4th July 2009

We left for Taupo early this morning. The weather wasnt looking good but we were booked in to jump at 11am in the hope that it cleared up. But when we arrived it was still way to overcast so me and Mike went to Huka Falls. After pulling up in the carpark here and cooking up some amazing fish finger sandwiches we went to look and take some pictures of the falls. It was really good to see, the water runs very fast but is very clear and blue, it would be so good to raft down! From here we drove along Lake Taupo which is massive! It was formed by 2 massive volcanic erruptions 26,500 years ago! We then went to the AJ Hackett bungee jump here, firstly to see if we think we could do the one in Queenstown and secondly to watch everyone else throw themselves off! Most people jumped off straight away apart from one woman who stood there crying for a while! No one really screamed though which is definately going to happen if I do end up doing one!

Throughout today our skydive was rescheduled 3 times due to the weather. We really wanted the sky to clear but the clouds werent budging at all, so we booked in for first thing tomorrow. We pulled into a campsite tonight with great views over the lake. There is a full sized trampoline here, so me and Mike entertained ourselves by bouncing around for ages!

6th July 2009 SKYDIVE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So back in Taupo, we woke up with rain and clouds! We booked ourselves in to skydive at 1pm and if the weather hadnt cleared by then we were going to had South for Wellington to catch the ferry to South Island and try again down there. This morning we drove down to the Lake Taupo where we fed lot sof ducks, lol and took some stupid pictures. We then sat in our camper and played McDonalds Monopoly noticing that the clouds where parting!! We were getting so excited as it was looking like we could skydive, argh!! So after waiting for another hour the sky continued to clear so about half 12 we drove to the skydive centre to be told we could jump !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay, we were sooo excited!! We were a bit early so had to sit around for a bit, we also watched the first lot jump!! We then went into a room to watch a previous skydive video before having to sign our lives away, putting our next of kin details incase we died, lol and agreeing that we cant sue the company if something went wrong, lol!!! We also got to choose 3 songs to go with our dvd. It was 189.00 pounds each for the 15,000 ft jump, photos and dvd which is really good.

So after signing our lives away we were paired up with our jumpers, my guy was called Alex, he was really nice. So he put me in my jumpsuit, put a small lifejacket around my waist incase we landed in the lake!! Then put my harness on which later was the only thing attachin gme to him! Mike was jumping with Benny who was also really cool, we both got a hat, gloves and googles each whcih werent the most sexiest of items to wear! We had 2 little intervies each before going up and some silly photos taken and were ready to go. The plane was a tiny pink thing, there were 4 jumpers so 8 of us altogether in the back, and it was tight! There isnt enough room to sit side by side so you sit staggered inbetween the legs of the guy you jump with, cosy! Neither of us were really nervous it was a weird feeling. They all make you feel so relaxed. Mike was second to jump and I was third. It took about 15-20 mintues to get up to 15,000 feet and it was cold up there!! The views from the plane alone was amazing, you could see over the whole of Taupo and the massive lake. We did more for the video on the way up too. Then halfway up we had to sit on our guys laps so they coupld clip us to them and check our harnesses were on correctly! Once attached they go over what we need to do, check your all good to go and thats it...the first guy went, Mike was hung over the edge and then thrown out and I went straight after him!!!!

It is so hard to explain what it was like, we fell 10,000 feet in 60 seconds, but it doesnt even feel like your falling at all as you are still so far from the ground. When you first jump you tumble in the air but once you put your arms out your falling with your body facing the ground. It was so cold though. Alex and Benny told us when they had the camera on so we could give it a wave!! Our videos are so good and funny! So after the 60 second freefall they release the parachute and as soon as they do that it is so silent and peaceful. They steer the parachute so you get great views over the whole of Taupo, Alex spun us so we span round really quickly which was really good. I could see Mike in the distance as he glided down. Benny and Alex had the cameras going again to film us talking after the freefall, our faces are a picture! It took 5 mintues to land fro mthe parachute opening. We landed back at the airfield where we took off, when you come to land you head for the ground so fast, we just had to lift our legs up then you skid on your bum for a bit but it doesnt hurt at all.

I have probably missed loads out but it is so hard to explain it. It was just so so amazing, we both want to do one again, we loved it! I will put our pictures up on here. Om god it was so good, you have to do one, seriously, itas not scary at all!!!!!!