Posted: 4/5/18 | April 5th, 2018
“How do you do on boats?”
“I like ’em,” I stated gripping the seat of the airplane tightly.
“Well, just photo turbulence as waves you can’t see,” the pilot stated with a laugh.
“I understand turbulence can’t take down a plane, however that doesn’t make this any type of much more comfortable,” I retorted with a glare.
The airplane jolted as we passed some high mountains. None of the other passengers seemed to notice, however I cringed with the look of somebody who just got a thousand needles stuck in his arm.
“If something goes wrong here, we just autumn as well as die! That’s just where my mind goes!”
The pilot looked at me, laughed again, as well as went back to speaking to the other passengers.
I was in a tiny, six-seater seaplane three thousand feet above skeptical Sound. Fiordland is found in the southwesternmost part of new Zealand as well as house to various Lord of the Rings film locations, the region is thought about one of the country’s many beautiful as well as remote areas.
Filled with enormous mountains, deep lakes, swelling rivers, untamed forests, as well as resplendent fjords, many of it has never been set upon by man. save a few locations where boats as well as planes can go, the government has made the land off-limits, ensuring that that will be the situation for a long time to come.
The day before, I had had the bright concept of seeing skeptical noise on a quick one-hour flight instead of a full-day bus/boat ride. I was running low on schedule and, in spite of my worry of heights as well as flying, I might only believe of saving time as well as the views that I’d see.
Yet, as the teeny airplane bounced around, the concept no longer seemed so bright.
Days earlier, I had hitched a trip to the area with Karin, a Swedish woman I’d satisfied in Wanaka. After a few days partying in Queenstown, we had driven down to the region’s introducing pad, Te Anau, a little town of barely a few hundred people on a lake. It’s the gateway for tourists who concerned camp, hike the Kepler Track as well as Milford noise trail, as well as see the area’s two most significant attractions: Milford noise as well as skeptical Sound.
Karin as well as I drove as much as Milford noise for the day. On the way, we passed huge granite mountains, crystal-clear blue rivers, as well as roaring waterfalls. sheer cliffs increased above us as we complied with the road to the sound. small lakes dotted the way, as well as hiking tracks — a few of the country’s “Great Walks” — crisscrossed the area.
This was wild new Zealand, where cellphone service didn’t exist, you had to camp, and, to quote Doc Brown, “you don’t requirement roads.” You came right here for one reason: to getaway city life.
On our two-hour cruise on Milford noise to the edge of the Tasman Sea as well as back again, water from the recent rains rushed in a torrent off the sides of the fjord, ice-covered the tops of the mountains, as well as seals frolicked nearby. It was a clear, bright, sunny day, the kind that makes you feel like you got the luckiest card in the traveler’s deck.
The next day, Karin left however I stayed on to keep exploring. I headed to Wings as well as Water, a little seaplane business run by Jim, a hard-nosed pilot who had a great deal to state about the specify of contemporary pilot training as well as airplane safety. He spouted off about the nanny specify as well as government policy not letting pilots be pilots, business outsourcing maintenance, the overreliance on computers as well as technology, as well as pilots not choosing their digestive tracts enough.
“There’s not sufficient experience out there. A computer isn’t going to save you.”
He had strong opinions on every subject.
We headed to the airplane to greet the other passengers.
“Matt is scared of flying, however we’ll make him a man,” he stated to the two other couples waiting to board our flight, slapping my back as he went to do one more security inspect on the plane.
I already regretted discussing my worry of flying.
With a sputter of the engine, we coasted on the water as well as ascended smoothly into the air. Now, below us, the huge Lake Te Anau as well as mountains were splayed out over the landscape. There were lakes leaking down the sides of mountains, patches of ice dotting inaccessible mountaintops, as well as sheer, gray cliffs with trees seemingly hanging on by a root, prepared to slide off at a moment’s notice. We weaved so carefully around the mountains I felt I might touch them.
As the clouds rolled in, I ended up being nervous. With clouds came wind as well as choppier air.
“How do you understand when to turn back? like is there a point when you go, ‘OK, time to go!’?”
“You just understand from experience,” Jim replied.
“What occurs if the weather condition worsens?”
“Well, you see those huge bodies of water down there?”
“Sì…”
“Well, we’re inun idrovolante. Avrei semplicemente atterrato l’aereo sull’acqua e aspetterei “, rispose la questione di fatti,” ma non preoccuparti. Non è mai successo. ”
“Aerei”, ha continuato, “sono più forti delle persone. Ti romperai prima di questo bambino. ”
Abbiamo tagliato con le nuvole e ha fatto un giro intorno alle cadute di Browne, lo scivolo d’acqua più alto del mondo (dal momento che l’acqua tecnicamente toccava sempre il suolo, non era una cascata), con la quale la cascata si è versata incessantemente da un grande set di piscina in un’ansia della montagna.
Mentre tornavamo a Te Anau e tiravamo su per il molo, Jim mi guardò. “Non così male, eh?”
“No, non così male, tuttavia non ha modificato la mia visione del volo.”
Il giorno successivo, mentre catturavo l’autobus al mattino, ho visto il cielo diventare un rosa mentre il sole si alzava. Ero felice che, a differenza della mia ultima visita, non ho evitato questa zona. Proprio qui in questa bit la città ai margini della Nuova Zelanda, dove i turisti superavano i locali, c’era un po ‘altro da fare comunque di delizia nella natura. La regione ha rimosso le distrazioni così tipiche in altre parti del paese.
E allo stesso modo speravo davvero che, quando torno, mostrerò a Jim che ho conquistato la mia preoccupazione di altezze.
Prenota il tuo viaggio in Nuova Zelanda: suggerimenti logistici e trucchi
Prenota il tuo volo
Usa Skyscanner o Momondo per scoprire un volo a prezzi accessibili. Sono i miei due motori di navigazione preferiti poiché sfogliano siti e compagnie aeree in tutto il mondo in modo da capire sempre che non viene lasciata la pietra. Inizia con Skyscanner molto prima, poiché hanno la portata più significativa!
Prenota il tuo alloggio
Puoi prenotare il tuo ostello con HostelWorld in quanto hanno lo stock più significativo e le migliori offerte. Se vuoi rimanere in un posto diverso da un ostello, utilizza Booking.com in quanto restituiscono costantemente le tariffe più convenienti per le pensioni e gli hotel a prezzi accessibili. Le mie posizioni preferite per soggiornare sono:
Nomadi (Queenstown)
Urbanz (Christchurch)
Rainbow Lodge (Taupo)
Se stai cercando molte più posizioni per rimanere, proprio ecco un elenco totale dei miei ostelli preferiti in Nuova Zelanda.
Non mancare di ricordare l’assicurazione di viaggio
La copertura assicurativa di viaggio ti salterà contro malattie, lesioni, furti e cancellazioni. È una vasta sicurezza nella situazione che tutto va storto. Non ho mai fatto un viaggio senza di essa perché ho dovuto utilizzarlo numerose volte in passato. La mia attività preferita che offre il miglior servizio e valore sono:
Ala di sicurezza (per tutti sotto i 70)
Assicura il mio viaggio (per quelli più di 70)
Medjet (per una copertura extra di rimpatrio)
Cerchi le migliori attività con cui risparmiare?
Dai un’occhiata alla mia pagina delle risorse per il miglior business da utilizzare quando viaggi. Elenco tutti quelli che utilizzo per risparmiare denaro quando sono in viaggio. Ti farà risparmiare anche quando viaggi.
Vuoi molte più informazioni sulla Nuova Zelanda?
Assicurati di vedere la nostra robusta guida di destinazione sulla Nuova Zelanda per anche molti più suggerimenti di pianificazione!