A Toad — A Bride — The Argo — and planning an adventure across the world
Time and Persistence Makes Anything Possible
If you’ve ever been a bridesmaid or maid/matron of honor, you know that one of your duties for your bride is to plan a bachelorette party. Some of us look forward to the planning, while some do not.
But, even those of us who like the planning would never expect or be prepared to plan a bride’s bachelorette party in another country — with fellow bridesmaids in five different time zones.
Even something as simple as scheduling a call with everyone was feat! The bridesmaid in New Zealand had to be up ridiculously early (6am), the bridesmaid in Myanmar had to stay up past her curfew there (9:30pm), the bridesmaid in Italy had to choose days when she wasn’t in class (4pm), and those of us across the U.S. were a day behind (mid-day).
Emails and WhatsApp became our main mode of communication and coordination. I was just so proud we were ever able to schedule a call at all.
You may be asking yourself — how did it come to be that all these bridesmaids were scattered across the globe? Well, this group of lifelong friends met on the journey of a lifetime as students sailing around the world on Semester at Sea. And seven years after our journey ended — we still get together every year. This year was particularly special because it was a reunion for one of our weddings’ — a destination wedding in Nelson, New Zealand.
As we are all adventurers, we decided the best theme for our bride’s bachelorette party was: The Amazing Race.
Perfect, right?
Yes, Let’s plan out a route that involves multiple stops, challenges, and clues that will eventually lead to our bride’s favorite place — Abel Tasman.
So….
….
Ok, let’s start with activity ideas and then we can figure out if any of them are possible to do there. Great! Hmm….one challenge could be eating weird food! Or facing a fear? Maybe we could have riddles or clues with hints? What about a scavenger hunt? Or maybe something physical like hiking or kayaking? And, of course, since we met on a ship, obviously we should end the day on a boat.
Great ideas!
But….how?
Now what? None of us know what is available in the area — and we won’t be in town long enough prior to make reservations anywhere. So, we started researching activities and well-known sites and attractions in the area. New Zealand may offer a lot of adventure, but Nelson and the surrounding area is, well, it is a very small town with a ton of amazing nature. Not much else.
As we continue our research, I realize that with the amount of people that will be attending, maybe it would be a good idea to “compete” in teams. So, I invited the groomsmen to compete in the Amazing Wedding Race.
Unfortunately for me, wanting everyone to be able to compete and join in on the fun meant that no one else could know the clues or the activities. So, I took over the planning.
I sent questionnaires to everyone full of questions about ALL of the ideas we had brainstormed like: do you have any allergies (for a food challenge); are you willing to try an extreme sport (like zip-lining); are you afraid of heights or unwilling to face that fear (like bungee jumping); do you get motion or car sick (for the boat and long car rides); can you swim (for safety if we did a water activity); and do you have any activity restrictions (in case we could go hiking or on other possible adventures).
With everyone’s responses, and no obvious restrictions from anyone, I set about mapping out the day with stops all along the 2-hour drive from Nelson to Able Tasman. I carefully timed my lunch breaks to make calls across the world to reserve tours, order food, get information, and rent a van (that I would later drive — on the opposite side of the road from what I’m used to).
I carefully made clues, roadblocks, decor, and props — and struggled to cram that, my husband’s camera gear (he was the photographer/videographer for the wedding), and our actual necessities into our single pieces of luggage.
Amazing Wedding Race Day
It is party day at last! All the bridesmaids are up at dawn to cook a breakfast feast for the 12 people who will be competing in the Amazing Wedding Race. Teams were selected by drawing bandanna bundles from a bag — the color of the bandanna indicated your teammate (2 people per color), and the candy wrapped in the bandanna indicated your group team (breaking the group into 2 total teams).
I interrupted the feast for the first challenge: eat a toast smothered in a thick layer of New Zealand’s very own marmite. Although grossed out, everyone survived challenge #1, which earned them all their first clue.
Teams who solved the clue first got to go on the The Argo. The Argo is a truly all-terrain vehicle which took it’s driver and up to 4 passengers speeding up steep cliffs, through rushing rivers, skidding through gravel, and slamming through brush. This challenge was not for the feint of heart — or those looking for a leisurely way to explore New Zealand’s native brush. This ride had real thrill with no seat-belts, no safety rails, and nothing but a half helmet to protect you should you be flung from the back of the Argo.
Wind-whipped and mud-sprayed, we all earned our next clue. Morphing into the two teams (one in each vehicle), we raced to the next location in downtown Nelson.
The challenge: People? Or places?
The “people” team had a photo-scavenger list that all involved people and asking people to be in photos. The “places” team had a photo-scavenger list that included lots of objects and places all over town. Each team earned points per picture and bonus for creativity — the team with the most photos from their list who made it back in time, won the round.
3–2–1
Both teams dashed around the city — The Amazing Wedding Race signs and props in the their hands. The “people” team was slower but creativity was their game. They convinced people to do headstands, and tricked others into believing they were a part of the real Amazing Race.
The “places” team was faster and completed all the photos, but cut corners trying to get back first. For example, taking a photo of a map with a kiwi on it, with the cathedral far in the background — that should have been 3 photos, not one!
We called it a tie.
Clues in hand, we made our way back to a local attraction: Pic’s Peanut Butter Factory. This giant (giant by New Zealand standards) factory was a peanut butter lover’s dream, and we had a tour scheduled for us. We learned more about peanuts and creating peanut butter than we ever thought we needed to know. Our bride and groom even got to try their hand at making some fresh Pic’s peanut butter. We relaxed at our “pit-stop” and played the shoe game over snacks.
To solve the next clue, teams had to solve a riddle. With the riddle solved, it was a race to the Sylvia Earl — a husk of a ship dashed on New Zealand’s beautiful shoreline. The challenge? To take your best forced-perspective photo using the deteriorating ship.
Teams put the “ship in a bottle,” “walked the plank,” and played tug-o-war with the bones of the rotting hull.
With all that effort in the sun, it was time to cool down with some real-fruit ice cream. Everyone hopped on down to Toad Hall — our bride’s favorite place to get real-fruit ice cream. There, one final clue and activity awaited us — writing notes for the Bride and Groom to open at a future anniversary. The clue was the map to where we would meet our Abel Tasman boat tour guide.
The Final Activity: Exploring Abel Tasman
We picked up our dinners and found the spot where we were supposed to meet our captain and the boat — but the address was the middle of a dusty parking lot far away from the beach.
Apparently we were in the right place because our boat pulled up — yes, pulled up in the middle of the parking lot — on a trailer pulled by a John Deere tractor.
That’s not something you see every day!
We loaded into the boat on the back of a trailer attached to a tractor. The tractor pulled us out into the main road and drove us — a completely full boat — about a mile up the road and out to the water. Then, he dragged us over the mud-flats and out into the open ocean!
Our captain cruised us out into the water and took us to secluded beaches, past seal pups and native birds, while telling us stories of the wildlife and ecological conservation efforts he and his friends started.
We hauled our dinners — boxes of steaming fish and chips plus gigantic Kiwi-style burgers, complete with beets, eggs, and pineapple slices— out into the shade of a completely uninhabited island. We enjoyed the food, the view, the incredible sounds of natures, and the new friendships we had made that day.
Back on the boat, our guide took us to another island for “better” swimming and hiking. I don’t know if it was “better” than the first spot, but the water was pristine and the hiking path incredible; it took you to the top of the island where you could view the entire island and the ocean around it.
With the day coming to an end, we asked our guide to “drive the boat like you stole it.” He did not disappoint.
Out of the quiet bay, he pushed the boat faster and higher out of the water than a boat of that size and shape had any right to go. In between soaring over waves and executing spins that splashed every passenger, the captain reminisced about the days when he had a proper speed boat. He was clearly enjoying testing the limits of this boat as the radio rattled off it’s perch. What a ride!
I think the day was a success. The bride was happy and the adventure will stick with us for a lifetimes!
Not bad for a party planned with carefully timed lunch breaks, emailing with ridiculous delays, and the planners spread across 4 continents. With enough persistence, anything is possible!
Leana’s an avid world traveler who has been to over 40 countries and will be venturing to her 7th continent in 2022. She believes in ubuntu and that adventures make life worth living. To follow her journey as a plus-sized woman with unquenchable wanderlust as she continues to seek out all that the world has to offer, you can check out The Overweight Adventurer.
