We were up bright and early and very excited, if a little nervous!! Once ready and had just about managed breakfast we went to the tourist information where they confirmed the skydive! AH!! We then drove out to the airport which was just around the other side of the lake. We contemplated texting home but decided against it..we though we'd wait until after! Once we had checked in we had a bit of a wait. We watched them packing the parachutes up, hoping that they ...

We had free tickets to another thermal wonderland type place called hells gate. It was all very similar but not as colourful as what Wai-o-Tapu was! We saw a cool mud volcano but it was hard to get photos because of all the steam! It took us about half the time to get round and we were glad that we hadn't paid to go! We finished off the visit by doing some Maori type carving with a Maori guy! He was very patient and we were pleased with the end product! From the...

We had free tickets to another thermal wonderland type place called hells gate. It was all very similar but not as colourful as what Wai-o-Tapu was! We saw a cool mud volcano but it was hard to get photos because of all the steam! It took us about half the time to get round and we were glad that we hadn't paid to go! We finished off the visit by doing some Maori type carving with a Maori guy! He was very patient and we were pleased with the end product! From the...

We were up early to go to the thermal wonderland. The lady knox geyser there erupts at 10am everyday so we didn't want to miss it! It took a little longer to get there than expected and it was very busy! We got a good seat and sat and waited!! We thought it was completely natural but there is a guy who adds a type of soap to encourage it to erupt consistently. Without the soap it could erupt at anytime within a 36 hours period. Anyhoo, we watched and waited, it s...

We slept surprisingly well and slept in too! Oops! We got sorted and were on our way! We had heard sirens while at the campsite and thought it was odd in such a remote part of the country! We had only just got past the first town and we soon realised what they were for. There had been a serious accident and the road had been closed for at least 1 hour and a half. We had the option of going back to the town but decided to sit in the queue to save queuing later. We...