I'm in Florida now, visiting my grandparents, and my grandmother gave me a copy of National Geographic Adventure because of an article in it about NZ. I'm getting excited to go, but I'm beginning to realize that NZ is (and I should have realized this long ago) the destination for crazy people. One of the girls I chatted with online said that as soon as she got off the plane in Auckland, she wanted to get on another one so she could jump out of it. That's just one example of the kind of adventure that awaits. I'm not sure what kind of extreme sports I'll be into. But, my sister informed me:"Did you know Daddy used to hang-glide? Yep." So maybe extreme sports run in the family . . .
This excerpt explains why New Zealanders are called Kiwis:
“But it wasn’t Kiwis . . . who bestowed an avian identity upon themselves. During World War I, soldiers from other countries referred to New Zealand’s fierce fighters as Kiwis. It’s a fitting name, I think now. A full-grown kiwi, which is about the size of a chicken, can face down a small dog or a stoat. They move fast and will rise up on one leg then strike with the other. All this happens very quickly. The birds are accomplished boxers. And they are fearless. As Kiwis are.”
- from National Geographic Adventure, “State of Adrenaline” by Tim Cahill
3 comments:
From Dad: Hang gliding? Ah yes, I think that was the year after my dog sled trip to the north pole, and two years before canoeing the entire length of the Amazon river. Or was it the same year I hiked Africa from Cairo to Johannesburg? Hmm, they’re all running together… . Actually, this is urban legend. Dad has never actually been in, on or near a hang glider. I did once go up in a sailplane as a passenger, but that’s less adventuresome than driving across Atlanta at rush hour. I discussed this with sister Kate, and it appears some early childhood memories may have gotten a tad confused, as happens to all of us. But I’d love to try hang gliding, and NZ would be a great place for it, so let’s do it!
i see the fiction has begun already. :)
Sorry for the (unintentional) misinformation, Annie. To the five-(or so)year-old me, parasailing and hang-gliding were apparently one and the same. I just remember my mom finding out he'd been soaring high above the earth in some flimsy contraption and expressing serious concerns about his safety. I always thought he'd been hang-gliding. But I checked with my mom last week, and she says that fortunately, he never went hang-gliding when I was little. I guess when I was growing up, I liked to imagine my daddy was away on one mysterious, daring adventure after another!
Anyway, by all means, try hang-gliding or whatever else strikes your fancy during your adventures in NZ. (Except bungee-jumping; if you do that I will have nightmares!) I used to see people taking hang-gliding lessons when I lived in Madison. It looked like great fun. I wonder if they let you take a camera up with you?
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