Extreme adventures in New Zealand

"Think of your life as a long corridor with a number of doors off it. I am about to open a door you have never been through. You will feel it with your heart and with your soul," Freddy clasps me to him, "and not with your mind." Big talk from a man with a goatee in a leather devil's cap with horns. I resist the temptation to point out that there's a very real doorway, just inches from my feet, and it's already a gaping hole. Freddy's soothing spiel is designed to keep me calm as our jaunty little canary yellow plane bounces higher and higher above Lake Taupo - because in a few minutes he's going to push me out.

"Free-falling is like nothing on earth. People ask me to describe it, but that's like trying to explain colour to a blind man. It's not an adrenalin-rush like bungy; it's more like chocolate, it releases endorphins." Mystic Fred is strapping himself to my groin. Then he takes my hand and feels my pulse. "You're not afraid." He sounds surprised.

I'm surprised, too. I don't like heights. I get a strange tingling in the soles of my feet when I climb a ladder. I also hate theme-park rides. I feel travel sick on roller coasters and just don't see the point. But so far today I've been spun around in a helicopter and have sped straight towards a cliff in a jet boat, veering away only at the last minute. And now, I'm about to do my first tandem skydive - attached to New Zealand's answer to Russell Grant.

Edging towards the door, we position ourselves so that we'll fall out backwards. Freddy and I were last in so we're first out. The pale faces of the other jumpers crammed into the cramped plane stare back at me. Then suddenly we go. And I'm doing a back flip, tumbling through the air. And I think Hoooo-lee Shit!, just briefly, as my stomach somersaults into my mouth with shock and I realise I've just fallen out of a plane.

Taupo is the adventure capital of New Zealand's North Island. Low-slung, unobtrusive, suburban sprawl, the town itself is not worth a postcard. It looks like an afterthought: as though a gust of wind could whip it away. But then so much of the man-made in New Zealand is more of a rash on the otherwise model good-looks of this Southern Hemisphere stunner. It must be a bit dispiriting to be an architect or a town planner down here: whatever you build, it's going to be dwarfed by the natural wonders surrounding it.

Lake Taupo, created by a massive volcanic eruption in AD186, is, at 238sq miles, the country's largest lake - and the same size as Singapore. The Tongariro National Park, with its three active volcanoes, is home to New Zealand's most popular one-day hike (or "tramp", as they say here), the Tongariro Crossing - and was used to portray the forbidding grandeur of Mordor in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. There are waterfalls (Huka Falls is a squat, thundering blur of white foam and vivid turquoise water), broiling rapids and thick forests - and a spot of colourful geothermal activity: the barren wasteland, the Craters of the Moon is just a few miles outside town. Rotorua, an hour's drive north, has bubbling mud pools, spouting geysers and a tell-tale sulphurous stink.

The landscape is extreme - and the activities to match are high-velocity. As well as skydiving, jet boating and bungy jumping, there's mountain boarding at Gravity Hill - a mix of skate-boarding, snowboarding and surfing on huge boards - and water-skiing and jet-biking on the lake. Of course, there are also gentler pursuits in this lake-side resort: world-class fishing in the clear waters of the lake and the Waikato River for a start. Taupo is renowned for the year-round quality of its rainbow and brown trout fishing. On my first visit to New Zealand I'd played it safe, fly-fishing in the rivers of the Wairarapa in North Island and hiking the Queen * * Charlotte Track in South Island - along with wine tasting in both. So this time I'd decided to step up a gear and see what all the fuss was about - although I drew a non-negotiable line at the eye-popping, elastic-band lunacy of bungy.

I was staying for a couple of nights in a house on the shore of the lake, designed by an architect who clearly hadn't been daunted by his surroundings. Lake-living at its most stylish and bijou, Te Kowhai Landing is a sleek, modern house of glass and wood and hi-tech systems - starting with the electronic entrance gate with its complicated codes that had me stumped and stuck outside, until the chef, Nicky Smith, arrived. Te Kowhai is self-catering, but with a difference. You can choose traditional do-it-yourself or request one of three options: simple food delivery, gourmet prepared meals (you just do the final touches yourself) or your own chef. I had decided that, as I was on my own, the chef was a step too far, but could just about justify the gourmet prepared meals - after all that activity I was going to be too tired to go out. So Nicky arrived laden with boxes and instructions.

To start I chose twice-baked goat's cheese soufflé served on a bed of rocket with salsa rossa and homemade focaccia bread. All I had to do was bung it in the oven. To follow was marinated local venison with a parsnip puree, roasted squares of kumara and potato, sugar-snap peas and port-wine jus. A bit of precision timing was involved but essentially it was just roasting, boiling and frying. For dessert, I opted for individual wild-berry trifles, layers of cassis-soaked almond and polenta cake, vanilla anglaise, wild-berry compote and fresh cream. The instructions: take out of the fridge and enjoy.

The house had two identical, symmetrical en suite bedrooms upstairs with floor-to-ceiling glass windows looking out over the lake. Downstairs a large open-plan kitchen, dining and lounge area and separate TV lounge were similarly contemporary in design with a real-flame fire in each and modern artwork and sculpture scattered around. The hi-tech sound system played music around the house from one CD player downstairs. Outside there was a small fenced-in terrace with barbecue and hot tub; great for a group of friends.

For the last night I was switching to the most traditional of the luxury accommodation options in town: Huka Lodge. The lodge started life as four canvas-clad huts built by a passionate angler, Alan Pye, on a bend in the river above the Huka Falls half a century ago. It soon grew in popularity and gained a reputation for fine food as well as fishing. Past guests include royalty and Hollywood A-listers: the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, Bill Gates, Joan Collins, Barbara Streisand, Kate Winslet and Naomi Wolf to name a few. Alex Van Heeren bought the property in 1984 and has continued to notch up the awards.

The main lodge with its blazing fires, deep sofas and dark tartans feels established and cosy; somewhere to hole up with a pot of tea after a day wader-high in rushing water. Guests mingle over gin and tonics before dinner, exchanging stories sociably of the day's activities before communal candlelit dinners in the grand dining room. There's a slight safari-lodge atmosphere to the place - aided by the collection of mounted eland and buffalo heads in the trophy room. If you don't feel like chatting with your fellow guests, there are plenty of areas for private dining: on the terrace, in the library, trophy room or wine cellar, or in the gardens.

The 20 contemporary and beautifully designed bedrooms are all separate from the main lodge down shady walkways along the riverbank. I was staying in the new Owner's Cottage, a four-bedroom retreat - all soft creams and taupes, antique pieces offset by modern furnishings; New England meets Kiwi in style. Each bedroom had its own fireplace and dressing room. The bathrooms were striking: high church-style vaulted ceilings, pale wood floors, bathtubs in front of a huge window overlooking the garden, a separate rain shower, raised sink on a metal vanity unit, all lit by mock gas-lamps.

The huge living and dining room had white wood-panelled walls, wooden floors scattered with rugs, another vaulted ceiling and a crackling log fire. The living room led out onto a deck with a small infinity pool tumbling down to the river below. There was also a "den" with a TV hidden behind an oil painting; there were no phones or televisions in the rooms.

Within the seven-hectares of park-like grounds there was a tennis court, swimming pool, petanque and croquet. For guests wanting to venture further afield, the lodge can arrange fly-fishing in the Waikato River or from a boat on Lake Taupo. For a real wilderness experience a helicopter whisks anglers up into the remotest territory. Whitewater rafting in the Tongariro River, kayaking, horseriding and quad biking are some of the other options.

My day of high-octane activities had started with a helicopter flight. I'd woken to rain lashing against the windows, and thought the trip would be cancelled, but by the time I drove out to the Helistar offices the sun was breaking through. The weather was still stormy over Tongariro, however, so instead of the two-hour Voyage of the Ring, spotting wild horses at Kaimanawa and flying over Mount Ngauruhoe (Mount Doom) we made a smaller circuit. Swooping over the thermal Wairakei Park, steam billowing from the ground, we then whirred down over Whakaipo Bay to see the Maori rock carvings cut in to the side of a cliff. From there we flew over the lake to Turangi where the pilot had arranged to pick up some hunters who were going to track deer in the mountains.

The next stop was Huka Jet, a mile down the road from Helistar - between a prawn farm and a geothermal power station. The excess heat from the Wairakei power station is channelled into the river, but a small portion of it is pumped into large pools where tropical prawns are raised. It's one of the more slightly off-kilter visitor attractions. Kitted out with waterproof suits and life jackets we were given a safety briefing first: "Hang on to the rail with both hands, when I make a rotating circle with my hand we're about to go into a 360 degree flying spin." The boat roared off from the jetty, full pelt towards the opposite bank - narrowly missing the sheer rock face. Slaloming around wooden stakes and bushes rising out of the water we spun full circle after full circle, flying through the air. Everyone was screeching and soaked with river water. Speeding upstream to Huka Falls, where 400 tons of water per second is funnelled into a chasm and then plunges over a 33-foot shelf, was a spectacular finale. At the end of the 30-minute ride we were drenched, but exhilarated.

And finally there was the tandem skydive. The afternoon was now breezy but sunny as I drove out to the little airfield near the airport. After signing the disclaimer and changing into a bright red jump suit I was teamed up with Freddy. He checked my harness and life jacket, talked me through what was going to happen and then we were walking towards the plane...

A strong rush of air is blasting and buffeting me. I'm wearing goggles and a leather cap but my face feels wind-whipped, my ears are agony. I've got a cold, so plummeting from 15,000ft to 5,000ft in one minute is crippling my sinuses. There's a big wide chunk of nothing between me and the ground and I feel like a chipmunk with my cheeks blown out. The lake is getting closer - but not in a rushing-up-to-meet-us, we're-going-to-die kind of way. Then at 5,000ft Freddy releases the parachute, we ping up and then start floating gently down. The lake, the town, the mountains are spread out below us in all their glory, illuminated by shafts of late afternoon sun. On landing my legs buckle on the springy grass but Freddy catches me. Then he's hugging me and asking about that sodding door again. But he seems a long way away. My ears are blocked and I feel as though I'm still floating. I think I'm going to cry. I want to do it again. Freddy was right, it wasn't an adrenalin-rush. Whether it was those endorphins or a door opening, you see the world from a different angle, falling gradually towards it out of the sky.

TRAVELLER'S GUIDE

GETTING THERE

The writer travelled to Auckland with Cathay Pacific (020-8834 8888; www.cathaypacific.com) via Hong Kong. Other airlines which fly to New Zealand include Air New Zealand (0800 028 4149; www.airnewzealand.co.uk) and Singapore Airlines (0844 800 2380; www.singaporeair.co.uk).

To reduce the impact on the environment, you can buy an "offset" from Equiclimate (0845 456 0170; www.ebico.co.uk) or Pure (020-7382 7815; www.puretrust.org.uk). The money is used to reduce the output of carbon dioxide.

Taupo is a four-hour drive from Auckland or short domestic flight.

STAYING THERE

Te Kowhai Landing sleeps between four and six (00 64 275 424 202/ or 0871 871 8231 from UK at 10p/min; www.essencenz.com) and costs NZ$1114 (£400) for four and an extra $100 (£36) per person for additional guests

Huka Lodge (00 64 7 378 5791; www.hukalodge.co.nz) has doubles from NZ$2587.50 (£929) including breakfast, pre-dinner drinks, five-course dinner and airport transfers. The Owner's Cottage costs from NZ$7,548 (£2,711) per night.

ACTIVITIES THERE

Helistar Helicopters (00 64 7 374 8405; www.helistar.co.nz); from NZ$95 (£34) for a 10-minute flight over Taupo to NZ$995 (£357) for the two-hour Voyage of the Ring

Huka Jet (00 64 7 374 8572; www.hukajet.com) costs NZS89 (£32)

Taupo Tandem Skydiving (00 64 7 377 0428; www.tts.net.nz) costs from NZ$219 (£79) for a 12,000ft jump to NZ$489 (£176) for a 15,000ft jump including freefall DVD and photographs.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Tourism New Zealand: www.newzealand.com

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