Early start on Saturday 17th to head off to Taupo. Chucked our stuff onto the Kiwi bus , reclined the seat and got settled in for our journey North. 2 minutes later we were back off the bus dragging our bags out having just narrowly missed being returned to the South Island. Close call! Finally found the right bus and hopped on. The bus ride was a long one with our first highlight stopping off to get our first glimpses of the Tongarriro National Park (where Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings was filmed). Looked very impressive. Not every day you see a volcano! Afterwards it was back on the bus and we were pulling into Taupo airport, not to take a flight but for Luke (again) and Chris to chuck themselves out of a plane. All kitted out and looking like condoms, we rode the plane up to fifteen thousand feet sucking down on the Oxygen provided through some masks! the scenery over Taupo was amazing and flying across the landscape was simply insane. A feeling that can't be described but one that could easily become addictive! The smiles on the faces at the bottom said it all. Amazing. Adrenaline fully restored it was on to Base Hostel where steak and mash was waiting on the table! Doesn't get much better. An evening out to celebrate safety with the guys off of Kiwi and a great day had been had!

Next day it was up early to sort out Luke's birthday banter. now truely efficient in $2 shops we were done in no time. Decided to get the walking shoes on and headed off to some natural hot springs. A scenic 45 minute stroll by river and through parks we arrived to a free jacuzzi. Whilst sitting there we realised this sight was becoming a little bit too common. However we all agreed as long as we weren't paying for it (unlike Queenstown) it definitely is not gay. A nice relaxing session and a stroll back we stocked up on food for our 10 hike across Tongarriro Crossing the following day. that evening we popped down another superb curry (compliments to the chef) and had a general chilled one. Big day coming up!

Monday morning and it was happy birthday Luke! An early one at that as it was a 05:30 wake up call. Got our hiking gear on and headed for the bus. The woman on the bus Jan had some s*** hot sales tactics. Only Chris was wearing trousers and Jan said that the rest of the boys would definitely need 'Fleecy Pants'. At ten bucks a shot it was debatable especially as the boys had climbed a glacier in shorts and been fine. However Jan insisted that it would be sub zero temps and that everyone who took those 'Fleecy Pants' was bloody grateful and kept them on all day. It turns out that Jan is a bull s***ter and no you do not need 'Fleecy Pants'. The only thing the lads got out of them was taking them off after 8 minutes and having the privilege of carrying them! However it was worth the ten bucks alone to see Luke in a fleece tuxedo. He was head to toe in black fleece. Genius. Despite this we headed off for the volcanoes. A flat start to the day soon saw us arrive at the 'Devils Staircase'. Compared to 'Heart Attack Hill' Luke and Chris did in Kings Canyon Oz, it was child's play, however there was still some serious blowing out our arses. Jack's fitness / knee combo was especially a picture moment. However we prevailed and once at the top we settled down for our ham sandwiches complete with Mr Potato crisps (fake pringles), tim tams and took in the stunning views NZ had to offer. Afterwards it was on to Mount Doom for some photos. Having asked a woman to take some snaps we soon realised she must have been pissed as on looking at the photos we realised none of us were in it. What she was pointing them at I don't know. Another blast up a steep climb and we had even better views. Standing between to Volcanoes, sheer drops, emerald lakes etc there wasn't much to say. This place had scenery coming out of it's arse! Fantastic. We then started sliding down the side of the volcano stopping at the Emerald lakes for a better look. Afterwards we pushed onto a frozen blue lake and our last climb of the day. Stopped for a spot of lunch (same again) and pushed through down the side of the pas crossing streams and watching steam coming out of the ground. After a couple more hours we found ourself in a treed area that looked more like jungle! We had never been on such a diverse walk. After an hour (and some robin based banter)in the bush and walking down a river we finally rolled out to the finish line spent. It'd been a more intense walk then we expected but we all were very glad we had done it. Saw some of the most amazing views and actually felt like we had achieved something. Great team effort. All we had to do now was wait for Jan to roll up into the car park so we could give her a bloody good hiding and tell her exactly what we thought of these 'fleecy pants'. Classic. After an afternoon nap on the way home it was time to get prepped for Luke's birthday shenanigans. Team T-shirts on we headed off to The Shed for Luke's b-day meal. Very nice. Once again we had party hats on, had a little prezzy for Luke and also presented him with a birthday rosette, some angel wings and 6 police force badges. Luke had to don all his sexy attire and once looking like the little birthday angel he is, handed out the police badges. They ranged from police patrol, special constable, police force and sheriff. From now on whoever was in charge could call 'freeze mother b*****s and last one to get the badge out was punished. Looked quite the sight holding up each other in bars like the LAPD. Hit a range of bars where Luke discovered his new favorite drink is not a Bloody Mary! We ended up in the Base Bar and was left with another clinical night under the belt and banter a - plenty for the morning. Great work even if Matt nearly finished off Andy to try and stop him snoring. We're not too sure how the Millman's put up with him back on the farm. We'd make him sleep with the sheep!

Our last day in Taupo saw a general recovery and chillax day. Some of us may have snuck into the hut for a cheeky buffet whilst managing to secure 4 large pizzas for free to keep us going! Yummy! After a steady day and a look at the lake we went out for a chilled night. Matt and Chris showed the Devon boys how to play pool. It was a 3 venue event with team LDN Wales smashing them 3-2, 4-1 and 6-0. Easy! After Andy and Jack pulled their pants back up we sat by the fire like old men in the bar and trotted off to bed. Taupo was great. Down and seen some amazing stuff. It was a little quiet whilst we were there but in the busy season it must be mental. That place has a stack of potential.