This adventure is based on a client request for an exciting, thrill seeking adventure, an escape for two obviously youthful parents and their teenage children. Here is a slice of a two-week adventure filled with non-stop adrenalin driven experiences!
Day One – The adventure begins in Auckland. Check into your hotel and then begin the adventure with Skytower Walk and Jump! The rush is unbeatable! Leap off the famous Auckland Sky Tower and fall 692 feet straight down. An unforgettable experience for true daredevils, base-jump by wire off the tallest man-made structure in New Zealand. Take in the spectacular views of Auckland while walking around the 4 foot wide platform a dizzying 629 feet up! A full body harness and overhead safety lines keep you safe as you walk the edge of Sky Tower’s pergola. A little later after collecting yourself prepare yourself for a bungy jump off the Harbor Bridge. As part of the bungy experience, you’ll enjoy an exclusive bridge walk out to the specially-constructed and sensationally-suspended retro ‘Bungy pod’. It’s here you’ll build up the courage to leap out over the Waitamata Harbour. Once airborne, take time to enjoy the views of the harbor, that is if you can keep your eyes open long enough. There’s a variety of bungy options available with the optional ‘water touch’ being the favorite.
Day Two – On the water, sail in an America’s Cup sail boat. Two options, either an exciting sail with experienced crew or for the ultimate thrill join the crew and participate in a match racing America’s Cup style. Your three-hour experience begins in the Viaduct Harbor where you will meet the crew and go through a short race and safety briefing. The yachts then depart the Viaduct Harbor and after a period of practice, the action really begins, when you line up in the pre-start and compete head to head.
Day Three and Four – Fly to Rotorua, private road transfer to Treetops Lodge and Estate, the ultimate in world class luxury located in the heart of the trout fishing capital of the world. Hunting, golf, horseback and 4 wheel drive safaris on the estate grounds in search of buffalo and other forest animals. Pigs and deer (of several species) can be hunted on the Treetops Estate, and if your main goal is a magnificent rack of antlers acquired in record time, this may be all you need. However, if you want a true wilderness experience their hunting guides can take you by helicopter deep into the heart of the Urewera Mountains where your day’s hunting will be an experience of a lifetime.
Full day activities with driver/guide to begin with Kaituna white water rafting (highest commercially rafted drop in the world!). Then skyline luging, the luge is an exciting ride for all ages, a fun filled ride on a three-wheel cart. The unique braking and steering system provides the rider full control and allows you to travel as fast or slow as you wish. Three separate concrete sealed tracks wind through the redwood trees. Children under six are able to be carried in tandem. Riders return to the top of the luge on a specially designed chairlift system. A few hours of luging and the on to Zorbing and the new Schweeb. What could be more fun than gliding along on an eco-chic bicycle? How about shooting through the skies in a pedal-powered monorail capsule!
Then off to more? Free Fall Xtreme, an outdoor facility, located at the Agroventures Park on the outskirts of Rotorua, a mecca for thrill seekers in New Zealand’s lush North Island.
More? Off to Swoop – The Swoop consists of specially designed hang gliding harnesses where you are cocooned inside. Up to three people can participate in a Swoop at one time, the more people the better the ride. You nominate who pulls the ripcord on command and you are winched 131 feet sky high above the Ngongotaha Stream. Your jumpmaster will call ‘ready on the ripcord’ and as you release yourself; you plunge towards the earth at 80 mph.
Return to Treetops buzzing in time for drinks and dinner in the lodge. Need a day of rest or move onward?
Day Five – Driver/guide transfer to Taupo to Skydive with Taupo Tandem Skydiving, (must be 18). Snap on your suit and harness, take a short immersion course and then buddy up with your jumpmaster, and prepare for your flight and a tandem jump! Later in the afternoon, visit the massive Huka Falls.The Huka Jet Boat is an exhilarating, once of a lifetime water ride through the Waikato River with amazing views of the spectacular Huka Falls. Experience 360-degree spins and speeds of over 50mph/hour! The Huka Jet Boat ride lasts for approximately 30 minutes, during which time you travel to the base of the Huka Falls and past the Aratiatia Dam. Return to Treetops for drinks and dinner
Day Six – Heli transfer to Waitomo, spend the day at Epic Lost World Adventure, includes the Legendary Black Water Rafting. Experience this mysterious, magical underground world of ancient caves, rivers and waterfalls, limestone formations and breathtaking glowworms. Deep underground in the heart of the Waikato are a series of unique caves that will take your breath away. Ruakuri Cave is home to swirling rivers, echoing waterfalls, and rocks that flow into delicate shawl-like formations. Nearby, at the Waitomo Glowworm Caves, thousands of tiny glowworms cling to the cave ceiling, creating a starry sky within the underground night. You’ll also see a deep limestone shaft and a soaring subterranean cathedral that will leave you speechless. Heli transfer back to Treetops Lodge for dinner and relaxation.
Day Seven – Heli transfer to Mokai Gravity Canyon, picnic lunch provided by lodge, experience the most extreme flying fox (zipline) in the world! (99mph per hour, 574 foot drop). And/or take the 164 foot swing followed by the North Islands highest bridge bungy!
Heli transfer to the luxurious Chateau Tongariro accommodation. The Chateau Tongariro sits nestled in the shadow of three towering active volcanoes, and at the very foot of the majestic and sacred Mount Ruapehu. The 500 square mile Tongariro National Park–a dual listed World Heritage Area – provides a stunning natural playground bursting with diverse landscapes for visitors to the Chateau to discover. With arid badlands, crater and alpine lakes, sparkling rivers, breath-taking lunar landscapes, lush rainforest and alpine meadows to be explored, staying at the Chateau Tongariro is an all-seasons, utterly unique experience not to be missed.
Day Eight – Private road transfer to Taupo airport, scheduled flight via Wellington or Auckland to Queenstown. The Spire Hotel, Blanket Bay or Azur.
Day Nine – All day thrills, adventure and adrenalin! Shotover Jet, heli flight Skippers Canyon. Nothing you have experienced will have you prepared for the thrill and excitement of a Shotover Jet ride; it’s an adrenaline rush you’ll never forget! From the moment the accelerator hits the floor your adrenaline hits the roof as you speed a mere few miles of water along the famous Shotover River and deep into the spectacular Shotover River Canyons. It’s an amazing ride, as the Shotover Canyon walls tower over you, your expert driver puts your ‘Big Red’ through its paces and skillfully whips the Jet Boat past rocky outcrops, skims around crags and boulders, and speeds through the narrow canyons. Rock faces blur in your peripheral vision, the opaque water sprays into myriads of white crystals with every turn, and you grip the hand rail for comfort and reassurance and then let out a whoop of excitement as your driver spins the boat around in its own boat length — wow, you’ve just experienced the world famous Shotover Jet full 360 degree spin. Hold on tight and enjoy the thrill as you spin and without losing momentum keep speeding along the river. The best thing of all… this is actually good for you. Studies have shown a good thrill livens up your system, waking up dormant biochemical pathways that refresh, relieve stress and heal. You experience a sense of euphoria and well being as your brain receives a welcome cocktail of oxygen, sugar, adrenaline, cortisol and endorphins.
MORE! Shotover river rafting and Highwire bungy (440 feet!). Bungy- a word that quickens the pulse and stirs the imagination. Combine a bungy with other challenging adventure activities. Throw yourself from a plane, jetboat the canyons, surf a river wave, whitewater raft the rugged Shotover River.
Day Ten – Private driver/guide to Shotover Canyon Swing (swing undies supplied!), transfer to Skyline Gondola, end the day with a tandem paraglide back to Queenstown.
Day Eleven – Hit the shops! Free day at leisure. Or gentle guided day to explore Arrowtown, high country station, winery lunch. Or drive a four-wheel drive over muddy mountainous terrain – you are behind the wheel!
Day Twelve – Helicopter to Milford Sound. Milford Sound is a world-renowned natural wonder. Nowhere else in Fiordland do the mountains stand so tall, straight out of the sea. Luxuriant rainforest clings to sheer rock walls and waterfalls tumble hundreds of feet to the sea below. In Maori legend, this landscape was created by Tu Te Raki Whanoa, a godly figure who carved the fiords with a magical adze. Without doubt, Milford Sound (Piopiotahi) is his finest creation. Whatever the fiord’s mood – brooding and wet, or tranquil in the sunshine – it will inspire you. Cruise the sea or white water rafting!
Day Thirteen – Private transfer to Queenstown airport, depart New Zealand tired but happy!
