kind u see in war movies, with just 2 benches on 2 sides. It felt like we were on some sort of mission and that’s why it was all the more exciting.

Our plane

Jumping off the plane. Yes, I screamed.

Skydiving is such a mind blowing experience. Surprisingly, it was not as scary as I expected it to be. I tot that I’d feel my heart was jumping out of my mouth and I’d feel like I was dying. On the contrary, all I felt was an adrenaline rush and euphoria. I reckon it’s because I’m falling with my body flat rather than with my head plunging down. I also attribute it to the fact that there was too little time for me to register what was happening. Everything happened in a flash. Once the door opened, the 1st guy jumped out while my instructor and I inched our way to the door. One moment, I was taking the exit shot and the next second, we jumped. There was no opportunity for me to look down the door and see what I was in for or to hesitate whether to jump or not.

The feeling of ur cheeks flapping due to the pressure and the wind in your face was awesome. The view, even more AWESOME. This is truly what u’d call having a bird’s eye view man. Too bad it was only a 45s freefall.

Enjoying the experience

When the parachute opened, my tandem diver allowed me to fiddle with the directors. I think it’s weird that I actually felt a tingling sensation in my heart while we descended with the parachute rather than the dive itself.

Can't believe the experience is over. It's too short!!

I loved the experience of skydiving. It’s truly a pity that it lasted for such a short time. I think it was only ard 5mins from the time we dived till we reached the ground. I really hope that I’ll get another opportunity to do it. This time, I won’t get the video and photos. Hopefully, that will alleviate the burden on my already burdened bank account.

Oh yes, it was so coincidental that we met Chee Chuan, Flora, Irene and Daryl at our backpackers, Rainbow lodge. At that point, I had alr signed myself up for skydiving. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that Daryl wanted to skydive as well, so he signed up for the same timing as me. I think that helped chase away some butterflies in my stomach. Hee..

Daryl and I, the brave ones.

Satisfied!