After leaving the Hostel this morning, we headed off to some nearby Waterfalls, called "Huru" which were right near a geothermal power plant ($^@#), that were really nice, because they were bright turquoise in colour, apparently because the water was so clear ans pure, and the sunlight was shining right into it. To be completely honest though, every time I see a Waterfall now, I am a bit like "another Waterfall??" Which I know is really bad, because they are undeniably all very beautiful on their own merit, but Ive seen that many of the bloody things now that I am beginning to get a little sick of them!! (That sounds terrible, I know, I know, but its true!!!)

Nearby, we viewed the Power station, named "Wairakei" from a viewing point up the hill, which was surprisingly, quite interesting to look at, considerring that it is powerred basically by the natural resource of the Hot Spring Waters that flow into the plant!Some of the water is 2000 degrees hot!!(Now that is hot!) Its amazing to think that it all comes out of a volcano!! (Ok, Im always aware that I start sounding nerdy whenever I come out with this kind of statement, but it is amazing, dont you agree...?)hehe.

We also drove by a "Geothermally powerred Shrimp Farm" which was just too random for our liking, and we gave that one a miss, surprisingly, as we thought our Brains may possibly have imploded with all the excitement if we had of gone in there..... hehehe.

On the way to Napier, we happened to stumble upon a place called "The Taupo Bungee", so we decided to stop and voyeuristially (I have so spelt that wrong, I know!) watch some crazy people throw themselves off a platform tied by their ankles into athe River Wailkato, which was flowing below...

Before I really knew what was happenning, Paul was in the boot of the car (rephrase, he didnt actually climb in it, he was looking around in it...)for a pair of shorts, because Mum had dared, double dared, triple dared, and quadruple dared him to do a jump!!! (The first three evidently failed, but everybody knows that you cant turn down a quadrouple dare!!!)

It was only $99 for the jump, which is about 33pounds, so not that much, and Mum told Paul that it was worth her paying it to "get him to face his fear of heights", although I have a sneeky suspicion that it was also to test if he would go through with the quadrouple dare, or bottle it..

Anyway, we stood on the viewing platform for ages, eagerly awaiting the jump, thinking after about 10 minutes that he had indeed bottled it (Yee who have little faith and all that..). But, he proved us wrong, and after about 10 false starts, where we were poised with camera and ready to click, he took the plunge and did it!! Woohooo!!! Go Paul! Go Paul!!! He had asked to go into the water on the way down, but unfortunately, he didnt, but still, it was really good!!

The most entertaining parts though, I must say, were the commentary being done by the Elderly, vacationing Brummie couple stood nearby..("oo, he is going to jump!!" No....you dont say!!! Hes got that bungee around his ankles for s***s and giggles....)hehehe, and the part when he eventually came boinging to a stop, and a nearby waiting Bungee-retrieval dingy extended out a long pole for him to grab onto, beforew he was elegantly pulled backwards onto the thing , hanging backwards, by the crew, then taken back to tera-firma!!! (And all captured on camera...)hehehe.

Mum and I were really chuffed that he went through with it!(We have both seen what he is like with heights first hand- he was bad enough in the Skytower-yes, even worse than me! And that thing has walls and windows all the way around it!!) It must have taken a lot of guts to do that, and he is rightly proud of himself, too!!

However, now, I have been set a challenge to face a fear of my own whilst in New Zealand, and to do something way out and extreme. (Because you kinda have to in New Zealand, as well as anything else..) But it was all so random!!! One minute stood watching some guy jump off a platform, next minute...Paul is the crazy guy jumping off the platform!! I suppose thats one of the beauties of travelling:you never quite know what the next 10 minutes will bring...

Well, after all that excitement, the rest of the day was a bit of a come down, and we arrived in Napier a bit worn out!! Though, we did find the energy to have a quick walk around the place in the evening, which is full of Art Deco buildings, and has a rather random Crazy-Neon Fountain in the park, but we didnt last long before we returned to the Hostel and went to sleep! (Eventually, after Paul FINALLY stopped going on about the jump for a minute!! Mum and I will allow him a day of glory and gloating, then after that we will probably just be like "Paul....SHUT UP ABOUT THE BUNGEE!!!!)lol.