The Big Jump

Last night we decided to get a decent dinner and Scott had a thirst for some steak. He got a steak, but was a bit disappointed at how "gamey" it was. I decided it was because they were free range hormone free "happy" cows and thus were not as tender as our grain/hormone fed, stand in one place cows. I, on the other hand, opted for a steak pie with potatoes and caramelized onions. The pies down here are the bomb...put Marie Calendar's to shame. We are still on our quest to enjoy the alcoholic delights of New Zealand--me with the wine and Scott with the beers. We have been impressed.

All the way down...

So, to the sky dive. It was thrilling and beautiful and scary...basically every adjective at some point crossed my mind. Scott made his weight and was able to come along. Both of our tandem jumpers were much shorter than us but that really didn't matter until Scott had to sit on the guy's lap to get strapped in...that was a bit awkward to say the least but I got a chuckle out of it. We jumped with Taupo Tandem Skydiving...well known as the cheapest 12000 foot skydive in the world (until Sept 1 which they noted their prices will go up $100 due to the price wars with the other 2 jumping companies that drove the prices down...they are very free about giving confidential info here). While the cheapness of the jump may make some suspect that possibly their safety measures are not what they should be, the 2 minute "training" video we watched seconds before boarding the plane will probably do the trick. It was actually nice, however, not to think too much about what we were about to do. We jumped in the plane and then basically jumped out. Piece of cake. What made the jump so worth it though was the scenery. We jumped over Lake Taupo which reminds me of the pristine waters of Lake Tahoe and the lake is surrounded by snow covered mountains and green hills and valleys and forests. Just about the most beautiful place imaginable and the sky was so clear and blue. It was a perfect day to jump. I'll upload pictures when I get to a computer with the CD drive.

Eating my fish for dinner

After the jump we had about 30 minutes before we were going to get picked up for our fly fishing excursion. Adam picked us up at our RV park and we drove off to one of the tributary rivers that empty into the lake. As soon as we got there we put on the river pants which is basically a wet suit with boots attached and grabbed our rods. Adam started with Scott since he had fly-fished before and got him situated. My only experience with fly-fishing was watching Brad Pitt do it in "A River Runs Through It" which was motivation enough to learn. It is pretty tricky, but, because of my natural angling abilities, I hooked a 4 pound rainbow trout in 30 seconds. No joke. It was a fighter and took us down the river a bit to bring her in. It was such a pretty fish too--a beautiful pink and lavender stripe down its back, hence the rainbow thing. I was pretty tuned into its coloring when Adam went on to whack it in the head a few times. It was a little disturbing but I happily carried my prize back to gloat. Scott came pretty close to nabbing another big one but it broke the line. I caught 2 smaller fish but we thankfully released them before Adam could bludgeon them to death.

Going Really Fast

Tonight we are going the Jolly Good Tavern to have our trout cooked up. Most of the restaurants in town will cook the fish you catch. You can actually bring your dead fish in its bag right into the restaurant and just hand it to the waiter...weird.

Another funny thing about this town is the fact that it has a street called "Rifle Range Road." I know that doesn't sound too weird, but when every other street name in the city is in Maori (like Heuheu or Tongehri), something like Rifle Range Road sticks out. I plan on checking out that street later tonight. Sounds like a blast.

Tomorrow we chartered another fishing excursion except this one is on the lake in a boat. The advertisement also states that tea is served while on board. Sounds delightful.

No Turning Back Now

Will put new photos up when I can find a compatible computer or wireless. Take Care.

Scott and Jenn After the Jump