Today we left the hotel at 10am and headed to Ruakuri Reserve where we did a 30 minute loop bush walk. We saw the abundance of limestone rock formations, caves, native forest and river systems. After we had finished the walk we headed to a cafe to have a late breakfast. Then we drove to Lake Taupo from Waitomo. It took about 2 and a half hours and we only stopped once on the way. We arrived in Lake Taupo around 2.30pm and stopped off at the famous Huka Falls. The Huka (foam) Falls are situated on the Waikato River, two kilometres north of Lake Taupo. The falls are 11 metres (35 feet) high. We then got taken to our hostel - Base. Gina and I have the dorm room to ourselves and got the 2 nights stay free with our Explore New Zealand cards. At 4pm Gina and I got picked up from the hostel with some other people on the Kiwi Experience to go sky diving. I have always wanted to try sky diving and they say Lake Taupo is the cheapest place to do it. I had been feeling quite relaxed about it during the day but while we were driving to the sky dive centre I started to get a little nervous. When we got there we got told what packages were on offer and the prices of them. Also we had to decide how high we wanted to jump out of the plane. You can jump from 12,000 feet or 15,000 feet but from 15,000 feet you get a longer freefall. I decided to jump from 15,000 feet and purchase the whole package consisting of a DVD of the whole sky dive, photos on a CD and a T shirt. Gina did the same as me. We got kitted up in all our gear and met the guys who we were jumping with. There were six of us jumping, one at 12,000 feet and the rest of us at 15,000 feet. We got in the plane. It was a tight fit as the jumpers who were filming and taking photos of each of us were also in the plane. I think it takes a lot of skill to freefall and take photos and film at the same time. We got in the air and it took 20 minutes to reach the right height. It was the fastest 20 minutes ever. As we got higher I was thinking to myself "what the hell am I doing in this plane". I looked outside and it looked bloody high. We reached 12,000 feet and let the first person Jessica jump out of the plane. Then we carried on to 15,000 feet and had to wear oxygen masks to help us breathe. When we reached 15,000 feet it was time for all of us to jump one by one. Gina was the first to jump followed by the girl in front of me Maxine and then it was time for me to jump. We got to the edge of the doorway and the jump master strapped behind me was sitting on the edge and I was hanging out the plane. It was scary to look down. The lady who was filming me was standing outside the plane and jumped first and then I had to put my head straight back and when we jumped I had to position my body in a banana shape and have my knees bent all the time. Well I didn't jump. The jump masters who are strapped to you are the ones who push you out lol. The first few seconds freefalling you haven't a clue what the hell is going on as you are falling upside down etc and then you level out and can put your arms out while freefalling. I was freefalling for over a minute and it feels so wierd. It doesn't feel like you are falling really fast at all. The lady with the camera was really close in front of me. Then at 5,000 feet you have to pull open the parachute but not before we had done a really fast spin in the air. Once the parachute was open we were hovering over the lake. The harness was really pinching my skin but better to be tight than fall out of the sky. We were gliding through the air for about 10 minutes. The view was amazing. Then we came into land and I had to pull my legs up until the jump master strapped to me had put his legs on the ground. I just wanted to do it all over again. It was such an amazing experience and one I won't forget. I am so proud of myself for doing it and proud of Gina as well. Afterwards we all watched back the video of us jumping and freefalling in the sky. It looked so scary as we had been freefalling over the lake. I thought to myself "did I actually just do that sky dive". It was the best feeling in the world. In the evening we all went out to Element bar to celebrate an amazing afternoon. The hostel did a free BBQ as well to enjoy. While we were drinking a few guys were walking past the bar back to the pool table area where there were 15 other guys crowded round this pool table. They invited Gina and I over so we went to join them. They all introduced themselves as Rory, James, Dave, Shay, Graham, Daniel, Axel, Neil, Chris, Ray, Pops, Andy, Jack, Mike, Jake and Cam. They were playing some pool games that involved drinking, They invited Gina to play so she did. She had to hit one ball in and the guys asked around the table if anyone thought she would get a ball in. Those who thought she would get it in but she misses would have to down their drink in one. So would Gina. She didn't get the ball in so she was drinking as well as the other guys who thought she would get the ball in. It was so funny especially as the guys were banging on the pool table to distract Gina from getting the ball in the hole. It was fun hanging out with the guys for the evening so we are looking forward to the rest of the trip with them. They seem a really nice bunch of guys.