So I know its been a long time since my last confession/blogpost; the cause is about 1/3 connectivity issues, 1/3 scheduling and 1/3 sloth. The fact is that I've been having a great deal of fun simply enjoying things in places where wifi does not exist or is painfully slow. I recommend it!
I just finished a short run in Queenstown, a beautiful little city on Lake Wakatipu in the heart of the South Island of Australia. It is the South Island's center for all things sporting, from hiking to skiing to whitewater rafting to bungy-jumping. In fact it is the birthplace of buggy-jumping and can be "enjoyed" in a variety of places and variations around town. Queenstown is surrounded by mountains that still have snow even though it is late in the spring here; in fact it is the first place I have seen that has summer and Christmas sales going on simultaneously. More about this surpassingly gorgeous place a bit later.
For now, I'll try to backtrack in the next couple of posts to bring you up to date, starting with my arrival in Auckland and then the 12 days or so of the trip up to now.
Auckland is a great city situated, like Sydney, on a stunning natural harbor. Home to 1.5 million Kiwis, about a third of the entire country's population, it is very walkable town and my first night I simply strolled down to the waterfront and had a great bouillabaisse, which loyal readers know is a favorite. Here is the view from my table.
The next day I took a day trip to Rangitoto Island via ferry. Rangitoto is a volcanic island just 600 years old but features a nice little hill that locals flock to climb up to enjoy the views. To get a little warmup for my hiking trip, I joined them and had a great time walking past lava fields to the top. The reward is a fantastic view of Auckland and the many islands nearby, including headlands that lead to the Pacific.
You might ask yourself "why is this man smiling?" Good question. In fact the whole episode is too bizarre. The jump technician to my left is not about to barf, contrary to all appearances, but has assumed a classic Maori pose, complete with an impressively downward extended tongue. Or maybe she was just making fun of me.
Moments later, I turned around and really began to question my sanity (those of you who know me gave up on that long ago). On the count of three, I jumped, attached only by a wire. They dropped me first about 50 feet so that I could dangle and wave at the camera. See the silly man suspended 600 feet in the air?
Yep, that's me. Fortunately you can't see the pedestrians trying to dodge the yellow fluid coming at them. Just after taking this photo, they dropped me at terminal velocity another 500+ feet and then slowed me so that I could land without doing a full face plant. If you look at my left wrist, you'll see a video camera. When I am back in NYC, I'll upload the video so that you can see me screaming like a little girl (forgive me if this was sexist). I know the video will be a wonderful early Christmas present for my sons. Its been at least two months since I last embarrassed them.
The next day, I flew to Christchurch, the principal city of the South Island and the starting point for my two-week New Zealand adventure. I did not get to see much of the city, partly because of the timetable and partly because much of it is being completely reconstructed following devastating earthquakes that struck the city a couple of years ago.
More to come, hopefully soon!
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