We got a message from our friends Kim and Al telling us where they were staying in Taupo so we gave the hostel a call to try and get a room but they were fully booked so we just jumped in the car and said we'd find something when we got there. It was only a short drive from rotorua and when we arrived we went straight to the i-site where they sorted us out some accomodation with parking. We checked in then took a walk to Al and Kims hostel which was literally just round the corner! We spotted them as soon as we walked in and had a good catch up with them. They took us for a little walk around the town as they had been there a couple of days. They went back to their hostel to chill and me and tom went for a drive in the car to go and explore some of the lake. We found a nice little bay and stopped there to have a look. In the distance we could see some massive storm clouds coming so we jumped back in the car and went back to the hostel. We had arranged to meet up with Al n Kim for a farewell drink as this would be the last time we see them on our travels. We played lots of new drinking games in their hostel before heading out to town.

29/01/2010 - Day 2

We were both hanging when we woke up so we had a nice lay in and then cooked some breakfast and sat on the balcony over looking the lake. After breakfast we went for a walk around some more of the town that we didnt see the day before and tom bought himself some white converse as the only other shoes he had were ones he bought in thailand for like 4 pound and they were starting to stink!! We went to the supermarket called pak n save which is like a huge warehouse and is pretty cheap and got some stuff for lunch n dinner. Then we went for another drive in the car to a place called Huka Falls which was pretty impressive. Tons and tons of water flows through it per second and you could see that from the speed and amount of water! After that we went for another drive around the lake, we didnt get too far as this is the largest lake in New Zealand - its the same size as Singapore!! We found anotherbay but this one looked more like a beach, we had a little picnic and chilled out in the sun. There were lots of people there with their own boats, and some people were water skiing. When we got back to the hostel tom tried to convince me to do the skydive right then but i wasn't having none of it! Instead we cooked ourselves some dinner and watched two girls in our rooms videos of their skydive and bungey jump. I didnt mind the look of the skydive as the guy your straped to pretty much makes you go but the bungey you have to jump off yourself and i just wouldnt be able to do it.

30/01/2010 - Day 3

This is it! Skydive day! we went down to reception in the morning and got them to book us on to one. We booked one where a guy jumps with you so he can get shots of you jumping and falling, as this seemed like the best package. They told us we would have to wait until 12 o'clock so we packed up and checked out the went for a stroll to waste some time. We got back to the hostel just after 11 and reception had a message for us saying that the skydive people were ready for us now if we were. So we said yes and they came and got us, the nerves didnt kick in yet. As soon as we got there we had to go inside and watch some vidoes, when they were finished we had to choose the height that we wanted to jump from. I thought im only gonna do this once so might as well go for the heighest it'll make no difference just longer for me to scream!! Tom went for 15,000 ft too. We were then told that we would be the next plane up, we had a little time to go outside and watch and go to the toilet! We then got into our jumpsuites and harnesses and they guys came and strapped us in. There were five of us going up in our plane and i was the third one in and tom was after me. It was very small and tight in the plane we were all practivally sitting on eachother, the last girl had to sit by the door which was plastic so she could see out, that would have freaked me out. We had been climbing up for a while so i turned and asked my dude how high up we were expecting him to say at least half way but he said we were at 2,000 ft!! only another 13,000 more to go! this is when the nerves kicked in and my hands got a little clamy to say the least. As we got near the jumping height we had to put on oxygen masks and before i knew it the door was open and the first girl was gone! Then i looked up and tom was sitting on the edge,now i was really scared!! Then i was at the door, the camera guy in my face and al i could day was 'oh my god' as i didnt want to swear on the video but really i wanted to say a lot more than that!! I was so scared but had no choice once at the door, the first view was terrifying the widn was rushing past and there was soo much to see. Also when you jump out the plane you wait for the guy to tap you ont he shoulder then you can open your arms out. The freefall was amazing and seemed to go slowly when i was up there but now i look back it went very quickly. When the parachute opened he started to loosen up the harness and i held on, he was like its ok im not letting you go im just making it more comfortable. I was like whatever mate im holding on!! It was really cool gliding through the air and the views were amazing, we did lots of soins n turns then before i knew it we were landing. I tried to stand up once we landed but my legs were like jelly and i fell over lol! Tom was already down and we were both we pleased we'd done it. We took all our gear off then went and watched our videos which were well funny. Tom went mental the whole way down where as i just didnt stop smiling!

They dropped us back tot he hostel and we went and put our pictues on facebook then have some lunch as we couldnt stomach anything earlier. Then hit the road for the next destination....