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Wednesday 13 July 2016

Trading Everything #2 Whop,Whop,Vroom,Vroom, Pop,Pop- The Road to Oz



A 13 month visa gave us a bit of travel time before landing in Australia for the exchange so we decided to see what the Kiwis were up to.


  

  Jan thought it would be fun to start the day before breakfast by strapping me into a helicopter so that I was pressed against the window. Next apparently it was supposed to be fun to go land on top of some perfectly good, freezing cold, glacier that is located just under the summit of some ridiculously high mountain. Then wouldn't it be more fun to cruise by Mt Cook (the highest mountain in NZ)? What about cruising over an ice field of giant crevices?
  Our pilot was excellent, and apparently my screams were not responsible for the sudden violent changes in direction and altitude. We had a good look at Mt Cook but you can see it better if your eyes aren't squeezed shut. When the helicopter finally landed I won the prize for being the first out.
 

  So for today's morning adventure, Jan tossed me in the front bench of a jet boat and told me to hang on. These things do 85km/hr while going down the winding Shotover River. The idea is to try to get as close as you can (literally inches) to a canyon wall at the highest speed possible while somehow trying not to end up in the evening news. For those who somehow seemed to need more they throw in a number of high speed 360 turns. It kind of reminded me of my favourite ride as a kid, -the tilt-a-whirl. The only difference is that when I was a kid the people beside me were able to hang on to the bar and didn't crash me into the side of the boat. Getting to the river and back was much worse than the actual river trip. The wind was howling on the lake that lead to the river,and the white caps soon gave way to enormous waves. Being at the front of the boat, it would rise up and then fall like an elevator out of control. When we hit the bottom of the wave the crash would send a jolt up your spine that would make you a star at a chiropractor convention. My tail bone is now located just under my right shoulder. We got soaked! They only thing dry was my life insurance policy that Jan has been keeping in a plastic bag in her purse.   Later we did a wine cellar, tour in a cave. We left them some wine.
Then we watched some people bungie jump off of a high bridge over a raging river. Nooooooooooooooooo!
       


 Last night when a major wind storm hit our area, I insisted on going down to the ocean to see the waves. Unfortunately the sun had already set so you could see them but not clearly. In my haste I had left my running shoes on, which is not generally a good idea as they will get really stinky.  As we walked along the beach, every now and again we were surprised by sharp, loud, popping sounds. We started to look for what was causing these little explosions. In the dim light we could make out what looked like finger sized blue balloons that had been left on the beach after some child's party. A closer look showed the long blue threads hanging from the balloons. The wind had blown in a beach load of the stinging blue bottle jelly fish and we had been merrily walking along, stepping on their heads and popping them. How Jan didn't get stung I don't really know.
                                                                                                                                Ken

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