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From Rotorua when headed down to Taupo, which is smaller than I was expecting but still a really nice place with really good views. despite it being only a small place we were staying for three nights as we wanted to jump out of a plane and do the Tongariro Crossing which are both weather dependent. We were hoping to do the skydive the afternoon we arrived in Taupo but the weather was too bad so we booked on for the next morning. In a way I was glad we didn't do it that day as the bus driver was being really funny and kept playing DOA by the Foo Fighters which is not the kind of song you want to be listening to just before you jump 12,000ft out of a plane. That night we decided to venture out and see the sights of Taupo which included and Irish bar where we spent most of the evening chatting to some locals, Katherine got a phone number off one of them but she hasn't called him.
Being aware that there was a strong chance that we would be jumping out of a plane the day after we didn't have that much to drink, so we woke up ready for action but the weather still hadn't cleared so we retired to the kitchen for tea and biscuits with Emma and Bekkie who were also waiting to go sky diving. About half an hour and three ginger nuts later the ladt from reception popped her head round the door and told us we could go in 15 minutes, i was still in my PJ's at this point. We quickly got ready and headed over to the airport, luckily we didn't have that much time to get that scared. Even when we got there it was still not definate that we would be going up but we got ready just in case and before we knew it we were in the plane heading up to 12,000ft!
This seemed to be the longest 15 minutes ever and when that plane door opened and you could see all the way down to the ground we knew there was no turning back. I was second to go, Katherine said that was the scariest point for her as one minute I was there and the next I had gone. You fell like a rock when you're free falling it's really hard to describe, it was so amazing falling at 120 mph for 45 seconds and then the shoot opens and you can just look at everything. It has been one of the best things we have done on the trip so far, we spent the rest of the day just talking about and it still makes me smile to think about it. As a treat for actually doing the jump we treated ourselves to a bottle of vino tinto and a slap up meal (from this point on we also includes Emma and Bekkie as we have been travelling with them ever since).
After the excitment of the days activities we went to bed as we had booked to do the Tongariro Crossing the day after but we were still buzzing and couldn't sleep so when the alarm went off at 5.45am it was a bit of a shock. The Crossing is a 17km trek over a mountain, so we were prepared with lots of chocolate but i wasn't as bad as we thought and as everyone makes out. It took Katherine and I just over 7 hours to complete but our feet were hurting and I had very hot knees which was an odd feeling. We have lots of really good photos but it wasn't a very clear day so you can't really see much past the mountain but we were 2000 m above sea level at the very top. After the bus journey back where I was getting abused by the bus driver for wearing my England rugby top (this was just before NZ beat England, boo!) we treated ourselves to a hot tub which was more like a warm pond but it did stop our legs from hurting too much.
That evening we were out on the town again despite having to get up early to catch the bus.
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