Thursday 27 November 2014

TBT- Skydiving in New Zealand


"I'd rather regret the things I've done than the things that I haven't"
Lucille Ball

New Zealand is an incredible country. The best way that I can describe it is that it feels undiscovered, like you could see a dinosaur walk past you any minute. It is full of amazing natural beauty and has something for everyone. I went backpacking around both islands with my friend Louise for about 6 weeks during our round the world trip. One of the highlights for me was our skydive in Wanaka.

Wanaka is a small town on the shores of Lake Wanaka on the south island about an hour away from Queenstown. It's a beautiful little town. Myself and Lou were lucky enough to have our college friend Kate meet us and also Gary, who is Louise's now husband.
Still as good friends today as we were back then (maybe even better)

Throughout our travels I had always said, with 100% conviction that I would never do a skydive. It wasn't even an option for me. Then, like so many other travelers before and after me, something happened to me in New Zealand. It's the adventure capital of the world and doing a skydive is almost normal here. Once we got to Wanaka, before I even knew what I was doing, Kate, Louise and I signed ourselves up for a skydive the next day.

I was so nervous that entire night, I still couldn't believe that I would be throwing myself out of a plane the next day. That morning we woke up and went to check with reception that the skydive was still happening. Unfortunately (or luckily, I wasn't sure) it was too windy and they postponed it for that evening but there were no guarantees that it would still happen. We would just have to return later in the day and see how the weather was. I breathed a sigh of relief and hoped a little that it would be too windy later in the day.

So instead of the skydive we decided to go and visit Puzzling World in Wanaka. If you ever go and visit Wanaka, make sure that you stop by Puzzling World. It's full of optical illusions and a huge outdoor maze.



We had so much fun and we had convinced ourselves that the skydive would be cancelled so when we got back to the hostel and were told that it would indeed be going ahead I think we all died a little.

We drove to the skydive site and were so surprised at how routine it was. Planes were going up every 15 minutes or so and the instructors were doing over 20 dives a day!
We had expected to have a lot of time learning what to do but really all we had to worry about was just to get out of the plane and how to land as we would each be attached to an instructor doing all of the work.
Our names were on the computer...there was no turning back now!


The three of us just before getting on the plane (don't let those smiles fool
you, we were petrified!)

We got in to our tiny plane and because I was the last to get in I was going to be the first out. Going up in the plane was the most frightening experience of my life, the plane kept getting higher and higher. At one stage I turned to my instructor and said "wow, we are high", to which he responded "yeah, we are about halfway up"

In the plane and ready to go.

Then it was time to open the doors, a mini heart attack later and my legs were dangling from the plane. I was beyond terrified at this stage and had my eyes closed but was forced to open them for the camera. Before I knew it, my instructor counted to 3 and we were rolling out of the plane. The second that we were out of the plane all of my fears were gone and it was replaced with an incredible adrenaline rush.
haha this photo sums up how I was really feeling, completely panicked!

But once we were out of the plane it was incredible!

I was floating in the air looking at incredible snow-capped mountains and feeling invincible. I could have gone straight up in another plane and did it all again  at that stage. The serenity while you are floating so high up is otherworldly. After I landed I waited for Kate and Louise to land and we all just hugged and jumped. None of us quite believing what we had just done and all of us pumped up with adrenaline.

Feeling on top of the world.



Reunited and you can see the adrenaline in our faces

Still, to this day I think it was one of the best days of my life and a moment that I'll never forget. I was so happy that I managed to do the very thing that I feared.

How about you? Have you ever done a skydive? Do you think you ever will?




Tuesday 25 November 2014

Why you should consider adding Malaysia to your SEA trip


When I did my round the world trip I went to the "usual" countries on the backpacker trail in South East Asia. They are Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. I had an incredible time but a couple of years later myself and Jason were planning our first long holiday together and decided on Malaysia.
We had an incredible time there and I've swiftly moved it on to my top countries list.

Why did we love it and why should you go?
Here are some reasons:


It's South East Asia without the usual crowd:

So many people have done the typical SEA route that I myself did on my RTW trip. In fact it almost seems like a rite of passage. But very rarely is Malaysia put on that list so Malaysia ends up attracting only a fraction of the usual backpackers and therefore has a different vibe.


One of the islands off of Kota Kinabalu in Borneo.


It has awesome snorkelling:

We were surprised at how good the snorkeling was, I had dived/snorkeled in other Asian countries and on the Great Barrier Reef but this was the first place that I managed to snorkel with turtles. We also got to see lots of different reef sharks and tons of tropical fish (in the Perhentian Islands) and if you take a cheap flight over to Borneo you can dive in one of the top dive spots in the world, Sipidan.

Jason during our snorkeling trip in the Perhentian islands.


And while we are at it, incredible wildlife too:

While in Malaysia myself and Jason got to see huge monitor lizards, orangutans, crocodiles, a Gibbon and lots of other types of monkeys. If you want to see wildlife in SEA then Malaysia and more importantly, Malaysian Borneo is the place to go.


A mother and baby orangutan

A leaf insect.


It has a beautiful world class city:

Kuala Lumpur is a great city to spend some time in. It has the iconic Petronas towers, a bustling China town, the biggest mosque in SEA and so many things to do. The shopping is also world class.


The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.


It's a massive melting pot:

It's predominantly a Muslim country but there is a large population of Chinese, Indians, Thais and many other nationalities so you can eat some legit food from different places around the world in one day. We had some awesome Indian food, Chinese food, fresh fish and afternoon tea while in Malaysia. You can also go visit Buddhist shrines, Indian temples and Mosques all in one day. It makes for a very interesting country.

The mosque in Kota Kinabalu
The Batu Caves outside of KL

Preparing to enter a mosque in KL

A beautiful Hindi temple that we stumbled upon in KL

Eating some good Chinese food!

The seafood was second to none!

You can take a break from the humidity:

While in Malaysia you can visit some of the many tea fields in the Cameron Highlands. They are in the high country so you can get away from the humidity, sleep with a blanket and feast on tea and scones while looking at tea fields as far as the eye can see. Also in this area you can go trekking and see the biggest flower in the world (The Rafflesia)!

Enjoying the endless tea fields.


The Rafflesia flower.

It's the home of Air Asia:

I'm one of Air Asias biggest fans. The prices that they offer are second to none and with their hub being in Kuala Lumpar you can get a flight from any big city in Asia to KL for a low price.


The people:

Malaysian people are amazing! As with most other South East Asian countries, the people are warm and friendly and will welcome you with open arms.

Wonderful smiling faces!



It has everything you could ask for from an Asian country:

Beaches
Jungles
Temples
Great food
History
Shopping
and much more...
Sounds perfect right?

There are a couple of things to remember about Malaysia. Because it's a Muslim country, alcohol tends to be more expensive than other Asian countries. I was a bit disappointed when I realised that I wouldn't be able to sip on cocktails all day while relaxing on the beach. But if you aren't on a backpackers budget and can drink local beer then this shouldn't affect you too much.

Also they can be quite strict when it comes to Ramadan so make sure to check your dates and plan accordingly. We travelled during Ramadan and didn't have many issues except for when we took a 12 hour bus and realised that there would be no restaurants opened in the smaller towns that we were stopping at so we had to spend the day eating snacks that we bought from the shop. But other than that we had no problems.

I would definitely recommend visiting Malaysia to anyone and if you have enough time visit Borneo as well and make it a truly magical trip!