(From top) A Maori cultural performance at Solitaire Lodge, Rotorua; a bunch of Kiwi fruits ready to be picked and consumed; Captain Darren lands a large trout aboard the Clearwater Cruise vessel on Lake Tarawera; tourists on a sky swing

The Kiwis certainly know how to make you feel welcome. Within minutes of landing in Auckland, our hosts Daniel Mathieson and Marion Ingham were asking how many of us wanted to jump from the Sky Tower, and how many preferred to walk on the edge. “You don’t have to tell us immediately — just let us know within three hours,” said Daniel. Not doing one or the other was clearly not an option.

Over the next three hours, the time it took us to drive into upscale seaside city Tauranga — and despite quaint distractions en route such as Kaitikaiti, a mural town that puts all its art on the walls of its houses and shops — our group of 13 discussed nothing else but the merits of sky jumping over sky walking. By the time we arrived at the evocatively named Bay of Plenty region, there were eight jumpers, four walkers and one firm abstainer (I chose to jump when I learnt the 192m fall would last just 11 seconds as opposed to the dizzying 25 minutes walk around the ledge).

When I received an invitation to visit Kiwi fruit facilities in New Zealand, I didn’t expect to be jumping off buildings, driving like a maniac in bush country, hurtling down steep hills in a luge (somthing close to a go-kart) and gambling at a casino in Auckland.

Indeed, the mental picture I had was patting a few sheep, admiring the pastoral charms of bovines grazing on rolling hills, bathing in hot springs, and perhaps meeting a Maori or two.

Well, our adventure loving Kiwi hosts had a few surprises — no sheep for one, in our itinerary, so there went the clichéd image. Gone are the days when the country had three million people and 30 million sheep. Today, the people number 4.1 million (with about 95,000 Indian immigrants), and although sheep and dairy farms abound, many have switched to kiwi fruit cultivation.

At Te Puke, a village near Tauranga, we met one such converted kiwi fruit grower Dennis Robinson, who has given up milking cows. Dennis planted his first kiwi fruits in the 1980s and going by his lovely little homestead complete with a pool, it’s been a paying proposition. Robinson is one among 4,000 kiwi fruit growers in New Zealand, who together produce over 100 million trays of the fruit for export — that’s about 3.3. billion pieces of kiwi fruit.

Like our mango, the kiwi fruit comes in many varieties — the Haywards being the most common. But it’s the golden kiwi, a sweeter, juicier variant, that the New Zealanders are particularly proud of, since this is something they have patented (the green actually originated in China). Over the next few days we got to learn how it can be incorporated in various cuisines — a kiwi fruit chutney (same recipe as for mango) being quite a good idea.

Perhaps, the best kiwi fruit dessert on the trip was served up by Chef Bruce Thomason at Solitaire Lodge, a gorgeous property with stunning views of Lake Tarawera, and the volcanic mountain, Mount Tarawera. Sitting in the gardens of this luxurious fishing lodge, watching a Maori cultural performance framed against the backdrop of the lake, was the nearest thing to being in paradise.

The idyll continued as we boarded the Clearwater Cruise vessel waiting to take us to the hot pools the region is famous for. Captain Darren Fouracre, who clearly enjoyed his job (who wouldn’t if it involved sailing daily in paradise!), clowned around as he expertly landed a trout, barbecued it on board with his secret recipe, and told us ghost stories (legend has it that 11 days before Mount Tarawera erupted in 1886 a phantom canoe appeared on the lake ferrying soldiers).

After a round of jet-skiing on the lake, nature laid out a spectacular sunset for us — the brown of the volcanic mountain turning from copper to red, the sky changing from blue to purple to orange.

Perhaps, Daniel and Marion felt we were getting too relaxed, because the next day saw them leading us into some adrenaline raising activities in Rotorua.

The day started gently enough as we drove through the picturesque lakeside city, admiring the way wisps of white smoke from hot natural geysers curled up in the air, on to Kiwi Encounter, a conservation centre. New Zealand’s national bird, much like our tiger, is severely endangered, thanks to human-introduced predators like possums. But the country is doing a good job of saving the brown, hairy bird.

At the centre, we observed how kiwi eggs, taken from the wild, are hatched in an incubator, watched a super fortified diet for the chicks being prepared at the Forest Floor Café, and then saw the cuddly brown chicks being tenderly hand-fed their daily dose of worms and cereal. When Margot at the centre told us that it’s the male kiwi’s job to sit on the egg and hatch it while the female rests after her labour, we could appreciate how rare a species the flightless Kiwi is!

It was time to shift gears as we rode up the cable car to Mount Ngongotaha, admiring the view of Lake Rotorua. Here, we had the option of taking the sky swing, which attains speeds of 120kph (I passed!) or go down the cliff in the luge, an exciting gravity ride innovated by the Kiwis. This actually proved to be great fun (maybe because I played safe by taking the kiddies track). The ‘Off Road’ experience, later in the afternoon, where we had to drive four-wheel-drive jeeps on dirt tracks in the bush negotiating obstacles, proved to be equally exhilarating.

Back in Auckland, D-day dawned and despite our attempts to postpone the inevitable by fitting in an unscheduled trip to Mt Eden, all too soon, it was time to strap up for the jump. Strangely though, the ordeal passed like a breeze, perhaps due to the friendly banter and encouraging words of the instructors, who soon had us on the ledge. Peeping down was the only bad moment. 3,2,1, the instructor shouted and I stayed glued. It took two repetitions and a gentle push before I could float down — it is amazing how long 11 seconds can be and what all you can register during the time.

I have to hand it to the Kiwis — they know how to send you out of their country on a euphoric high, quite literally!

Ready reckoner

Web watch: www.skylineskyrides.co.nz (for gondola ride, luge and sky swing in Rotorua)

www.bayofplentynz.com (tour around the Bay of Plenty)

www.skyjump.co.nz (for sky jumping, Auckland)

www.solitairelodge.com (in Lake Tarawera)

www.kiwiencounter.co.nz (for a visit to Rainbow springs)