We've done so much since we left Auckland.... first we went to Whakatani in Mercury Bay (so named because James Cook's crew saw Mercury pass closest to the Earth when they arrived...or something like that). We didn't actually spend much time here but on the way we went for a walk down to an amazing beach called Cathedral Cove with sky blue waters that were suprisingly quite warm. We headed down to Rotorua which is a geothermally active area - urgh, its so smelly! Here Nat and I went zorbing which is essentially where you roll down a hill in a big plastic ball. We also went lugeing which was fun. We took part in a traditional Hungi - a dinner cooked underground for many hours, and the tribe put on a great dancing and singing performance. Next we went to a place called Waitomo - famous for the glow worms (except they're not really worms). Here we visited an Angora rabbit shearing house! Awesome! Those rabbits were so hairy its untrue! We also went tubing in the glow worm caves which was good fun if a little cold! Next we headed to Taupo where we have stopped off for a little while which is a shame as we had to say good bye to the people off our bus. We got up at 5 one morning to do a magnificent one day hike - the Tongariro Crossing - where Mount Doom is to be found. It was quite spectacular. Since we hadn't had enough excitement in one day we also decided to jump out of a plane! I think I might say it too much but this really was AMAZING. We did it in the evening just before the sun began to set and it was a really clear sky so we saw right out over Lake Taupo. I can't describe how it felt but it was definately worth doing! I was first out of the plane and I screamed so much that the people on the ground could hear me! I think that was the highlight of Taupo but we also went to the hot baths and spa for an afternoon which was so relaxing! Its crazy to think that that is like the local swimming pool - if only we had one in Birmingham.