Two weeks to do two islands. Tanya, Moses, and I made the most of each day in our grand loop around the South, though an extra month or so would’ve been nice. We loaded the ferry at Picton (Moses wasn’t up for parting the sea again) and arrived in Wellington a few hours later. In addition to its importance as the capital, Wellington is a main crossroads between New Zealand’s two halves. We walked around for a while, but towering buildings and congested streets are not what the country is known for.

We camped near Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest lake. Tanya mentioned a surprise for sometime the next day, so I of course pestered her the whole morning. “Does the surprise occur on the ground?” “Are you part of it?” “How long will it take?” I eventually gave up on figuring it out, but she added fuel to the flame with comments like “you’ll have to hold onto your hat” and “make sure to have a change of clothes.”

Tanya made me close my eyes as we approached the surprise location. When she screamed, “OPEN!” I was staring at a sheep farm. Very confused and mildly disappointed, it took me a while to turn around and notice a big sign reading “Rapid Jet.” We must have been a bit late, for there were other people already geared up with lifejackets. We rushed over to join them and, before I had time to digest what was going on, we were shown to the jet boat.

When I debated doing the Shotover Jet in Queenstown, Tanya had told me that there was a better one in Taupo that goes over rapids. I had forgotten about the activity altogether, but she thought it was something I had to try before leaving. Our driver showed us where to hold on before taking off like a maniac to see if we had listened. Although we were all soaked, we were still in the boat…and that was how the rest of the hour went. We sped up and down the river, just barely dodging branches and rocks in the narrow canyon. It was unbelievable the way he could maneuver the boat, especially during 360s. We surfed waves as we went upstream and flew over rapids as we went down. It was a surprise to Tanya as well when – just after we boasted of being the most dry – an enormous wave slapped us in the face.

(The adrenaline apparently wasn’t enough for Tanya, however, for right afterwards she did a handstand off a bungy jump.)

On the short drive up to Rotorua, there were beautiful sights but awful smells. Thermal pools are scattered around the area and the lovely rotten egg sulfur odor makes you fully aware of them. We stopped to stare in amazement at mud bubbling out of control, but I could only last a few minutes.

Ya know those plastic balls that entertain pet hamsters for hours on end? Well one of New Zealand's many unique and unusual innovations allows humans to join the fun. It's called the Zorb. Unlike hamsters, you have a choice to ride dry or wet. If you go dry, they strap you inside and chances are you'll come out very nauseous. If you go wet, they fill it with some water and you get tossed around freely like clothes in a washing machine. Also unlike hamsters, you don't get stuck banging into a corner. There's a straight track and a zigzag track, and both are smooth enough to provide plenty of turbulence (paradoxically). I chose the zigzag washing machine and - if it wasn't so expensive - I would have done it over and over and over again. Lucky hamsters.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2006 at 8:02 pm in XVI. NZ. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.