Hello again everybody! Another Gracie postcard! I have done so much since I last updated the website and spent quite a bit of money - but it's all been worth it! I left Wellington pretty early the next morning after writing my last journal update, and had great views of the Kapiti coast then some fab cliffs running alongside the river next to the road. It didn't take too long to get to my (and only mine) stop off at Turangi - it's not a Kiwi Experience overnight stop so I was getting off the tourist trail once again (like I did in Mount Cook). I checked in with the very friendly staff at the hostel and after some lunch I was going to go for a short walk but was really tired so thought a quick nap was a good plan - 2 and a half hours later I woke up! Didn't do much that evening - it was a pretty quiet hostel which was nice, so had some time to relax, which was good because the next day was knackering! Left the hostel on a special shuttle bus at 7am!!!!!!! Took us (whole big busful!) to the Tongariro crossing - said to be one of the best one day walks in the country. Spoke to a nice American lady on the way there but ended up walking the whole way with a German guy over here doing and internship for his masters, and we had something in common as he was studying geography! The walk took 8 hours and we didn't stop all that long for photo taking and food and rest breaks as it was pretty cold and windy. The first bit was ok then it was a pretty tough 2 hours of climbing up steep rocky hills, well volcano actually! As we got to about 1500m there was quite a lot of snow and then we were in the clouds as they were really low that day, so unfortunately we couldn't even see the snow-topped volcano we were walking around, the massive craters created my massive eruptions, the supposedly beautiful emerald lakes or the views across the landscape. Was rather annoyed as it was so much effort to get up there! Right at the top there was a massive expanse of snow about 2ft thick which was fun but tough to walk on. The highest part was really bleak with strong icey winds and you couldn't see a thing! Quite relieved when we started to come down, but my knee started hurting straight away! Threw some big stones into a snowy icey lake that was fun, and kind of saw the top of one crater. As we descended the views were great as we got out of the clouds, and there was a hot stream coming down from a hot spring and there was loads of smelly sulpher gas coming out too which was quite exciting. It was really wierd the vegetation was really low sub-alpine stuff then suddenly we turned the corner and we were walking through rainforest with a stream to follow all the way down that was really nice. Walked with others as well for short amounts of time - talked to a couple from Chicago on their honeymoon - I asked them if they had been to England, the guy said yeah, he worked in Slough for 9 months to which I replied oh dear! We timed the walk so well, with only 15 minutes to spare before the bus collected us, and it was so nice to sit down! Was very rewarding though and I really enjoyed it, but a bit gutted about the weather, as many other people I have met since have done it and they saw all the things I was meant to see and enjoyed some sunshine! I learnt 4 phrases in German that day too, so I quite pleased about that! Had a very chilled out evening and lots of cake. Had a good lie in but was very rudely awakened by the cleaners coming in and banging the matresses about as the others in my room had all left that morning - they didn't put anyone else in there so I had the room to myself for the 3rd night! Hardly did anything today, apart from a lot of talking and reading! Talked to a Kiwi guy staying there - it as his birthday so he wasn't travelling. He was making his way to Auckland from Queenstown (pretty much the whole length of the country) by hitchhiking and hadn't had much luck! He was a cowboy and breaks horses in and had broken every bone in his body at some point and lost some teeth, and yet continued to do it - how crazy! The reading I was doing was all about Tasmania and I set about planning it all to work out what I wanted to do, where to stay and how long I needed there to which he thought was crazy - he thought I should just turn up and not plan it but I would probably end up missing out on going to loads of cool places, not have long enough in the country, and end up driving around small towns with no hostels in if I did that! So that's what I did - have planned it all and am going to hire a car and have 10 days there yay! It was a great day for sitting outside (which I did all day) as it was hot and sunny yippie! Even needed sun cream! Really got into my book the Da Vinci code - couldn't put it down all evening! After checking out the next morning I went for a really nice walk about 4 miles alongside the Tongariro river it was beautiful weather, beautiful clear water and beautiful forest to walk through. Really loved it and made up for the nasty weather on the volcano! Had some lunch then met the Kiwi bus in town and went on to Taupo. As I got on the bus I booked my sky dive and some of the others on the bus were doing it too. We got dropped off there and I began to get scared and very excited! We watched a video of others doing it which made me even more excited then we got our jump suits, straps and hats with goggles on! There was a choice of a ground video which showed pretty much the whole thing apart from you doing the freefall which is only 45 seconds, or a video with your own freefall bit and 24 photos. Considering the ground video was free and the other option was the same price as the sky dive itself (as you are paying for an extra guy to jump out with you!) I went for the free one! It is really good and shows me just before I jump! Was so excited getting into the plane, it was soooo squashed in there and the ground soon looked miles away! My pilot (person attached to me whilst skydiving) showed me this dial at 3000ft it looked so high I couldn't imagine what it would be like at 12000ft! We had great views of lake Taupo and the countryside. It wasn't long before they opened the door of the plane and the first person was gone! Then a girl called Sinead (who was really bricking it!) was gone, then we were shuffling towards the door and I couldn't believe what I was about to do! I had no time to think about it though and was soon hurtling through the air screaming my head off! It was the wierdest feeling ever, it's really hard to put into words. Once we were in the traditional skydiving position it didn't even feel like we were going that fast - but we were going 200km/hour!!!!! The cold air pushing against my face was so fast and crazy oh I just can't explain it! There was a sudden jolt as the parachute came out - it was over so quick! I couldn't get over the adrenalin rush, but had another as the pilot handed me the parachute handles and helped me steer it about, and we went round in circles it was so fun! The last bit was like the paragliding but was more just going straight down that gliding around. Was amazing up there. We landed easily and I was shaking with adrenalin when I got down and we were all so hyper then and couldn't stop talking and jumping up and down - we all wanted to do it again!! Watched the video it was so funny - some of them had camera men jumping with them and their faces were being pulled back with the gravity! I hated seeing myself on video but it was so good we got a free video. Watched some other landing then got the bus into Taupo to the worst hostel I have been in so far due to small kitchen with hardly any spoons and cups and only 4 hob rings! The room was really cramped too. Me and the 5 others that sky-dived all shared a room. We had a nice cheap BBQ then went out as we were all still hyper and had a really good night even though it was really quiet in the pub and club we went to! The next day was great - really warm and sunny. I got a shuttle bus to a place called craters of the moon which is a geothermal area with craters with volcanic thermal gases escaping everywhere and also a massive boiling mud pool. The bus then took me to a place called Whaiteke Terraces (I think that's spelt wrong but you won't know that!) It is a bit of a man-made thermal place, but still really good. Years ago there were naturally formed silica terraces created by a massive geiyser but the creation of a power station harnessing the steam and hot water destroyed them, so they have built new ones that will eventually look natural as the silica will deposit over them. The geiyser was amazing - it was constantly erupting about 10m high exploding boiling water out and there was tons of steam billowing out! The water from that flowed all over the terraces and into a stream and into beautiful clear blue pools that you could put your feet in! There was a wood carving house where a man was doing an 18 month carving! It was a big boat about 20m long - there was a model of what it would look like I bet it would be amazing! There were some animals including some very fat pigs and also a mini Mauri village showing statues, their houses and food stores and things. After that the bus took me to the Huka falls - one of the most impressive waterfalls I have seen so far! The river goes from a channel 100m wide to a channel 15m wide, creating a really fast rushing channel of white water then a massive waterfall several metres high and the water at the bottom was all swirling about it was amazing! They use the water here for hydro-electric power too. It made me feel really dizzy looking at it! When I was there Lynette who I met in Wellington suddenly appeared and we were going to meet for a drink later on but I got back so late and was really tired so gave it a miss. I walked alongside the river for about and hour to these hot springs, where you could go in a little pool right by the path where the hot stream met the river. Wasn't going to spend that long there but was joined by a Swede/Austrian couple who I spoke to for ages and ended up getting a lift back into town with as they were going that way anyway - glad I did or it would have been another 45 minutes walk! Didn't have much of an evening as got back so late and was really tired. The next day I went kayaking! Got picked up by the company, there was a guy from Canada also kayaking - we went in the double kayak with me and the 2 instructors had their own kayaks. We were told how to do it (I have only done it once when I was 14!) then got in and away we went! It was another gorgeous day and it was so nice to be out on the beautiful lake. It was the size of Singapore - 180km all the way round! There was forest all along the shore and we stayed quite near. I felt a bit awkward with it to start with then soon got the hang of it. We kayaked round to these Mauri carvings which all meant significant things and stories in their culture - they were only 25 years old, someone had just felt like doing it and had to build scaffolding in the water! We had a break on a little beach near there and they gave us some food. During the trip we had a few breaks on the water and they told us about Mauri legends and natural history and about the volcano which is under the lake erupting years ago it was pretty amazing! When we got back into town I decided to try suishi its quite nice actually! I then booked up a jet boat ride for about an hour later, which also had a bus to pick me up, it was just a few miles away. Everyone doing the boat ride got massive waterproof jackets on and lifejackets - looked funny! There was a kid of about 4 doing it he was very brave! The guy taking us out was really funny, but I bet he tells the same jokes every trip! We were soon soaked when he did a really fast 360 degrees turn in the boat which we did loads of it was so fun! We sped so fast down the river, and he kept heading for trees and only just missing them! We really had to trust this man! There were loads of geese on the river - they didn't seem too bothered though they must be well used to it I guess! We went up to a dam used for electricity generation, then went the other way right up to the Huka falls which was very impressive sat there in a tiny boat! He said enough water comes through the narrow channel in either 1 minute or 1 second to fill 2 olympic sized swimming pools! We went in between 2 bushes only just wide enough it was quite scary but so fun! Was so drenched when I got back, didn't buy the photos they took of us before we left but I had my waterproof camera I had bought for the kayaking trip so I got some pics on there. When I got back I went on net and looked for flights and cars for Tassie and found a really good deal and have booked it all up!! I have got a VW old Beetle for my hire car - its only 160 pounds for the 10 days! My flights are really good too - about 60 pounds! Very pleased about it as worried I'm spending loads at the moment - as you can see! Saw Lynette in the internet place would you believe - she had just walked the crossing with great weather, but had to get a bus at 2am to Auckland!!! Quiet night for me again. Now I am onto today yay! Left early for Rotarua only an hour ish away. Met Sarah and Emer 2 girls from the bus after checking in at my hostel (we're all in different ones!) then we faffed for a while trying to decide what to do. We got a bus to what we thought would be a really cool chocolate factory but was really just a shop, and Sarah was told there was hot spas there but there weren't! So I was going to go Zorbing (getting in a ball like a hamster and rolling down a hill!) but it was a bit expensive for what it was, so I did something called a swoop instead which I have pictures of on the website (they are all mixed up though which is annoying!) as I bought them coz they weren't too expensive. I won't explain what I was in as you will see from the pictures, but I was so high up and had to pull my own cord to release myself and oh my god I hurtled through the air on a wire so fast! It was so scary can't believe how fast it was!! I tried to scream but was really moving too fast to scream properly - think that happened when I was skydiving too! I closed my eyes at first too it was that scart - bit silly considering I had paid about 15 pounds for this! Was more heart pounding adrenalin fun. So so much cheaper than a bungee and people that we saw before had done both and said this was scarier so I did well! Have just got the bus back into town and written this - was meant to meet the girls an hour ago at Emer's hostel as there are hot pools so had better go - we are all going to a Mauri concert at 6.30 where you get a really cool traditionally cooked meal I can't wait!! P.S. Rotarua is smelly coz there is sulpher gas escaping everwhere!