Skydiving and Scrabble

So, been to lots of places so far but they all pale in comparison the crazy activities which i have undertaken in the last couple of days! Moved to the north island where there were suddenly a hell of a lot more people when we were in the capital city Wellington, but still very small. Started our way up the island, first going to Lake Taupo where we planned to do a skydive because its cheapest there. However the rain absolutely bucketed it down so it was cancelled - have never had rain like it, it lasted for hours soaking us through on a 500m run from the cinema!! Anyway we moved on as Taupo was very small, although i must mention a hilarious trip to McDonalds when we couldnt be bothered to cook but didnt want to go out, so we went through the drive-thru. Big mistake, as none of us knew how to use the machine. Ellie was determined that there was a button and so got me to drive the car right up to the machine, and then almost got out of the car - but through the window, half her body was out...meanwhile the lady in McDs was just watching us aghast at our idiocy (we were sitting in hysterics for about a minute before actually attempting to order)...we found that all u needed to do was speak into the machine and ur order came up automatically! A very amusing night.....

Moved on to Rotorua which is where there are lots of geothermal pools, and the whole town reeks of sulphur, which is absolutely disgusting. The girls went to the geothermal spa where there were lots of pools at different temperatures (42 degrees was waaaay to hot!) right on the Lake, which was beautiful. The boys went to the last free spa in Rotorua as they didnt want to pay - apparently it was free for a reason, being merely a tepid stream you could paddle in! Still chucking it down though, which was a bit annoying! Next day was the day of white water rafting , still pouring in the morning, but didnt matter as knew we were going to get we anyway! One of the guides absolutely freaked us out by telling us that they probably wouldnt be able to catch us if we fell out of the boat, so we should just try to hold onto the side of the river, as the current would just drag us downstream, and that we might well hit our head on the billions of rocks which litter the river - AHHHHHH! We had to get all dressed up in wetsuits, helmets and lifejackets before having the quickest safety demonstration ever ('So, you row forward like this, hold on if i yell hold on, and i might yell get down' - i was like, erm are we getting shot at at any point???!! and that was it!) Absolutely amazing, going down these huge rapids, she took us into one and the whole boat almost went over, henry unfortunatley fell out (you arent strapped in at all, just perched on the side of the boat and they tell you to jam your feet in!), but everyone was fine and we dragged him back in before he could get towed away! The most amazing scenery as it poured and poured with rain, also had thunder and lightning - quite scary when you are holding steel paddles!!! Anyway we all survived - an awesome afternoon.

Then we had the big drive all the way up to the Bay of Islands where we had to go past Auckland, and we left relatively late so decided to stay the night just beyond Auckland and keep driving the next morning. Had the hostel all to ourselves where it was very creepy being so quiet! Next morning arrived in Paihia in Bay of Islands. Booked skydive (AHHHHH - the weather was good so knew it was going to go ahead!), and then took some kayaks to the beach and attempting to get 2 people into the 3 one man kayaks - very hard!! Ellie, Henry and I decided to go first on the Skydive so we had to get up for an 8am start. The most beautiful day with clear blue skys, drove there - a little alarmed that it literally was a shack in a field and a plane! Really nice guy and girl running it, got us all into our gear and then i was off up in the plane. No time to be nervous, and the 20min plane ride was amazing over the Bay of Islands with the sunrising, getting to 12o00ft. The pilot says 3mins and you haved to get the goggles and everything attached and properly roped to the guy with the parachute (doing it tandem is much safer) and then 1min, he shuffles us forward, the door is opened and i had to hook my legs round the wheel of the tiny plane so we can get ready to jump. SOOOOOO AMAZING. Plummeting towards the earth was so cool, surprisingly unscary, and i have some brilliant pictures! Quite painful when the parachute opens which feels like it yanks you upwards but is just slowing you down loads, and then float to ground, the views were just unreal, almost indescribable! I would love to do it again (hope mum isnt reading this!), best experience ever!!!

Now in Auckland for a couple of days and Ellie has left us. Fly to Oz on the 24th.