I went to Taupo because I heard it was the skydiving capital of New Zealand. I thought I would get a great view of the snow-capped mountains and Lake Taupo, which is apparently the size of Singapore and the country’s largest lake.
I didn’t like the hostel though, which seemed to have a poorly designed layout. The shower was cold. There were lots more bugs, including moths the size of small birds. I tried not to spend much time there, and went for a walk around the town and along the river. This was the first place where I noticed a high number of campervans and backpacker buses.
On Monday, February 27, or Day 14 of my trip, I went skydiving for the sixth time in my life. The three companies that offered the activity were alike in price, so I chose Skydive Taupo as it was the one that said I would be picked up by limo and the plane would be bright pink.
I was taken to the airport and ushered into the ‘cinema’ where a film showing what I could expect from the next half-hour was screened. It certainly got me excited. I put on my jumpsuit and was introduced to my instructor Ronnie. We were the last pair, out of eight, into the plane, which meant that we were the first out, but we had the best view as we climbed to 12,000ft. When we jumped out, I grinned as the clouds and lake span around at unnatural angles. We had about 40 seconds of freefall, and at first it was hard to breathe and my cheeks felt very cold. Then the parachute opened and we glided gently towards the ground. Ronnie let me take control until we got so low that we could see the detail of the vehicles and people below us. Our landing wasn’t the smoothest I’ve had; it was a case of getting back to reality with a bump.
I got an extra long ride in the limo on the way back to the hostel because I hadn’t been able to pay by card at the airport and I was taken to a cash machine. The first one refused to pay out any money, which made me start to worry, but I had no problems at the second.