To jump or not to jump

I know that many of you will be disappointed with this post so I am going to tell you up front: I did not go bungee jumping. I watched 14 of my friends do it and cheered them on as they dove off of the Auckland Harbor bridge. It was insane to watch! They were all so fearless! And their pictures turned out great! I was the designated photographer for about half of them. There were four of us who didn’t jump, but we were able to still go up to the launch pod and get front row seats. Most spectators have to pay $20, but we somehow got to go up there for free. It was quite the deal. The view is incredible from the bridge. You can see the entire skyline of the city and many of the little islands that dot the harbor. Brooke gave me her camera to hold and I couldn’t help but take a lot of pictures.

I have changed my mind about bungee jumping. I used to think it was unsafe and dangerous, but I now think it’s harmless. It’s just as crazy as skydiving…you’re just putting your life into the hands of a bungee cord instead of a parachute. And I know it seems silly to say now, after I’ve already passed on the opportunity, but I would do it if I got another chance (and it was paid for…) I think I’ve figured out the secret.

After bridge jumping our group split and half of us took ferries to different islands just off of downtown Auckland. We took a ferry to Devonport, a small town at the edge of a peninsula just across the harbor. My original plan had been to take a ferry to Ringitoto, the island with a volcano, but we all decided on Devonport because it was cheaper, had shops and two volcanic cones. Just for the record, a volcanic cone is not the same as a volcano. Not even close really. What the volcanic cone turned out to be was a large hill named Mt. Victoria. It was a very steep climb but took all of 10 minutes to reach the top. The view was beautiful! We could see all of Devonport laid out beneath us and the skyline of downtown Auckland stretching across the horizon.

Upon further exploration of Mt. Victoria we discovered a field of fake mushrooms. I’m not sure why they were there or what their purpose could be, but they entertained us for quite a while. The coolest part was that in the distance we could see the island of Ringitoto, the real volcano.

After we missed a ferry we meant to catch, we caught the next one and sailed back to Auckland. We found out that the train left every fifteen minutes but that my bus would not arrive until 7:30 that night. Instead of leaving me to wander the streets of downtown Auckland on my own Mikaela graciously volunteered to stay with me until my bus came. We were hoping that we might be able to do a little shopping…but unfortunately everything in New Zealand seems to close around 6pm. Instead we walked around the block a couple times looking for something to eat. We found a large group of drummers trying to raise money for a particular cause. Unfortunately, their cause wasn’t very clear and there was no way to ask with all the drumming…especially because my voice is kind of quiet anyway.

Mikaela and I then decided to walk around the mall. We found that the only store still open was The Warehouse which is very similar to our Walmart. While we were browsing the racks of clothing that we couldn’t afford we stumbled upon a rack of colored T-shirts for only $5!! It was probably funny to see how excited we got about finding something so basic and unexciting. We just hadn’t seen anything at such a low price…since the States. We thought about buying the shirts to decorate for the Hunger Games midnight showing, but decided against it when we couldn’t seem to find any sort of fabric paint. We weren’t sure if they decorated shirts in New Zealand. So we both left empty handed, just in time for my bus to come pick me up! It was my first time riding the bus without Brooke and it felt a little weird. Especially because we do everything together and it was beginning to get dark. I made it home though! Safe and sound.

Saturday morning Brooke and I woke up early and caught another bus to the Pasifika Festival, just by the Auckland Zoo. People had warned me that it would be a big deal with lots and lots of people, but I was still surprised to see just how crowded it actually was. It was really cool. It’s the best way to travel all around the Pacific Islands without leaving a park. Each island had a different designated area. There was Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Fiji, and a ton of others. Brooke and I spent most of the time wandering and seeing where we’d end up and it just so happened that no matter where we went we always ended up in Tonga again! I think we visited that place at least 7 different times. Unintentionally.

 

While in the Cook Islands we got to try some of the traditional umu cooked food. Umu cooked food is food that has been cooked upon rocks. I ordered a plate that consisted of this:

It was actually really good! Or most of it was. I’d never had chop suey before and I was surprised at how much I liked it. The one thing I was not a fan of was the banana poke. I’m still not sure what exactly a poke is.

We got to see a ton of different cultural performances in all the different areas! It was so cool to see the various traditional dances. I think that I often lump the Pacific culture together as a whole and it was very interesting for me to see the different varieties of food and dance that each island had to offer. There was even a Hula Fitness club that was being advertised. Some of the women were out front showing off the hula work-out technique. A lot more fun than sit-ups, right?

At the end of it all I decided I really needed ice cream. Not just any ice cream. They were selling ice cream in a watermelon bowl. It was delicious! I have to say that I didn’t particularly like it when the watermelon juice mixed with the ice cream…and perhaps that was the point…but I really liked the idea.

After we had seen all that we could see at the festival Brooke and I headed downtown to the harbor. We got to experience something I’d never heard about before. There’s this race called the Volvo World Ocean Race. Sailboats from various different countries race around the world. It was just about the coolest thing I’d ever heard! I was blown away by the video they showed us about the race and the sort of conditions that these people race in! It was a very big event because the entire pier was covered with fun activities, performances and people in costumes. We spent a good deal of time looking for the first sailboat which was supposed to have arrived at noon earlier that day. It wasn’t until later that we found out that something had happened and none of the boats would be arriving until at least midnight that night. Unfortunately for us, the last bus left at nine so we had to catch it or spend the night downtown on the pier. It was a little disappointing not to see any of the sailboats, but being there was an experience in and of itself.

 

 

 

While we were there Brooke saw her very first draw bridge! We also avoided a very near-dance-experience with a stranger at the beanbag concert. As we were walking to the end of the pier hoping to find the sunset we ran into a small gazebo with a piano player. He happened to be playing a song I loved! One of my favorite parts of the night didn’t happen on the pier. Brooke and I just so happened to find those same T-shirts in The Warehouse from the night before and they had been reduced to $1.97! How lucky is that!? In spite of the fact that we didn’t actually see what we came to see I had such a good night. Those little things, regardless of how strange they might seem to someone who is not me, really do add up.