After leaving Rotorua we drove to Lake Taupo where Jak threw himself out of a plane at 15,000 feet in a tandem skydive. Apparently you can see both coasts from that height but Jak said he was too disorientated to even think to look down during the 60 second freefall - understandable really considering he was travelling at over 200km a second. We paid out for the DVD and photos for his group and there are some brilliant pictures where he has wibbly wobbly cheeks from the wind and/or looks suitably terrified. One guy on the DVD was forced to eat his beard the whole way down; he kept attempting to spit it out but whenever he opened his mouth the wind pushed it right back in. Hilarious. Jak reckoned the view was amazing once the parachute opened and he had the presence of mind to look around: miles and miles of different shades of green and a great view of Lake Taupo, which is bigger than Singapore.

That evening we headed to an Irish pub for dinner and drinks with the rest of the people from the Magic Bus. They did a backpacker deal where you got a meal and a drink for $10 then a $1 off all drinks after that. We thought that was good until we discovered it was ladies' night in the bar next door: free drinks for all girls! Long live sexism! We ended up having a really good night and danced like crazy. The DJ even played Jagged Edge for me :-)

We were leaving at 7.30am the next morning which gave us just enough time to run to Macdonalds and grab cures for our hangovers (well, my hangover at least - Jak doesn't get them) in the form of sausage and egg mcmuffins. Yum. We drove on to Waitomo where a few of us took a tour through the local limestone caves. They are full of stalactites and stalagmites and, more uniquely, tonnes of glowworms. The highlight of the tour was a silent cruise through a pitch black tunnel where absolutely thousands of the tiny insects punctuated the ceiling, making it look like someone had laid a beautiful carpet of stars up there.

Afterwards we drove on to Tongariro National Park for a good look at the snow-topped mountains there, including Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings. We ventured about two thirds of the way up one of them and played in the snow for as long as our hands could stand it - which was only about half an hour! That night we stayed in a hostel at the bottom of the mountain with zero frills; we're used to sharing a bathroom with people but we literally had to go outside into the freezing cold air, fumble our way through two locked doors without the aid of a light and traipse through a massive hall to reach so much as a toilet or a mirror. I didn't drink any fluids after 9pm! At least the three showers were nearly always free; the place was overrun by school groups and I don't think kids that age wash when they're away from home.

Yesterday we drove on to Wellington, arriving around 4pm. We climbed up to the top of Mt Victoria to soak up an amazing view of the city before heading out for drinks at another Irish pub in the evening. Wellington seems pretty lively and like it will be a cool place to explore so we're going to stop here for a few nights.