Flag Inn Sails Motor Lodge Taupo

... you get spun round and round when they need to pick the pace of the decent up. I still had opportunity to bug Ian with more questions about how far a parachute can fly you and what colour our chute was and then we were on the ground and, at the insistence of the cameraman, kissing it for dramatic effect. This is something that, although great, must be much more easily enjoyed second time round. When you actually know exactly what's going to happen and can take it all in. it ...

... following morning so we'd have plenty of time to "think" about it. She offered us a time slot about ten minutes in the future and we accepted. I think Jay was in shock as we drove to the Taupo airport about to embark on this wild , perhaps suicidal adventure. Once there, we quickly dealt with the pushy rude salesgirl who attempted to upsell us, and got suited up within about an hour. The sky looked quite cloudy and they weren't entirely sure they'd be able to make the ...

... picture and then the guy was counting 1,2,3....and I jumped. The freefall was far scarier than the skydive. The water was rushing towards me at a phenominal rate and about a second after I jumped as I was gaining speed I let out the most bizarre yelp as I realised what a crazy thing I was doing. Even though I had said I didn't want to hit the water my arms dipped in up to my elbows and I got quite a fright, plus my sleeves were now soaking. Apparently they can't be exact and ...

... I'm chilling to Taupo waiting for Laim and Alexa to get back, pretty excited to see the little guy. Going to hang out for a few days and get a ride with them in their rental car back to Auckland to meet up with Sean again (he went north to 90 mile beach on the Kiwi bus) and start our southbound Kiwi bus treck. Good times and a few more hangover to come, im sure. Let the good times roll!

... Geyser springs into action, shooting water several metres high up into the sky. (18) A gurgling hot mud pool (it reminded John of the 1950s BBC Sci Fi Classic "Quatermass and the Pit" (19) A Pied Stilt with 2 youngsters. These are lovely elegant birds and quickly established themselves as Anne's favourite NZ birds. They have amazingly long skinny legs which you feel should snap at the slightest touch. Several of these birds had made what would seem to an alien ...

... the next day's suckers out of their sponds. Watch out the lakes of Killarney, here we come. On the way to our bus, myself and Murph ran into an old acquaintance we didnt think we would see again, and certaintly not on the north island but there he was, our camper van itself. We were very tempted to hang around to meet the new owners and exchange stories but we had a bus to catch with the possibility of catching the Canada v. Ireland rugby match in Rotaurua when we got there.

... room 18! So good news that the trek is still on... but by 7:30am only 2 of the 5 Stray passengers were ready to go and eventually the driver went and roused the three Irish (including the one I saw going to bed as I was getting up!) We finally left an hour late and I was amazed how lively the boys were - they were indeed still drunk and I knew then I wasn't in for a quiet day! We therefore arrived at the NP an hour late to find the guide Stu and a few others ...

... some lucky locals have taken full advantage of this by building some amazing houses along the valley. The falls themselves are not that high but are no less spectacular for that as they have an incredible volume of water being forced through a very narrow gorge. The water is ice blue in colour and very, very clear. The next day we take a trip on the Huka Falls Jet Boats. These boats are incredibly fast and zoom up and down the river ...

... stond er een van 134 meter; dat 3 keer zo hoog! En wederom was het erg goedkoop, ik moest het eigenlijk wel doen van mezelf, gewoon om eens te zien wat ik ervan vond.
Dus na een uur besloot ik alles opzij te zetten en te vertrouwen op het feit dat alles goedkwam. Daar zat ik dan. Terwijl een vrouw bezig was het elastiek aan mijn voeten vast te maken, wilde ik eigenlijk wel even over het randje gluren, maar dat mocht niet.
Na wederom een korte instuctie ...