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Woo hoo so we did our skydive in Taupo although we were supposed to do it in the morning due to bad weather we had to wait until the afternoon and a sliver of blue sky to do it, but do it we did and it was brilliant!! granted i couldnt breathe while we were freefalling (60seconds) but it was just so amazing and then when the parachute opened it was so peaceful and the view was absolutely stunning!
From Taupo we then drove over to Napier and Hawkes bay to Bob and Sarahs house where we arrived and met Sarah when she finished work then that night we all went to see Jack play his high school basketball match (he lost :() and we had a chippy then we got back to the house and it sounds ridiculous but having nice carpet underfoot was luxury! we watched TV and chatted all evening then went to bed - in a bed not in the camper!!
Saturday morning we got up and Vic and I went for a bit of a nosey around Napier 'city' its very small for a city but has some great art deco architecture, and we had a browse in all the shops, theres a lot of lovely little gift shops and coffee shops there. We went back to the house just after lunch time and Bob arrived back (he'd been down in Wellington for a Bob Dylan concert) so he then took us off to explore the surrounding area of where he lives and took us up Te Mata peak (beautiful view but very windy) and to a posh winnery - Craggy Rock where we supped a bottle of wine and then onto the Robertsons favourite beach - Ocean beach which apparently is great for surfing and chilling out on esp on Christmas day. Then back to the house and we got in the lovely hot tub while it was freezing outside - i dunno why hot tubs havent taken off in England the way they have over here (hint hint mum!). Bob and Sarah then took us down their local pub and where a very noisy live band were playing we only stayed a couple of pints, then we were all so knackered we headed back to the house where i caught about 20mins of the 1st Tottenham game of the new season (only got the result the next day tho - come on boys what you playing at!)
Sunday we had a lie in and then we got up and packed up and left Hawkes bay for Waitomo, we arrived there about 6.30pmish and checked onto a campsite that was conviently opposite the place we were meeting the next day for our caving trip.
So Monday we got up and at 10.45 met at the long black cafe for our 'black abyss' caving trip all kitted out in our swimmers. We got given wetsuits and wellies and then we were off into the minibus for a 10 min ride to the cave mouth where we had a 35metre abseil down a hole into the cave, then a pitch black flying fox (zip line) further deeper into the cave. We then got given hot tea and flapjacks to keep us happy as it was very cold - and that was before we'd even got in the water, which was our next task, the water was about 10 degrees so all of our teeth were chattering whilst we sat in our rubber tubes and pulled ourselves along a rope. At the end of the rope we had to turn our headlamps off again and then drift through the caves in the dark looking at all the gloworms on the walls and ceilings. Then it was off the tubes and down a slide/waterfall then walking/climbing/swimming through the water/caves until we had another stop for hot juice and chocolate. Then off again squeezing through some very small cave entries and slipping about and falling deeper into the water until we reached a massive waterfall that we had to climb to get out. Today was the first day they'd been open in the last week as the water had been too high, so i think the water was still really above normal when we were there, and the fast torrential waterfall was a mission and a half to try and climb up without any harnesses or safety ropes (sorry mum) but trying to move your legs where they're telling you to put them but the water just pushing against you well it was very tiring and quite scary. Once we got up there we had another waterfall to go but this one wasnt as bad although still fairly knackering and then one last climb out of the cave and we were once again on land with the sky above us - i had at this point lost one of my wellies (in the 1st waterfall) so then when we had to walk (read hobble) back to the van with our numb exhausted bodies we were all so looking forward to the hot showers and soup, which were as good as promised - or maybe thats just because any warmth would have been nice.
All showered and warmed up we hopped back in our van and headed back up to Auckland and to the campsite we stayed at the first night we arrived here, as today (tues) we had to drop the van back off at 10am and then go to the airport as this afternoon we're flying to Chile.
South America here we come!!!
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