Taupo is famous for its skydiving. Could we really pass through it without flinging ourselves out of a plane for no apparent reason apart from the buzz and the spectacualer views? Nah!

As soon as I signed my name on the form I was terrified and hardly uttered a word. We were about to get dropped off and our friendly bus driver started playing 'Dead on Arrival.' Nice touch. However, it got cancelled due to the bad weather conditions, what a sense of relief!

So the next morning arrived and the weather was fine, and we were good to go... the lovely people at the skydive centre picked us up in a limosine, before presenting us with a death disclaimer form. Oh good.

As most of you know, I'm not a big fan of flying on a regular day, flying in a small plane bothers me too, so the prospect of flying in a small plane, throwing myself out of it, 12,000 feet above ground level, attached only to a flap of silk absolutely terrifies me! Rabbit in headlights just doesn't cut it, I have never been this scared.

So we got our gear on - they don't even give you a helmet! I know it wouldn't be much use, but if the worse were to happen i'd rather not have a mangled head. After asking my tandem man, Steve, if he'd attached me properly for the 500th time, I'm sure he was ready to unhook me!

I watched everyone else go. Then it was my turn, you don't get any choice at this point. Steve was going and taking me with him! I didn't even swear, it was too scary! And WOW, what a feeling! Dropping at 200kmph for 45 seconds. It was a little hard to breathe but a great rush.

When the parachute opens you can really start to enjoy it. Great scenery and it is so peaceful up there. I was congratulating myself on my great achievement all the way down despite doing nothing but handing over my credit card!

X-treme sports injuries as follows: 1. slight bruising to the left collar bone; 2. a lasting tightness to the both lungs on account of the 200kmph freefall.

The only downer was that I was the only person who the camera malfunctioned on so have limited pictures. And I perfomed a perfect landing too - guess you'll just have to take my word for it! Oh well, I will just have to do it again someday!

All this excitement then the very next day we went on a 17k ramble - the Tongariro Crossing, the 3rd trek in as many weeks. We walked 2000m to the summit of a mountain - I thought we'd need breathing apparatus for this but we were grand. The views were stunning, volcanic craters and lakes around every bend and we were literally walking in the clouds! Fabulous.

So this activity erarned us a well-deserved rest in the hostel hot tub (I will never stop in a hotel again, these hostels are amazing!) and then a few cheeky ones in town - where they have a novel way to get money off your drinks - paper, scissor, stone with the barstaff. Saved a few pence with that!

And so to the next stop, Wellington...

Katherine xxx