Went south from Auckland to see the famous glow-worm caves at Waitomo. Heavy overnight rain however, meant caves were flooded and we had to find something else to do. Not far from the caves was a place that kept Angoran rabbits, these bloody huuuge things need shaving every 12 weeks or they die from overheating. Bunny shaving - we could hardly keep a straight face! We did however buy some fur so we can get a friend to knit Kym a hat.

With the lack of action at the caves we scooted across to Rotorua (nicknamed Roto Vegas by Kiwis) where there is tons to do by way of a town called Tiaru where seemingly everything is made out of corrugated iron.

Rotorua is very weird - the earth's crust is at its thinest here, steam pours gently from gutters, mudpits and the whole place stinks of sulphur. We went lugeing which is llike a little go-kart with no engine zooming down a steep hill. It was phenomenal fun - at one point you can take off it was so fast but Kym did kick my arse!

Afterwards we went to an animal park where you could stroke lion cubs and seemingly feed every type of animal under sun - star of the show was a flaming deranaged sheep! That evening we went to a Polynesian Spa and soaked in the geothermally heated pools (42'C) looking out over the sun setting over the lake. The idylic setting was turned slightly surreal with the huge flock of seagulls constantly having sex with each other only 6 foot away.

Went to Te Puia next day to look at all the steaming mudpits and the biggest geyser in the southern hemisphere and then I (Jon) went Zorbing. This involves getting inside a big rubber ball together with a few buckets of water which is inside an even bigger ball and rolling down a hill - great fun!

In the evening we went to a Maori night at a place called Mitaki for a Hangi feast - not massively impressed if the truth be known - bit too much like Walt Disney.

Next day drove south to Lake Taupo and went tandem skydiving. Kym was last in the plane and therefore first out. It was a cloudy day and they are not allowed to jump through cloud so Kym spent 5 mins dangling out of the plane while the chap strapped to her back looked for a hole in the cloud! After failing he pulled her back in we circled some more and Kym learned to breath again!! A couple more minutes and this time we went. Holy crap - I can feel another expensive hobby coming on - absolutely awesome fun!