Day 6 - Queenstown - NZONE Skysdive - Te Anau
A trip to New Zealand will not be truly complete without a skydiving adventure! New Zealand is gorgeous when you explore it by land, but there is a new level of appreciation when you view everything from above. We chose to skydive in Queenstown with NZONE & booked our tickets online. On the day of our jump, we upgraded our jump from 9,000ft to 12,000ft since 9,000ft only gives a few seconds of freefall. A van picked us up from the NZONE outlet on Shotover Street to bring us to the dropzone, which is ~20 minutes away from town.
The weather was a bit cloudy when we reached the dropzone & we were worried that we won't be able to jump if it rains. When they called us in to suit up, there was no turning back! They gave us a quick briefing on what to do/what not to do when you are freefalling. It was hard to concentrate with all the adrenaline rushing through your body, but do not worry, your tandem master will guide you in mid-air. All of the tandem masters have thousands of jumps in experience & I feel extremely safe & assured by them.
Our plane arrived and we were the last ones to board the plane since we were the firsts to jump out of the plane. There are no seats on the plane & you will sit cross-legged on the floor in front of your tandem master while he straps you to him.
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| Nervous/excited faces before the jump! |
While the plane was climbing up to 12,000ft, I tried very hard to enjoy the view of The Remarkables mountain range & Lake Wakatipu below us, I forced myself not to think about jumping out the plane. My husband was the first to jump & it was surreal to watch him disappear into thin air. It was my turn next & I took a deep breath before my tandem master propelled out of the plane.
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| And we're off! |
The freefall was outrageously scary! I couldn't breathe & couldn't scream, couldn't even close my mouth. I was afraid I was going to pass out. It was hard to look at the cameraman, trying to record my every move (and weird faces). We were in freefall for ~1 minute. My tandem master pulled on the parachute & finally I can breathe easily. This is the best time to enjoy the view of Queenstown - you have 360 degrees bird's eye view of paradise. We spotted a field of sheep & my tandem master said sheep has the biggest population in New Zealand, even more than local citizens!
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| Trying hard to smile & not pass out haha |
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| Amazing view! |
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| The white "balloon" is a stabilizer |
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| "Look Ma, I can fly!" LOL |
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| Thumbs up! |
Thankfully I didn't feel dizzy after the jump, only a bit light headed. My husband felt really dizzy & almost threw up, hence we decided to cancel our initial plan to go for the Kawarau Bridge bungee jump. Skydiving in New Zealand is a dream come true for me, it is high on my bucket list. The whole experience felt surreal and we were very proud of ourselves when we managed to accomplish it.
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| Parachuting down |
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| Safely landed |
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| Happy to be back on solid ground! |
After the jump, we got back into town & walked around by the lake. We had the most amazing gelato by the lake.
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| Enjoying Queenstown |
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| Gorgeous fresh flowers |
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| Look at that view! |
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| Gelato ice cream melting because taking too many photos haha |
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| Walking by Lake Wakatipu |
Later, we drove down to Te Anau to stay for one night before driving farther down to Milford Sound. It was almost sunset when we reached Te Anau after 2 hours. We paid a quick visit to the bird sanctuary & stocked up on groceries at the local supermarket (Tip: Buy tomato soup & gnocchi for a quick & hot vegetarian dinner). YHA Te Anau hostel has a big & clean kitchen, it was perfect for us to cook our own budget meals there. We retired early to our rooms since we had to wake up before 6.00 am on the next day for the cruise.
Look out for the next post on the magical Milford Sound cruise!
Day 7 : Te Anau - Milford Sound/Piopiotahi - Queenstown
Day 8 : Queenstown - Auckland
Day 9 : Auckland Harbour - Auckland Tower - Art Gallery
Day 10 : Auckland International Marathon - Karangahape/"K" Road
Day 11 : Auckland Bridge Bungy Jump - Queens Street - Possonby Street
Read Part 1 - 4 of our New Zealand adventure here:
