#5 Kayaking & Bungy Jumping

Wednesday night I went swimming at the hot pools. The spot merges with the Waikato River, so there is a mixture of really hot water from the springs and cold river water. Taupo is full of natural hot springs and geysers because it has so much volcanic and geothermal activity. Lake Taupo fills a crater formed from a gigantic eruption 26,000 years ago. The lake is so big Singapore would fit in it.

I made friends with a local kayak guide, Simon. Thursday he showed me around Taupo. First we went to Huka Falls, which is located just off the road that I take from my house to work. He has kayaked down the falls, which is just crazy (and not exactly legal) but obviously he knows what he's doing on a kayak.

Simon has a friend at the bungy jump and he said we should go see if we could jump. Apparently I agreed to this the night before, but I’d had a few beers and only vaguely remembered talking about bungy jumping. But I wasn’t about to pass up a free jump. I was really nervous beforehand. The whole process was so quick. They strapped us in and the next second we were standing on the edge of the platform. The guy counted down from 3 and then we just fell forward. No jumping involved, really. Halfway down the initial freefall I said, "This isn't that bad." Then I said, “Oh this is awesome.” You can actually hear me say the last part in the video.




On Friday I got to come along on a kayak trip that Simon that guiding. We went out on the lake and paddled to some Maori carvings that were done 30 years ago. Monday I got to go kayaking again, but this time on the Waikato River. It’s a whole different experience on moving water. I tried learning to maneuver across the current and turn while in it. Very tricky. There were a few times I thought I was going to flip over. If I did, I was supposed to lean forward with my paddle along side the kayak and hold my breath and wait for Simon to come tip me back over. Sounds like fun. I went with plan A: don’t tip over. After the lesson, Simon told me that he was surprised I didn’t flip because most people do their first time on the river. Funny he didn’t mention that until afterward.

Photos of the carvings trip:




Part of the Waikato River where I learned about eddy turns & ferry glides: