Who jumps off of a perfectly good building? - Apparently this guy

9/21/16

First full day in New Zealand! I wonder what kind of crazy hijinks our two subjects might get into here in the City of Sails . . .

The day started innocuous enough. We slept pretty well all considering, but were relatively slow to get started on anything. We made our way to hotel breakfast place – because we are lazy that way. Nothing to special about the breakfast, but I did come to the conclusion that I drink way more water than most people do; even in other countries. The water glasses they gave us weren’t much more than a glorified shot glass . . . and that has been pretty consistent throughout the trip to date.

Really? You should probably go get a pitcher and just stand by my table because it is going to be a long morning for you.

After breakfast we made our way to the Auckland War Memorial Museum – on foot, of course, because the trip took us through two parks that appeared to make for a very pleasant stroll. And it was, indeed, a very nice walk. Albert Park was small, but very pleasant with huge trees surrounding a very nice open area with a gazebo in the center. The work house had a date on it that suggested the park was created in 1882 – seems to me that makes for quite a few people that have enjoyed the park over the years; which was a pleasant and comforting thought to have going through my head at the moment.

The next park was the much bigger Auckland Domain that surrounds the museum. We took the centennial walkway which was very well-maintained and paved and had lots of lichen and moss covered trees growing up and over the path. The museum itself was quite enjoyable, with the bulk of the first level devoted to the Maori culture that were the first inhabitants of the island. It turns out that New Zealand was one of the last major areas of the planet to be inhabited by humans – The Maori did not reach New Zealand until about 600 years ago. So, in the grand scheme of things, New Zealand has a relatively young history. But no less impressive. The second level was devoted to the natural history of the island while the third level had a significant exhibit devoted to New Zealand’s efforts in World War I and World War II.

On our way back from our trip to the museum we stumbled onto an Irish pub. It would appear that Tyler has not found an Irish pub that he did not feel obliged to stop in and have a pint. So when we passed Father Ted’s, Tyler suggested we use this time to have a beer or two. I obliged, curious as to what makes a pub ‘Irish’ in New Zealand. Apparently it doesn’t require Irish music as we were listening to some quality modern pop music, including my main man, JT for most of our stay before it switched to 1980s Classic Rock.

Not that I don't appreciate a bit of that sunshine in my pocket.

All in all, it was a very relaxing and informative way to spend the late morning/early afternoon.

Which is good, because the next part of the day was not designed to be relaxing. Remember that Sky Tower that dominates the skyline of Auckland? Well, apparently they let you jump off of it! Okay, well technically you are guided by two wires and slowed at the end by a third so it is not quite as much of a jump as it is a slide straight down. But it is 192 meters (630 feet) and you can reach speeds of 85 km/h (53 mph), so if the opportunity presents itself, then why not – right?

Given my audience I imagine most of the people reading this came up with at least 20 reasons not to do it from the previous paragraph to this one. Well, turns out Tyler didn’t quite see things my way either. But he did agree to be my moral support. It was definitely a fun experience and I’m glad I did it, but it wasn’t quite as exhilarating as I thought it would be – But the view alone was worth it!

My favorite conversation was between myself and the guy strapping me in:

Guy: ‘So are you ready for this?!’
Me: ‘Sure.’
Guy: ‘Have you done this before?’
Me: ‘Nope, first time.’
Guy: ‘You seem pretty calm for your first time?’
Me: ‘Yeah, well I figure there have been a few people that have done this before me . . . ‘
Guy: ‘Haha, yeah, that is a good point.’

I did the jump at the same time as another person. He is a doctor from India and decided to go first, which I was quite fine with so I could observe the process before hand and, perhaps, gain a bit of that calm that my helper friend noted. They get him all secure and holding on to the poles on either side of him, leaning just slightly over the edge with the guy holding on to his harness. Then his assistant said that when they were ready, they would count to three and he would let go and lean off of the building.

‘Are you ready then?’ The guy asked

The doctor indicated that he was with an audible, ‘yes’ and they counted off to three . . . He was still there after the count, holding on to the poles with both hands. The assistant stood there awkwardly waiting for the doctor to let go then looked back to the lady that was operating the pulley the wire that would be employed to slow the doctor down safely right before he reached the bottom. They exchanged a look of amusement and the guide turned back around to the doctor and told him that he could let go at any time and counted to three again. The doctor still didn’t let go. This continued for what seemed like 20 minutes when one is waiting for their turn to go, but probably not much more than a minute. Finally, the guide was able to relay to the nervous doctor that no one was going to push him off and it was completely up to him to let go and lean off the building.

He finally let go and proceeded to make his 11 second decent to the bottom of the tower.

Having to go through that with the doctor probably served to accentuate my calmness to the two guides, who switched up their roles for me so that the young lady was the one giving me instructions on the ledge and the guy was the one manning the pulley. One . . . Two . . . Three . . .

And I was off!

Rock and Roll!

I must say, in hindsight, it was not the rush that I had worked myself into thinking it would be for me. Not that I was disappointed . . . I guess I just thought it would be faster. Still, definitely glad I did it.

Once I landed and got the jumpsuit and harness off, Tyler and I headed back to the hotel for fancier clothes. We made reservations to eat dinner at the top of the tower in the Orbit restaurant. Apparently they frown on wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the restaurant – Picky.

Orbit sits at the top of the sky tower and rotates slowly around as you enjoy your dinner. It takes about an hour for the restaurant to rotate completely so the average dining experience gets to see the full skyline of Auckland twice. The view was incredible! Definitely worth price. We both got the three course dinner where you get to choose an entrée, a main dish and desert for NZ$ 75 ($54) – Really an amazing deal when you factor in the view. And the portions were perfect – not over filling, but not the crazy small portions that you expect to find at those kind of fancy restaurants. I enjoyed a very well-made gin drink while Tyler started with a cider and then switched to a rum concoction. You can tell Tyler is feeling sassy when he orders a drink that has an umbrella. I really should have taken a photo of that seeing as I may never see that again – Although I have high hopes that I might be able to duplicate that in Tahiti (I promise to get a photo if it happens then).

Incredible views!

After dinner we went back to the hotel to change again – because you can’t expect us to wear fancy clothes that long – and decide where we might go for a couple more drinks to round out the night. Tyler mentions that he saw another Irish Pub a bit further down the street. ‘You do realize that we aren’t in Ireland, right Tyler?’ I said.

‘Yeah, but they tend to be less snobby and more my style,’ he said as if he had created a flow chart that outlined the benefits and short comings of attending every type of bar. ‘Plus it is Auckland’s friendliest bar!’ He added; reading from his computer screen.

Well heck, how could I not go to Auckland’s friendliest bar?!

So we were off to another Irish pub in Auckland – this time The Fiddler.  It was a very nice, small, two-story bar. And, true to their word, it was very friendly. Tyler made a comment about the name of a rum (it was the same rum used in his fancy umbrella drink earlier) and the bartender proceeded to tell us the story behind the rum and he poured two complementary shots – technically three, but I will not disclose here what happened to the third shot to give our bartender friend plausible deniability should the owner, by some minor miracle, read this blog. The other bartender happened to pour a glass of the wrong beer for a customer that just happened to be the beer I was drinking so she asked if I could help her out by drinking her mistake – Who am I to disappoint?

It was certainly fun to people watch at this bar. There were two flight attendants sitting next to us talking to a couple locals about all things New Zealand. We ended up having a couple conversations with them too throughout the night. One of them seemed to enjoy talking to me much more than I cared to talk to anyone, really. Every time I thought that she may have lost interest in our conversation I would hear her shout, ‘Hey Tucson!’ Really, it is just as likely she just liked shouting that more than she actually enjoyed our conversation. I don’t really remember what she would ask me – just typical small talk silliness.

Toward the end of the night, someone came and started playing jazzed up covers of popular songs on his guitar. He reminded me a lot of Gunther from Friends. It was really quite amusing to watch. It reminded me a bit of Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer’s old SNL skit of Marty and Bobbi Culp.

Hot mic!

All in all, a pretty good day.

Until next we meet!