Week Nineteen: The New Zealand Finale

Cardrona Mountain Carting

I was laying in my tent when I got a text from Amy.

“Do you want to do this with us on Saturday?”

I clicked on the link, having no idea what I was about to open. On the front page of the website I saw two people with coveralls, full face helmets, and ski goggles sitting in three-wheeled carts racing down a dirt track. Within two seconds, I was sold.

That picture was a very accurate description of our two hours mountain carting at Cardrona. Imagine a cross between downhill mountain biking and go karting and that pretty much sums it up. There were three tracks we got to rip down, one short and fast with minimal turns, one short and windy, and one long and mixed.

Those two hours were easily some of the most fun I’ve had on my trip. We were all constantly smiling and laughing drifting around corners and speeding down bumpy tracks. Ted, Travis and I limited our braking as much as physically possible to get as many runs in as we could in our two hours there. All of us nearly flipped out of our carts at one point or another, with Travis making the only successful flip over the barrier with the help of his almost completely bald tires (in that moment I understood why we wore the full face helmets).

If you ever see a place to do some mountain carting, do it. I think I speak for our whole group when I say it was worth every penny.

Roy’s Peak Sunrise Hike

(this week’s cover photo)

Wānaka is nuts. Lake Wānaka is right next to town, and if you drive five minutes down the road, you can hike up peaks upwards of 4000 feet in elevation. The dramatic shifts between lakes, fields, and mountains is unlike any place I’ve been before, and I could absolutely be a happy man living there.

The most popular hike in the area is Roy’s Peak, from which you can look out over Lake Wānaka and catch glimpses of both Lake Hawea as well as the snow capped peaks in Mt Aspiring National park in the distance.

We opted to do it for sunrise. We started hiking at 4:15 hoping to get up by 6:45. It was dark, and it was steep. Many switchbacks. All of us groggily mumbled and complained as we hiked up and up. We raced up a bit faster than anticipated, and got to the top around 6:30. Faster than expected is generally a welcome surprise, but in this case, it meant we had to sit an extra 15 minutes in probably the coldest temperatures any of us had felt since leaving home. It wasn’t freezing by any means, but we were not prepared for it to be quite as cold as it was. We ended up with all our layers on huddling together for warmth as we waited impatiently for the sun to rise and warm us up.

As the sun began to illuminate the sky as far as the eye could see, it all became worth it. Oranges, pinks, blues. Lakes, hills, mountains. Neither a description or pictures really do this one justice, but here’s some pictures to try.

Skydiving

Less than three hours after arriving down from Roy’s peak, Amy and I turned up at the Wānaka Airport to jump out of a plane. Skydiving has been high on both our bucket lists for a long time, and we’ve been looking for the right time to do it since before we got to Australia. Wānaka ended up being the spot that lined up both with timing and weather, and I couldn’t have been happier with the location.

We both nervously ran to the bathroom several times while waiting for everything to start. It hadn’t really clicked in my brain what was about to happen until we showed up. On several TVs scattered throughout the waiting room, there were videos of other people skydiving in epic places and extreme conditions. Each one I watched I got more and more excited.

“I would never want to be the one to pull my own chute” I mention to Amy as we chat through how we’re feeling. We watched our safety briefing, suited up, met our jumpmasters, and walked out to the plane.

I was the last one on, and I realized this meant I would also be the first one off. It also meant that I was sitting right next to the door we would be falling out of. As the tiny plane started speeding up for takeoff, I couldn’t help but notice that this door was still wide open. The only thing between me and it is my jumpmaster Api’s leg. The wheels of the plane lifted from the runway. The next three seconds felt like an eternity before Api finally shut the door. I was momentarily safe again. We continued to gain altitude as I enjoyed the views behind the protection of the plane.

Ten minutes later, Api opened the door again.

“Just swing your legs out of the door!”

Haha. Yeah, for sure. Just swing my legs out of the door of a plane thats 12000 feet in the air. Easy.

As I got my legs out, I was reminded of what Ted told me about the jump on his first skydive.

“They’ll count down from three, and then jump on two to make sure you don’t freak out and try to hold yourself back on one.”

Suddenly, I was falling through the sky.

Where was my “ready?” Where was my countdown?? I thought to myself as I continued to plummet.

All that passes in what was realistically maybe only two seconds. I quickly settle and take in what’s happening around me. There was no stomach drop. There was lots of screaming and shouting, but there was no fear. Only a rush of sheer excitement and joy. Somehow, even though filled with adrenaline, falling through the air was one of the most peaceful and relaxing feelings I’ve ever experienced. From my quickly diminishing 12000 foot view, I saw everything. The Roy’s Peak view was amazing, but this was a whole different level. I saw the lakes. I saw the nearby peaks. I saw the fields. I saw the tiny town of Wānaka nestled between it all. And far on the horizon I saw what felt like the entire range of the Southern Alps covered in bits of snow. No clouds obstructed my view. I would have been hard pressed to choose a better location with better weather.

I felt a gentle lift and my legs swung forward and rested in front of me. The parachute had deployed. I took my goggles off and continued soaking in the epic views. We did some spins. Api handed me the handles to the parachute.

“Give it a go!”

An unexpected, but welcome, surprise. I did a few of my own 360s in the air before he took the reigns back and we prepared to land. I lifted my legs up, and we slid onto the grass as smooth as Trea Turner coming into home plate. (If that means nothing to you, watch this).

Amy slid onto the grass next with a big smile on her face. We got unhooked from our jumpmasters and walked over to each other to celebrate and debrief.

“Yeah, I could definitely pull my own chute” I say through a chuckle as we talk through our wild last 5 minutes and head back home.