Wanaka Go Skydiving? I will if you will

The rainy weather that postponed my skydiving adventure followed us through the Haast Pass towards Wanaka.  This did not detract from the spectacular views along the way. It seemed that every bridge we crossed had a waterfall nearby and every corner a new view. The clouds and mist made everything look otherworldly. We made a quick stop at Knights Point Lookout for just one of the many picturesque views. One view we did miss out because of the rain was the mirror effect on Lake Matheson, again leaving me with something that I'll have to someday come back and visit.

Knights Point Lookout

Another misty valley

 Our next stop was at Thunder Creek Falls. It is a 28 m waterfall that falls into the Haast River. The coolest thing about this waterfall is the visual effect that happens when you stare at bottom of the waterfall for a long period of time. When you look up after about 20 seconds it looks like the trees are moving up the mountain.

Thunder Creek Falls

Just one more beautiful view

 As we got closer to Wanaka, the mountains got taller and the views even more spectacular. We stopped at Lake Hawea (a man made lake) which is surrounded by snow capped peaks. The sun began to peek out through the clouds, highlighting the greys, greens, whites and blues that make up New Zealand's palette.

A common view on the Stray Bus

A white-tailed deer farm in New Zealand

We arrived in Wanaka to blue skies mid-afternoon. This gave me enough time to check out Puzzle World. This museum would make M.C. Escher proud. It is full of optical illusions and gives you opportunities to create your own (like the one above). I had a great time playing, especially when I got into the labyrinth. As frustrating as it was, I was able to make it to all 4 towers, and then get myself out of there. All within an hour.

Just can't ever get away from school

The labyrinth - half of it anyway

I'm really standing straight

Lake Wanaka

That evening I watched "Salmon Fishing in Yemen" at one of the coolest movie theatres I have ever been to. There were no theatre seats. It was all couches and armchairs and beanbag chairs. Also, you could order food (like pasta, pizza, steak, etc.) before the movie started and then there was an intermission where you got to eat. All movie theatres need to start doing this. It was awesome.
After the movie, it was time for a karoake contest. Stray vs. Kiwi Experience. We won on the beautiful vocal stylings of Catherine Platt as she sang "You Shook Me All Night Long". I also took my turn to sing "Bitch" with Jennae. Not gonna lie, a lot of that evening was spent trying to forget that I again had convinced Scott and Jennae to go skydiving. I spent most of the night tossing and turning and questioning my sanity.

The next morning, I packed my bags (possibly for the last time), put them into storage and tried not give into the nerves that were beginning to build. Jennae, Scott and I piled into the van to watch a video that made our idea to jump out of a plane seem like a good idea. Then they gave us waivers that literally signed our lives away. Soon after, we arrived at the airfield and it was time to get ready for the jump of (for?) our lives.

I'm going to let the pictures tell the story.

Getting suited up

My super "funny" jumpmaster and I. He spent most of the
time trying to make me laugh, at one point pretending that my
harness was too big, just as we were taking off.

Our jump area

Scott ready to fall out the door

The scariest moment of the dive. There is nothing like watching
a person just fall out the open door of a plane at 12, 000 feet.

"Holy --it!" is all I could really think at this point with my
feet hanging out the door 12, 000 feet above the earth

Here we go! Pretty sure my eyes are closed.

Safe landing

The intrepid adventurers and their plane

After the jump, legs still shaking and mind still blown, it was time to head back to town to catch our bus towards the adrenaline capital of the world -- Queenstown. 

Before getting on the bus, there was one more stop in Wanaka to be made the at the famous cafe shown below. It is famous because the coffee is pretty good, but also because of the name. WH is pronounced /F/ in Maori. See if you can figure it out.