'High spirits' cost thousands

Jared Tansley's car is still lying at the bottom of the cliff and may need to be lifted out with a crane

Taupo skydiver Jared Tansley has become something of a folk hero since he drove his car over a 15m cliff.

But emergency services aren't impressed, saying his rescue has already cost them thousands and his mangled Mazda has yet to be raised from its resting spot at the edge of Lake Taupo.

Some of 23-year-old Tansley's friends are impressed with his Thelma and Louise-style stunt last Sunday night.

"We're so proud," Skydive Taupo operations manager Betsy Pinkerton said yesterday.

Tansley, who worked as a parachute packer last summer, has 300 skydives to his name. But never before a freefall in a car.

He donned a skydiving helmet before taking his unregistered, unwarranted Mazda "rally car" for a spin.

The spot he chose was an unfenced paddock off Acacia Bay Rd with a sheer 15m drop to Lake Taupo.

Soon after he started doing wheelies, he found himself sailing straight off the cliff.

Tansley lived to tell the tale, but with a fractured right leg and collarbone. He had surgery the next day and was too heavily sedated to talk. However, he has been reported as saying he was grateful to his rescuers and would not try the move again.

Perhaps learning police were planning to press charges, he pulled out of an interview with the Herald.

Ms Pinkerton said Tansley had always been "a little bit high-spirited".

"He was probably having a good time, but not paying attention," she said.

Tansley was released from hospital on Thursday but may not be welcome in Taupo. The local Fire Service said his rescue cost it $2500 and police said it was an unnecessary drain on resources.

Two firefighters and two paramedics had to abseil down the cliff to get Tansley out of the car, cutting their way through dense blackberry and scrub to free him.

The coastguard was called in when it was apparent they could not haul him up to an ambulance above.

Senior Constable Peter Sowter said Tansley could face reckless driving charges and a bill of several thousand dollars for raising the Mazda.

"The sky's the limit if they have to get a crane to get it out," Mr Sowter said. "All for the want of doing some dumb doughnuts."