Hi Everyone,

After leaving Auckland for the 2nd time we headed south to Taupo which is in the middle of the north island. It is set by a massive lake obviously called Lake Taupo and is in a geothermal active area.

We ended up staying here for about 10 days all over xmas and New Year. It was great as there was a free campsite so no more camping out by the side of the road.

There quite a lot of things to do we went to the Huka falls which although only small the volume of water which went over was quite incredible. There was also the Craters of the Moon which were big craters in the ground with steam and bubbling mud coming out of them. For relaxation we went to the thermal springs which were fab they had hot and really hot pools then freezing spas and more pools. It was great we spent a fews hours wallowing in there.

The main thing to do when in Taupo though is a skydive!! which for some mad reason we felt it would be rude to refuse to do. But it was fantastic. We both did a 12,000 ft jump which has a 45 sec freefall and then takes about another 5 mins to get down. The views were amazing of the lake and nearby volcanoes. we also had personalised DVDs done which are very funny some of the faces you pull due to the G force are hilarious. Cant explain how brill it was and it went so fast definately did not feel like a 45 sec freefall. We would love to do another one.

We spent xmas day here (which we have written about in another journal) but we were also here for new year. Just before the big night the campsite got really busy with gangs of kiwis, so we actually ended up spending New years eve just at the campsite, the atmosphere was really good and the Kiwis are so friendly it just ended up like one big party. Only prob was we had our camera stolen that night, so no photos luckily they were the only ones on there.

After spending a hungover New Years day playing crazy golf and buying a new camera. We travelled the next day to the Bay of Plenty to look for work Argh!!!

Take care

Tatey and Lou xxx