Waahhhoooo!!! Alright folks! well, im writing this on the most momentous day of my life!!! Guess what i did today?? Only went and threw myself out of a plane at 12,000ft!!!!!!!! Yep, the boy with the worst fear of heights ever did the unthinkable and I survived!! Man it was insane!! but more on that later........ Fortunately, the weather forecasters have been totally wrong the past few days and the weather here in Taupo has been fine, especially in the mornings. So i've been getting stuck into a few activities. Yesterday I walked about 6km upto a place called Craters of the Moon which is basically a geothermal area with huge holes in the ground where steam pours out. Its a pretty unique site and sweet when you walk around it listening to the mud pools bubble as they boil and stroll through huge pockets of hot steam. At some angles it looks a bit like a wasteland or a scene out of Michael Jacksons 'earth song' video but cool nonetheless. But today was the biggun! I was booked on for a skydive yesterday but pussied out and cancelled it but today some guys I met in the hostel were jumping and persuaded me to go ahead with it and as the weather was perfect I thought I'd give myself the biggest test possible. We were picked up by limo (yep, sweet hey!) and driven to the nearby airfield and I felt surprisingly ok at that point. In fact the guys who had been totally 'Mr Cool' about it earlier were bricking it more than me. But its when we got there and they showed us a DVD that it really became real that it was going to happen!!! shikes! Theres no messing around and you get all the gear on straight away and before you know it its a quick introduction to your Dive partner (its a tandem jump and I had Erik the Viking!) and you are in the plane heading up. Again, at that point I actually started to get pretty psyched for the whole thing unitl we reached about 9,000 ft and man, did it feel high! From then on I was absolutely s***ting it and have never ever, EVER been so scared in all my life, it was a real mental battle with myself!! Remember that this is me, the guy who couldnt walk to the top of the Eiffel tower as I got too freaked out and has to crawl on my hands and knees at any high viewpoint with steep lookouts! What the hell was I doing????? After a quick countdown and safety check the door opens and thats when I really needed a new set of pants!! Seeing the first pair just disappear in the blink of an eye and then it being me with my feet hanging out and my stomach stuck in my bloody throat!!!! Then.......wooosh you're out and man what a rush!! ive been thinking all day about how I can describe it but I just cant. The words adrenaline rush dont even come close!!!!!! It was absolutely, completely, bloody.....MENTAL!!! The views were spectacular, we could see all the mountain ranges. a birds eye view of the biggest lake in NZ and check this....all the way from coast to coast!! Yep, both the east coast and west coast either side of you. as they say over here, that is SWEET AS BRO!!!! Once the parachute is up you just feel like you are hovering and have another 5 minutes to take in the view and some deep breaths and say a few explitives in my case! ;-) It was by far the best, most crazy thing I have ever done and I cant think of another thing which could possibly top it! I was so relieved at the end and so proud of myself for doing it. AAhhh, happy days! Anyways, this arvo I went for another long walk (still pumped off my face!) along the turbulent echo blue Waitako river upto the mightily powerful Huka falls. One of NZ's most amazing natrual wonders and it was pretty impressive Ive gotta say. Tonight i am heading out with the skydive crew to celebrate but nothing too crazy as Ive gotta get the bus to Rotorua tomo, mind you after todays antics i feel like I can conquer anything!! I'll keep you posted soon Take it easy (a totally buzzing!) Dan