Sorry for the lack of bloggage! The past few weeks have just been so busy and it's been impossible to keep up to date…

Our day in Waitomo was where the trip really began as we made our brilliant group of friends who we've stayed with all the way to Christchurch over some drinking games! After a hectic night we took a walk through the Ruakuri cave and then onto Tongariro National Park (where our German friend Thies insisted on jumping in the icy cold waters). After a quick stop at Mount Doom (another treat for the Lord of the Rings fanatics) we made our way to Taupo.

We checked out the Huka Falls- absolutely crazy natural rapids and it was then that the adrenaline started as I was about to do a SKYDIVE!!! Amy and Charlotte didn't fancy it so I had to board the 'bus of death' that took me to the airstrip that we would fly from. As I was being suited and booted it really crossed my mind to back out but seeing as I had already paid there was no going back. All 5 of us from the group that were doing it were bundled into a tiny plane with our tandem partner and a cameraman who was going to capture every terrifying moment…great. The plane took off and for once my fear of flying didn't even cross my mind- despite the rickety take off and facing backwards! At 12,000 feet we were given oxygen and our tandem partners began strapping themselves to us- I was petrified that we weren't strapped together properly and I would plummet 15,000 feet to my death! At 15,000 feet the door hatch was opened and all I could see was clouds. The first person went…then the second and all of a sudden I was hanging off the edge of a plane, there really was no going back down. Before I knew it I was hurtling through the air aaaaaahhhhh! The instructors has previously told us that it takes about 10 seconds for your body to adjust to what is going on, but once it had it was the best experience EVER! It's impossible to describe the sensation but it feels like you're flying rather than falling. We were freefalling for about a minute before the parachute came up, it was then that I thanked my tandem partner for not killing me and we could take in the sights of New Zealands biggest Lake- Taupo. The landing was incredible and I was so full of adrenaline all night long!

Our second day in Taupo we went to some natural hot springs with 'Team America' aka Corey and Oliver and spent some time around the lake. We then made our way to River Valley Adventure Lodge- a lodge literally in the middle of nowhere where pretty much all 35 of us slept in a huge dorm. We had a great night there with Jon cracking out his guitar and stayed for lunch the next day whilst some of the group went rafting and horse riding.

From River Valley we went to Wellington where we only had 12 hours until we got the ferry to the South Island. We all had a night out in Wellington and then got a couple of hours of sleep before dozily heading to the ferry where we slept for the entire 3 hour trip to Picton. From Picton we travelled to Nelson where we went on a massive climb to the absolute centre of New Zealand to watch the sun set across the sea…gorgeous.

The following day we stopped off at Lake Roitoiti (the most photographed lake in New Zealand) where some more crazy people decided to jump in the freezing water. We then had a picnic lunch and headed to our overnight stop at Westport. That night we all went on a three-legged bar crawl (but let's be honest we only stayed tied together for the first bar)!

After Westport we stopped off for a coastal walk along Cape Foulwind to see the seals and then went to Greymouth to pick up fancy dress for our outfits for the evening at the legendary Poo Pub in Lake Mahinapua. A group of about 8 of us decided to go for an 80's theme and picked up coloured leggings and t-shirts to cut up and plenty of hairspray for the backcombing! We arrived at the pub (also our accomodation for the evening- once again in the middle of nowhere) and were cooked a meal of steak, venison stew and salads by Les- the owner of the pub and at 83 years old officially the oldest publican in New Zealand. He still holds a party every night, impressive! The infamous 'Poo Party' was everything we'd hoped it would be and everyone made a real effort with people dressing as babies, outfits made entirely out of binbags, an elephant and many more.

To be continued tomorrow...