A Couple Adventures

So I decided to try skydiving near Nelson, which is the north part of the south island of New Zealand.  It was crazy!  Although I was strapped to a professional who operated the parachute and did all the work, it was still kind of weird in the beginning.  While I was posing in front of the camera on the wing of the plane, I was hanging off the ledge of the plane.  It almost felt like I'd jumped already!  When I did go, the free fall was sick...basically dropping straight down from 13,000 feet.  The best part for me was when the parachute opened and I was just floating down, watching the amazing view beneath me.  It's better than getting a view from anywhere else, including the top of a mountain because you're higher and you see the land approaching and getting bigger and more detailed.  It was amazing!

Here's another one.  I went to Abel Tasman National Park, one of the most visited in New Zealand, for a 6-hour hike.  The scenery was incredible, especially because the water was so blue!  However, it wasn't clear to me where I was going or whether I was going the right way.  It took me a while to figure that out.  When I did, I had to rush to my final destination where I was supposed to take a 5 pm boat to the bus pickup point.  The only problem was, I only saw a couple boats suited for 2 - 4 people.  The person who was operating one of them said he had no idea what my ticket was for.  It got past 5 and I still hadn't seen any boat come in.  Finally, I met this couple who figured out that the boat I was supposed to take had gone to a nearby beach because of a low tide.  So all I could do was try to get on the water taxi they were taking at 5:30, the last one.  If they didn't have room, I would have to camp out somewhere and stay the night.  Luckily, the water taxi did have an extra seat.  The person steering the boat had to call the bus company to make sure the bus wouldn't leave because I wouldn't get there in time for its departure.  I ended up making it.  It was a relief to say the least!