I Just Want to Jump!

Jumping off of waterfalls is not something you do everyday, but with all the natural forests and waterfalls throughout New Zealand its an opportunity that should not be missed! Blue Canyon, which is about a 30 minute drive from Auckland city, contains deep pools carved from the water in the dark volcanic rock. Since New Zealand is basically created from a large range of volcanic fields, Auckland being the largest, it is easy to find areas such as Blue Canyon. Waterfalls are also present in multiple locations of New Zealand. It seems like every trip I've gone on here we've stopped to see or have lunch by waterfalls. These natural features have made New Zealand such a fun place to explore because your bound to find a nice natural park anywhere you go.  

The entire trip down this canyon consisted of first squishing through the slick mud covered paths (results of a rainy morning.) After a quick lesson on how to abseil, (New Zealand's term for rapelling) we began our crazy descent down the canyon. This involved freestyle jumps where we could do flips, dives, or any random jump into some of the deepest pools, slides down slick carved out rock, and abseils down waterfalls that tower up to over 80 feet! 

Because I am a climber, I have abseiled (rapelled) frequently on climbing trips in the states. However, abseiling down a rock wall with water hammering down on my face definitely took the typical abseiling to a new level. With my feet pressed straight against the mossy volcanic rock in front of me, attached only to a rope and belay device, I allowed the rope to slip smoothly through my hands as I hopped down the waterfall. Although it became difficult at times to see what I was doing and I managed to slip on moss once or twice, it was quite amazing when I reached the bottom and saw massive waterfall that I climbed down.

Being an adrenaline junkee, this activity suited me perfectly. Everytime I go on any hike I always like to take the crazy route either and never stay on a path. To me, canyoning is exactly this because jumping off of waterfalls and swimming to your destination or trudging through the mud is not the typical hike. It adds a feeling of "I can do insane things right now and survive (hopefully)" which makes each part of the expedition so thrilling.