Copthorne Taupo

... as there is lots of cloud cover & the sun might set before we get up there. But we made it all ready to jump. We climbed to 15,000 feet, the hatch opened, the fist guy jumped, then Kiran with his Dive Master, then another random guy, followed lastly by me! OMG!!! That was the best thing I have ever done. My Dive master – Damien got me to do a ...

<br><br>Hello!<br><br>When I left you last I was hopeful of completing a sky-dive in the not too distant future and everything depended upon the weather. For the whole week only one day was predicted to be sunny so we pinned all our hopes on the upcoming Sunday to scarper across from Wellington to Lake Taupo and do the jump. It's a five hour drive but if we set off at around Nine in the morning and booked the jump for Three in the afternoon we should make it ...

... I was doing then before making any decisions about involving doctors. I was not much improved so by mid-day on Tuesday we visited the Taupo Medical Center. The doctor thinks I have some sort of virus that should just run it's course and be done in 5-14 days. We were sent on our way with a script for anti-naus to help with my comfort and orders to take it easy. I continued to feel better throughout the ...

... it was blocked, I just made it. From the plateau to green valleys and rolling farmland down to Lake Taupo and I was nearly there. I arrived early afternoon and had a warm welcome from Don and Shirley, it was great to be there and to be staying put for a few days. During the first couple of days my kind hosts took me around the area. I like this town it is a great area, lots of parks and gardens and lakeside walks, beautifully laid out, open to cyclists too ...

... of the intact volcanoe cone of Ngauruhoe passing over the tongues of recent lava flows that have cleared the moss, tussock and heather from the surrounding slopes. Once you make it to the Ngauruhoe saddle you cross the flat grass tufted plain of the South Crater (actually a basin infilled). You then climb further up to the still active Red Crater, the highest point, from where you get fantastic ...

... Ok, so why's this a good thing? Because when you're on top of Red Crater ridge in big time winds, you know you're doing something cool and special. It's not easy, and yet it's doable. Hey, come on, hiking's not supposed to just be a walk in the park. 6. Because it just is! 7. Because it makes Lord of the Rings geeks jealous. 8. Because the views are spectacular of the North Island. Ok, so ...

... wait for it..... a beer bottle opener! How f-ing great is that! I literally screamed like a little girl, fainted for 3 seconds and then threw money at the guy before skipping out the shop. Needless to say when I return home to the UK I shall be wearing these Jandals at every opportunity, just waiting for the moment when someone says 'Does anyone have a bottle-opener'. How I will laugh! So, tomorrow it's on to somewhere else... I forget... I'll check later and..... JANDALS!

... française que j'avais déjà vue à Auckland), c'est marrant de se retrouver là toutes les 2... 07/02/09: Yoga matinal au bord du lac... (je ne pouvais pas quitter Taupo sans dire aurevoir à ce cher lac...). Puis je prends le bus pour Wellington. Sur le chemin, nous longeons Tongariro National Park, qui aujourd'hui n'est pas recouvert de nuages... C'est magnifique... Dommage qu'il n'ait pas fait aussi beau la veille pendant ma randonnée.

Taupo lies by Lake Taupo, which is the biggest lake in NZ ( and according to my German skydiving tandem, the biggest in the southern hemisphere. Although he told me this during my fall down from the aircraft, I had time to have some doubts...) Here I hiked the famous Tongariro crossing, NZ's best day hike they say. It is 20+ km long and had some magnificent sights of two volcanoes, mountain cones in the distance, green NZ grass, blue-green mountain lakes and ...

... en blijkbaar een van de goedkoopste plekken in NZ om uit een vliegtuig te springen. We zitten echter nogal op een krap budget momenteel dus gaan we nog wat afwachten. No me apetece escribir, en realidad ya tenemos la proxima granja y hemos pasado por taupo porque parece que es bastante bonito, y porque es el sitio mas barato del mundo ...