A Massive Comedown

When we arrived in Paihia it was quite late, so we checked in then went out for a couple of drinks. The town was clearly almost completely artificial and for the benefit of tourists. All the other people in pub were young, except for the predatory locals, and they were determined to have a party, getting very drunk and dancing on the tables. We just sat quietly at the side, drinking and watching.

Youngsters going wild

The next morning I assessed our finances and realised that our drinking the previous night and the first night in Auckland meant that we had spent several day's money. It was nice to be able to speak English again, but the cold and wet was not pleasant and now I was realising that the cost of New Zealand was not really our thing either.

Our time in New Zealand was quite short so we only had two nights in most places, Paihia included, however we had realised after arriving late on our first day that we were leaving early after our second night, so we really only had one full day there. It wasn't nice weather and the main attraction of Paihia is supposed to be the scenery in the Bay of Islands. The weather as it was, we didn't think we'd be able to see much on a cruise which seems to be the usual activity there. Joanne spotted a leaflet for a skydiving company in town and she seemed keen, so we decided to do that instead. The other usual option apart from a cruise is a scenic flight; this would have cost only slightly less than a skydive, so we felt we would be getting two-for-one. As far as the budget was concerned it simply couldn't be counted or else New Zealand just wouldn't work out at all. I wasn't sure how we'd square that but what does that matter when you're about to jump out of a plane?

Joanne getting ready to jump

Finishing touches to Joanne's kit

During the briefing before our jump they asked if we wanted videos and photos of our jumps. Since it would almost double the cost and neither of us are fond of the lens-end of cameras, particularly video cameras, we said no but, just as I had feared, they said they would film it anyway so we could decide afterwards. I just thought of this situation that we were going to have to feel awkward and self-conscious without even getting a video as reward at the end of it. Joanne's tandem partner was jumping with a video camera in one hand, whereas my video was to be taken by a solo jumper rather than my tandem. Sure enough, they irritated and embarrassed us by making lots of faces close-up in the camera then shoving it in ours for us to do the same; there was considerable use of words like “crazee”, “rad”, “awesome”, and so on, as well as lots of “cool” hand signs and fake excited screams. It was really tiresome and we responded by doing nothing but looking embarrassed, which probably only encouraged them into greater heights of hardcore wkd awesomeness, or something. I wished they would just leave us alone to meditate on the absurdity of jumping out of a plane and enjoy the free incidental scenic flight, which was affording very lovely views of the Bay of Islands.

I have skydived once before, over the Namib Desert, and loved it, so I wasn't anything like as nervous this time. Joanne had been excited and looking forward to it until we got on the plane, when the engine noise and cameras made quiet discussion impossible; now she looked nervous. Last time I had been so anxious at the point we jumped, I couldn't really remember that part of it and only really became aware again a couple of seconds later. This time, not being so overwhelmed, I was able to take it all in. We tumbled right over before my tandem partner stabilised our fall and flattened us out. I had missed that last time. Next I was aware of lots of damp, icy wind hitting my face, very painfully; this didn't happen last time in the desert! My ears were also getting very sore and I wished I was wearing a balaclava or a deer-stalker at least. Only when the parachute was deployed did I realise that the ear pain was mostly due to the pressure build up, not just the wind, and I equalised my ears just like you have to do when scuba diving. With the ferocious biting wind reduced to a breeze, I was able to appreciate the view again as we floated slowly down to Earth.

When we landed, the camera was in my face again: what did you think of that? I was asked. I just said freezing, which wasn't at all the answer they were looking for. I don't know if it was just the discomfort or if it's that you can never get that same first-time high back again, but I wouldn't say this jump was anything more than OK. Last time I had thought it was the best thing I had ever done. Joanne had loved it, so maybe the first-time theory was correct, and she hadn't really noticed the cold, although she did prefer the floaty parachute bit more than the free-fall, which I reckon was probably subconsciously because of the cold. No sooner were we indoors again and the hard-sell for the video started. Joanne's was edited and ready in no time and we were sat down to watch it. The company owner was very pleased with Joanne's apparently. My video wasn't so good because the solo jumper had not managed to keep close to us and I was just a dot in the distance for most of it. We explained that we really couldn't afford to buy them, and this is why we had originally said we didn't want one. This wasn't strictly true: the main reason we had said no was that we didn't want the cameras to be there the whole time, but now that we had gone through that anyway, there was no way we were going to be further inconvenienced by paying a fortune for the evidence. Joanne did want her video though, so I thought we could maybe cut a deal by spinning it so as to emphasise the financial aspect. He soon agreed to give us Joanne's DVD for about one third of the asking price, after all they had filmed and written it anyway, hadn't they? He threw mine in for free since it wasn't much good. Clearly our time in Asia had trained us well in the art of negotiation; he had never stood a chance!

written by  The Happy Couple on August 16, 2009 from Paihia, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Michael's Round-the-World honeymoon
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