The day started the only way it could when you are in volcano land, a dip in the campsite’s very own volcanic hot spring bath. Soaking in the relaxing 38 degree water put a nice lazy edge onto the start of the day.
After a short soak and walking back to camp, it was full operation fry up for our breakfast. Bacon and eggs galore and Brendan had found his inner perfectionist in the role of chief toaster. If it needed toasting, Brendan had it covered. Managing to get a peak rate of 60 SpH (slices per hour) his prowess on the toaster could not be matched by anyone (nor did anyone want to toast).
We all had our fill and decided we would check out a nearby town for activities to do. Katy had managed to locate a museum in the town which would go into the history of the maui in the area.
Our short drive into town ended when we found out that the museum was in fact closed on this particular day. However, we had passed an abundance of what appeared to be adrenaline inducing activities, including zip-lines, bungee, rope swings and more. We decided to go to the cable car for some views, and upon arrivals found out that the centre was a giant luge centre! At reception we saw the course maps and identified there were runs:
- Scenic
- Intermediate
- Advanced
The Decision was made that given there were three routes, and there was a pricing deal on doing three runs, that we would do the three run package. The exception to this would be Louise who opted out of luging based on the fact that she currently has issues with her knee, which as we later discovered was a pretty smart decision.
All seven of us were able to fit into one cabin on the cable car. We sat down at enjoyed passing over our vans, noting our somewhat questionable parking angles in the gravel overflow section. As we climbed we were treated to stunning vies over the lake and had our fist chance to really take in and admire the New Zealand landscape.
As we arrived to top we saw that the giant swing on site was being prepared. This rope based swing hoists the participants to a horizontal plane of elevation against the supports. At the top the users then have to pull the cord to release the control straps and they are plummeted downwards thanks to gravity. Given its a swing, the downward motion arcs forwards and all aboard are thrown over the ridge. I’m sure the views from this are stunning you are able to hold your never and keep your eyes open over the fear of imminent death.
We made our way around to the luge queue and got in line. Thankfully a helpful should directed us to the other station which had a much shorter queue and before long we were brought to the front and instructed how to lugue. The un-motorised vehicles operated by pulling the handle back to release the brakes, letting go slightly to apply them. Seconds to learn we were off down the scenic track.
Now I asusme that scenic is code for “the slow track”. However, our group didn’t take long to overcome the name and paced down the hills, overtaking others on the course Mario kart style and rushing through the trees. A few minutes later we are at the bottom cueing to get the ski lift back up. This place really felt like a theme park with the amount of queues.
We made it to the top and were ready immediately for round two. This time not requiring the safety spell we jumped into karts and threw ourselves down the intermediate track. This course was much steeper and had far shaper turns, which made for some great racing moments. The only second of terror I experienced was throwing myself around a corner and being confronted by small chiledren moving at a snails pace. Desperate to not crash into them I slamed the brakes and swerved. Self injury is a small price to pay to protect the adults of tomorrow (plus the enraged anger of their parents is something I really didn’t want to enjure)
More queuing so this time we decided that when we got to the top we would have a relaxing drink. On the way up we were able to spot the advanced track route and spotted a little lady who with clenched teeth seemed to be travelling slower than a walking pace! Entertaining to watch it also gave us the inside scoop we needed to plan our own racing lines down the track.
After getting some dutch courage into our bloodstreams it was time to take on the monster that would be the advanced course! We queued once more for our luges, this time luckily being in a much shorter queue. We all got into our racers in reverse order and stared our decent.
Now this isn’t really meant to be treated as a race but this was serious business time. Annoyingly right at the start I realised that I had left my sunglasses on my shirt. Moving my hands to put them in a more secure location would compromise my speed. Sadly, even this short discretion meant that Brendan was right on my heels. At the first main hairpin he managed to overtake me as I put burning rubber to cement to stop what could have been an interesting inside collision.
Forget the sunglasses, I could to come last! I let loose in my attempt to catch the others up and hurtled down the steep slopes. Then, after the second hairpin which was taken at breakneck speed there was a steep drop. I assume that this is to help people speed up and gain a threes from accelerating quickly. However, as the ride photos were to show, we all flew off of the top of the slop and gained some pretty epic air.
Crashing back down to the cement road the shock vibrated through me. Still dead last I was know flying towards Katy for the overtake. The screams of the staff who had witnessed seven adults flying off the course were nothing but a mere desperate plea to get us to slow down. Sadly the last corner had arrived and I did finish last. However, it was one hell of a great race!
Adrenaline session over it was a gentle descent back down to the cable cars to our vans. Though great fun we had realised that we had in fact met of the day had now passed by. I was able to quickly find a campsite near lake Taulpo (which was our target location to camp that night). Katy and Louise headed to the supermarket to get the shopping run done whilst the rest of us headed to camp.
The other campervan was an experience and I know understand why those who sat in the back
We arrived at a very stop gap location. In the middle of nowhere and next to the lake, the campsite had a certain charm to it that wouldn’t lend itself to earning AA hotel stars anytime soon. However, it was a decent enough place really and we were given free plums when we arrived as the tree in the campsite was shedding them. We went for a short walk by the lake while we waiting for the shoppers to return.
Just before sunset Louise and Katy arrived. We whipped up a quick storm of left over curry from the night before as well as a few other sides. We had to eat in the van again as the temperature had dropped a fair bit. However, once we were done we headed into the lounge area and played a few rounds of cards (Game: Nominations. A trick based game which is a firm favourite of the Walsh clan. Note, calling lower then Big A is generally not advised).