RAMBLING AROUND NEW ZEALAND – SNAPSHOTS OF MY MIND

During our travels around New Zealand we had many great experiences and wonderful times. Some of these I am going to try and describe in this Post. None of them warrant a full Post, on their own, but they have stayed in my memory and I think are worth repeating, before they fade and forever become vapour. Even though we were only in New Zealand a relatively short time, we managed to see a serious amount of the North Island and it’s interesting sights.

My first memory is of a trip we made across New Zealand to the west coast of the Tasmin Sea in the area of a city named Raglund. There, while we were heading towards a beach, we encountered a small group of young people, who had a big long elastic band tied onto a trellis above a great huge waterfall. It looked like they were tying someone on to this long rubber and were about to push them over the side of the waterfall. Now I slam to a halt. I gotta see this.

It turns out that we had just arrived at one of New Zealands’ very first “bungee jumping” venues. It had only been 2 to 3 years earlier that the first “jump” was made in New Zealand. We, for sure, had never seen this, and I can’t remember even hearing about this developing phenomena. Well sure enough we approach just as they convince a young adventurer that his life really doesn’t matter that much and he should therefore pitch himself over that waterfall. So he did, much to the consternation of those of us standing around watching.

He lets out a loud Yahoooo and plummets headfirst towards a bigass rock, looking to smash it to bits with his head. He hits the end of the cord and continues towards the rocks at the bottom. That elastic stretches out until his head is a couple of centimetres from the nastiest looking rock, and then it snatches him back up about halfway to where he was tied on at. Yahooooo he lets out again, and back down he goes. My heart gives out a little pitter/patter when Ron enquires if I will try it? “Come on Dad let’s see how brave you are”! I don’t have to even think about it. Absolutely not, never, ever, and out of the question.

Another incident that sticks in my mind is of a trip we made just to the north of us on a famous beach in an area called Mt. Manganui, near a beach city called Tauranga. This area was beautiful, hot, white sand beaches, touristy, and not far from home. Maybe 60 km from our home in Rotorua. We had come to the beach to give the girls a swim and enjoy a Sunday picnic. The weather was beautiful and the beach quite crowded.

I once again had my video going full blast, with Desyi and Ron manning the camera. Of course I am in trouble as usual, Ol’ Bubbaloo had just accused me of looking at and filming topless bathers. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It was impossible not to see half naked bodies stretched all over the sand. In fact, once again, Bubbaloo was the only one wearing a top on the whole beach. So pouting a bit, I stride out into the Pacific Ocean, about 5000km’s from the coast of Peru to go for a swim.

I get out about waist deep and am frolicking around like a porpoise, when all of a sudden a wave hits me smack in the face. A big wave I might add. I am turned upside down, my butt sandpapered on the bottom, and my glasses come off and break for freedom into the Pacific Ocean. Great what do I do now. Well I’m stunned, I know Bubbaloo is going to see it as just punishment for her belief that I was looking at quarter dressed females. I stumble back to shore and she asks “what’s wrong” I tell her I have lost my glasses in the Pacific Ocean. “Where,” she insists?

I wave out there about 100 yards and tell her out there someplace. She grabs Ron and out they go. I don’t want to say anything negative, but after all it is the Pacific! So I’m vaguely watching them and feeling sorry for myself. They are out there wiggling their toes around in the sandy bottom, when suddenly ol Bubbaloo bends over disappears into the water and emerges with my glasses. She calmly walks back hands then to me and tells me to take better care of them in the future, because she’s not going to find them for me again. Geezus, what are the chances?