Flying High in New Zealand

By Stephen Powers  

As we climb to about 5,000 feet reality begins to sink in. I look at my little brother Jimmy and he knows it too, there’s no turning back now. We are about to jump out of an airplane from two and a half miles above the ground! The rickety 6 passenger plane circles higher and higher above Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand, on a beautiful October afternoon. 

Mel, a professional skydiver, is strapped to my back and a parachute is strapped to his. As we ascend above the clouds he opens the door and we move to the edge of the plane, our feet dangling 12,000 feet from the ground with absolutely nothing in between. After that it’s pure adrenaline, as we plummet from the heavens at a velocity of 120 mph. Within seconds my breath is taken away by a combination of the wind and the stunning view of the North Island of New Zealand, one of the most beautiful places in the world. 

While New Zealand is a relatively young country, it has a rich and fascinating history, reflecting both Maori (Aboriginal) and European heritage. Amazing Maori historic sites, some dating back almost a thousand years, are a contrast to many beautiful colonial buildings. A walk around any New Zealand city today shows what a culturally diverse and fascinating country it has become. 

My brother and I flew to Auckland on a state-of-the-art Airbus A340 jet from Tahiti, an island in the southern Pacific. While the first visitors were believed to have come from Polynesia, they arrived in canoes. That was about 1000 years ago. The Maoris lived there in relative isolation from the world for several hundred years until a British explorer, Captain James Cook, circumnavigated the North and South Islands in 1769. Over the next 70 years an influx of about 2000 European whalers and missionaries began the colonization of New Zealand. Then in 1840 the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi changed New Zealand forever. 

The treaty is considered New Zealand’s founding document. It established British law in New Zealand, while at the same time guaranteeing Maori authority over their land and culture. The treaty was written in English and then translated into Maori. However, the translators made several very important mistakes. The treaty that over 500 Maori Chiefs signed implied that they would share their sovereignty with the crown, while the English version describes a complete transference of power. In the 20 years after the treaty over 40,000 immigrants overtook New Zealand and the Maori inhabitants were pushed from their lands. It wasn’t until after 135 years of sometimes violent protest from the Maori that the 1975 Waitangi Tribunal began the process of honoring the Maori translation of the treaty. Since then compensation in the form of land and money has been repaid to the Maori. 

In 2005 New Zealand has transformed into a virtual tourist mecca. Its spectacularly beautiful landscape includes vast mountain chains, steaming volcanoes, sweeping coastlines, deeply indented fjords, and lush rainforests. It is a haven for those seeking peace, rejuvenation and relaxation as well as a playground for thrill seekers and adventurers. 

We landed in Auckland, on the North Island, and had three weeks to travel to Christchurch, on the South Island, where we had a flight booked to Australia. After talking with some other travelers we decided that the best option would be to take an organized bus tour of the country.

One of the companies, Stray Travel, offered a free tour of Auckland. When you’re traveling, you take anything that’s free, so we took the tour. About half-way through the guide made an announcement. Several of the company’s rental vans needed to be driven from Hamilton, a couple hours south of Auckland, to the downtown office. Whoever volunteered would be compensated with a discount on the bus tour. Jimmy and I had never driven on the left side of the road before, so we figured it would be an adventure. A few hours and several near-accidents later we procured $75 discounts on a complete 17-day tour of the North and South Islands scheduled to leave at 8:00 the next morning. 

The tour was nonstop fun. Our driver was a Kiwi (New Zealander) named James. He was from the Waikato region just south of Auckland. Every morning we would start around 8:00 or 9:00 and he would take us off the beaten tourist track in between cities. We saw waterfalls, caves, geothermal hot springs, sheep, volcanoes, mountains, lakes, sheep, craters, vineyards, beaches, skyscrapers, national parks, and more sheep. 

It was almost impossible to stay on a budget because there were so many activities and they all seemed like so much fun. Sea kayaking in the Coromandel Peninsula, learning to surf in Raglan, white water rafting in Rotorua, skiing on Mt. Ruapehu, and sky diving and bungee jumping all over the place were some of the more high octane pursuits. Constructing a knife from scratch in Barrytown, fishing on Stewart Island, attending a Maori banquet in Rotorua, and cruising through majestic Milford Sound were a few options for the faint of heart. 

While most of the group hopped off the bus at some point, there were a few of us who were on “minimum time”, which means we were with the same driver the whole trip. My brother and I got to be pretty good friends with the driver and we even played a few jokes on people that we picked up along the way. James, the driver, would act like the bus had broken down, and get really frustrated. Then he would say, “Stephen, can you help us out here?” I would go outside and kick the tire, and then the bus started right away. 

James was full of tricks. Once he arranged for a friend of his to “hijack” the bus. James pretended that it broke down and when he got off to fix it a friend of his jumped aboard and drove away with the bus. What James’ friend didn’t account for was that one of the passengers was a German police officer and she came running down the isle and put him in a headlock. The trick worked though and all the passengers ended up laughing. 

The New Zealand leg of our journey ended in Christchurch on October 17th, but our adventure had really only begun. I recently graduated from Florida State University and Jimmy just graduated from DeSmet High School. Over the summer we sold educational books door to door for 13 weeks to save money for our trip, and on September 19th we flew from Saint Louis to Arizona. Then we went to French Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and right now I’m writing this article from Thailand. 

In a few days we are flying to Kathmandu, Nepal. After Nepal we travel through India and then fly to Egypt. In Egypt we meet our older brother, Marc, who graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in December. From Egypt we will explore Israel and then fly to Istanbul, Turkey. Then we travel overland from Istanbul all the way to London. That will take at least three months. Our next flight leaves from London to Iceland, and after a weekend there we fly to New York City. We will return home to St. Louis in mid-April.