brierebecca 0 #1 August 1, 2005 hey there all! So I'm getting married next spring, and Travis and I are going on our honeymoon soon after. We're trying to decide between Interlaken, Switzerland, or New Zealand. I've already been to Interlaken, and would go back in a heartbeat to go whitewater raft, canyon, bungee jump, and skydive for a week. However, I've been thinking about New Zealand, and if we can do all those things there instead of Switzerland, the exchange rate would be much better. Has anyone jumped in New Zealand? What other cool stuff is there to do there? Thanks so much. "Ive seen you hump air, hump the floor of the plane, and hump legs. You now have a new nickname: "Black Humper of Death"--yardhippie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #2 August 1, 2005 QuoteWhat other cool stuff is there to do there? The locals say the sheep are pretty...--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frenchy68 0 #3 August 1, 2005 Quotehey there all! So I'm getting married next spring, and Travis and I are going on our honeymoon soon after. We're trying to decide between Interlaken, Switzerland, or New Zealand. I've already been to Interlaken, and would go back in a heartbeat to go whitewater raft, canyon, bungee jump, and skydive for a week. However, I've been thinking about New Zealand, and if we can do all those things there instead of Switzerland, the exchange rate would be much better. Has anyone jumped in New Zealand? What other cool stuff is there to do there? Thanks so much. Queenstown in the South Island has all of the above and much, much more. Kiwis are really outdoors people, and come up with new, original extreme sports (such as Zorb!) on a regular basis. Remember, Kiwis, if I'm not mistaken, developped the modern version of Bungee jumping... "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chaoskitty 0 #4 August 1, 2005 You've already been to Switzerland.. go to New Zealand! Blaine used to live there, and I know he has jumped there. Call him up. PM me if you need his number. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brierebecca 0 #5 August 1, 2005 QuoteKiwis are really outdoors people, and come up with new, original extreme sports (such as Zorb!) on a regular basis. Zorbing! This is one of the things that we want to do in Interlaken! That's so cool that they have it there! New Zealand is quickly gaining ground on Interlaken."Ive seen you hump air, hump the floor of the plane, and hump legs. You now have a new nickname: "Black Humper of Death"--yardhippie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
windcatcher 0 #6 August 1, 2005 well, I'm sure New Zealand is beautiful, that;s where I really want to go more than any other place. That's where they filmed Lord Of the Rings, so maybe they have a cool "Used Hobbit Feet" museum you can check out Mother to the cutest little thing in the world... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #7 August 1, 2005 Do a Google on "New Zealand" Adrenaline: I'd say that going there will probably be a really easy choice. For starters, check this out: http://www.studenttraveler.com/mag/05-03/newzealand.php Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brierebecca 0 #8 August 1, 2005 hehe, yea Lord of the Rings is definitely an advertisement for New Zealand. But although Hobbit Feet sounds amazing, I was really looking for a perspective on the jumping and outdoor sports. "Ive seen you hump air, hump the floor of the plane, and hump legs. You now have a new nickname: "Black Humper of Death"--yardhippie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #9 August 1, 2005 QuoteQuoteWhat other cool stuff is there to do there? The locals say the sheep are pretty... Spoken like a true Aggie! Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #10 August 1, 2005 Quote Spoken like a true Aggie! Damn straight! Oh. --"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigway 4 #11 August 1, 2005 QuoteConvince me to go to New Zealand $22NZD to 14,000 feet If you do go, hire a campervan or buy a car. and tour the whole country, it is the only way to experience NZ. NZ is home of the extreme activities, bunjee jumping is everywhere, as i is skydiving, white water rafting, black water rafting in caves, paragliding up to the 300 feet and then bunjee jumping from the paraglider. New Zealand is an amazing place and the cleanest country you will probably ever see. Kiwis do not wear shoes to the pub nor do we wear them shopping, it is a great place but the the times you want to be there are from January-April so the weather is right for you. It takes one and half hours to drive from one side of the country to the other and the length of the country is only about 1600 KM's. As much as you think of sheep, you will hardly see any unless you are on the south island. I think the south island has a million people on it while the north island has 3 million people and 1 and a half million of them living in Auckland. Hell you can even jump off the sky tower in a harness( 7 largest building in the world). I have been traveling for about 8 years and even though i am from NZ i got to say it is the most beautiful country in the world! .Karnage Krew Gear Store . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #12 August 1, 2005 QuoteQuote Spoken like a true Aggie! Damn straight! Oh. There may be one or two (at most) people who don't get the references to Aggies and sheep, so here goes. "The Aggies" is the label put on the sports teams, students, ex-students, employees, benefactors, etc., of Texas A & M University. "A & M" stands for agricultural and marine (as in oceanographic stuff). It truly is a first-rate university, not only in the agricultural and marine fields, but also in engineering. (That is probably the first and last time I will ever speak that highly of A&M--it's true, but few non-Aggies really want to admit it publicly) Anyway, A&M is right smack in the middle of, you guessed it, an agricultural area--College Station, TX. We are talking the boonies. The sticks. The middle of nowhere. You get the idea. As far as I can tell, it's the kind of place where "cow tipping" really is practiced. The more urban-minded Texans (like me) attended the University of Texas at Austin, which is also a first-rate university despite the fact that they accepted me and even let me graduate. A longtime rivalry has existed between the two university and out of that rivalry came the Aggie joke, which is a staple among Texans. Many of those jokes feature Aggies and sheep. For example, Q: Where can you buy lingerie for sheep? A: Frederick's of College Station! I love that joke. It's much better when heard through an alcoholic haze, but I think it's funny all the time. Back to your regularly scheduled programming. Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
madscape 0 #13 August 1, 2005 Quote..."A & M" stands for agricultural and marine "Mechanical," not "Marine." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frenchy68 0 #14 August 1, 2005 QuoteQuote..."A & M" stands for agricultural and marine "Mechanical," not "Marine." Are you sure it doesn't stand for "Mammal"? "For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #15 August 1, 2005 QuoteQuote..."A & M" stands for agricultural and marine "Mechanical," not "Marine." I stand corrected! Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #16 August 1, 2005 QuoteQuoteQuote..."A & M" stands for agricultural and marine "Mechanical," not "Marine." Are you sure it doesn't stand for "Mammal"? Hehehehehehe--good one! Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #17 August 1, 2005 New Zealand rocks. I went there for a 3-week vacation last November, and didn't jump at all (still very early in my student progression at the time and traveling with wuffos, so it wasn't really worth the hassle factor). We spent much of our time on the South Island... hiking, whitewater rafting, whitewater sledging, more hiking. There's way too much to do there - it's very unlikely you'll get bored. Queenstown is a bit overdeveloped, but most everywhere else on the South island is pretty quiet. North Island has a somewhat different vibe but is also very beautiful. Some great scuba up north and west of Auckland... I dove at the Poor Knight's Islands and can't recommend them highly enough. It's a great place to vacation - excellent tourist infrastructure, relatively easy to drive around (the roads are windy as hell, but well-maintained and well-marked), and you can get decent accomodations cheap (the hostel/backpacker lodge system there is extensive and fantastic)."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #18 August 1, 2005 New Zealand is one of my favorite places! I spent four weeks there, mostly on the south island. If you like outdoors, then go to the south island - I went on a six-day trek with my brother through Abel Tasman park, which you can only get to via hiking or sea kayak - I would definitely do the sea-yaking next time. Beaches are pristine and unspoiled. 20 minutes and you can be in extreme mountains - if you like extreme skiing, it's a great place. Go to Christchurch, and you can swim with wild dolphins - not the caged dolphins hey have at tourist places - they send out a helicopter to find them in the ocean, then they take you on a boat to go snorkel with them. There's even a penguin colony on the southern tip. Take sunscreen! There's almost no ozone layer left that far south, and you get sunburned VERY quickly.Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
4WayXena 0 #19 August 1, 2005 Or "Manimal" after the ungodly experiments the Animal Husbandry College conducted? Miss you, Walt - still haven't broken the 28 pies and a cheesecake record on anyone else! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #20 August 1, 2005 Right it used to stand for Agricultural and Mechanical, back when TAMU was called "The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas." Then it became TAMC then the A&M was changed to not abreviations but just A&M, then TAMC changed its name to a university hence TAMU. The A&M actually doesn't mean anything anymore, even though TAMU leads the nation in many aspects including some agricultural and engineering fields.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #21 August 1, 2005 QuoteOr "Manimal" after the ungodly experiments the Animal Husbandry College conducted? Miss you, Walt - still haven't broken the 28 pies and a cheesecake record on anyone else! Dammit, I'm gonna go over to Bill Lee's get my reserve re-packed, come out to the DZ and give you one really great f**ckin' hug! I miss your beautiful smiling face!!! Here's a pic of the aftermath of the pie slaughter that got laid on me after my 1000th. I ran across this while looking for a picture of you after ragging on you for not having a picture of your beautiful smiling face as your avatar. As I was looking through the pictures of the beautiful times we all had at Skydive USA in Wharton, I started getting all choked up from missing you guys so much--especially the women of SUSA. Shit, I'm starting to get all teary-eyed again. Shit!!! Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brierebecca 0 #22 August 1, 2005 all right kids, quit hijacking my thread! for those of you who wrote at length about NZ, thank you so much for your input. I'm convinced it would be a more enjoyable (and cheaper) honeymoon for Travis and I. I'll have to talk it over with him, but I'm getting excited about it already For those of you who have been, any PMs with specific places to bunjee jump, whitewater (and blackwater! How neat!) raft, and zorb would be greatly appreciated. *edited for spelling"Ive seen you hump air, hump the floor of the plane, and hump legs. You now have a new nickname: "Black Humper of Death"--yardhippie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltappel 1 #23 August 1, 2005 QuoteRight it used to stand for Agricultural and Mechanical, back when TAMU was called "The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas." Then it became TAMC then the A&M was changed to not abreviations but just A&M, then TAMC changed its name to a university hence TAMU. The A&M actually doesn't mean anything anymore, even though TAMU leads the nation in many aspects including some agricultural and engineering fields. OK, you got your shameless plug in. Let's go back to talkin' 'bout sheep (and maybe eventually get back to talking about NZ)! Walt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GeordieSkydiver 0 #24 August 1, 2005 Look into my eyes, into my my eyes not around the eyes, into my eyes.....and you're under. 'You WILL go to New Zealand and you WILL love it' *snaps fingers ...and you're back in the room. Enjoy.Lee _______________________________ In a world full of people, only some want to fly, is that not crazy? http://www.ukskydiver.co.uk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigway 4 #25 August 1, 2005 You might think NZ is cheap, but you will find it very expensive, very expensive, just like others do. Your US dollar is weak to the nz dollar at the moment and NZ is a very pricey country. It will start cheap but it is disneyland on speed and will eat away at money so do not get sucked into thinking it will be cheap because of the exchange rate. It costs about $1.80 U.S. for a 600 ml coke and about $3.90 U.S. for a big mac. I work in tourism NZ as i was a marketing director for our dropzone, The whole country is designed to take money from tourists. Just dont go over with the wrong idea. .Karnage Krew Gear Store . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
