So I woke up this morning with a strange urge to jump out of a plane over a glacier. Oh how convenient being in the Glacier Country and all that. I found a voucher (heads up those who want to do a skydive over a glacier) in the free South Island road map (found in any i-site) offering free photos and a t-shirt for Fox Glacier Sky Dive. Sweet. So I leave Shelley with some chocolate as a thank you and get on the road hitching. After twenty minutes, literally not one car has driven by. It's 10.00am on a Saturday morning, on the main road, in one of the most popular tourists spots in the whole country AND a lovely day. This will give you an idea of how little people there is on the South Island, tourists or no tourists. I head to the I-site and ask about the shuttle. Even though it's Saturday - it's not running. Right...! So I tell the lady I'm 'planning' on doing a sky dive over Fox Glacier and within one minutes she has called them, booked my skydive and organised for them to come pick me up, free of charge. Awesome! But also...... no turning back now. Oh wow. They are coming to pick me up at 1.30pm, so I kill a few hours in 'Full of Beans' cafe with a delicious Mocha Frappe and free wifi. I also meet Shelley again who is egging me on for what I'm about to do.
When I get picked up I realise that there really is no turning back! We pick up a French hitchhiker, Xavier and begin to watch a video. We then sign forms. The company will not pay out any insurance or take any responsibility should I die. Okay. No worries. No worries whatsoever. We get to the drop zone, are kitted out and before I know it we are in the plane taking off. At the moment, I have the same feeling I have 10 minutes before curtain call the first night of a theatre show. Except a million times worse. I am TERRIFIED. I would like to think of myself as a cool 'adrenalin junkie' but I am definitely not cool enough to give myself that label. And this feeling confirms that! Within minutes, my legs are out the door, I am posing (or just sitting there hyperventilating) for the 'wing photo' and BOOM I am tumbling through the clouds. I'm also screaming so hard that I've forgotten to breathe so after finding my breathe and realising I'm not dead I begin to enjoy the experience of flying through the air at 12,000 feet above the ground. And it's pure unadulterated bliss! The view of the glacier, and the Tasman sea meeting land is spectacular. When we finally reach the ground I am buzzing and wondering when I can do my next skydive. What a rush! I would really recommend this company and at 300 dollars for 12,000 feet, pick up from another town, free wing photos and a t-shirt - I think I got a quality bargain!
Skydive Fox Glacier
When I get to my hostel Ivory Towers in the cute, alpine township of Fox Glacier, I meet Xavier, our hitchhiker from earlier, and also two new guys - Dror from Israel and Joe from the UK. We all get chatting and decide to head to Lake Matheson to catch the sun go down. Dror has a car so we are there in ten minutes. We begin the walk and are laughing and joking along the way - these three guys together are hilarious and it certainly doesn't feel like I've only known them only half an hour. I also cannot wipe the permanent happy grin off my face because I just jumped out of a plane. Ahhh! Lake Matheson is also known as 'Mirror Lake', famous for the beautiful reflections it creates. We are told not to count on getting the money shot and it's 'rarely still enough' to really capture the beauty but I think we did a good enough job. We reach 'Reflection Island' and admire the mountains in the lake. We play a few echo games and joke push eachother in before walking back through the forest in the dark to the car. We pick up a few beers, head back to the hostel, play charades, watch stupid prank videos and laugh uncontrollably for the rest of the evening. It's perfect days like today that will make me smile when I'm old and grey. And I'll know that I have truly lived.
Cue slagging.
Beautiful Lake Matheson
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