If your friend jumped off a cliff would you??

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Ok..... so we've made our way through Taupo. Had an amazing time. After famill ourselves with the area we went and watched Amy and Asha (new and old friends) do their first skydive!! And all reports were that it was amazing! Didnt tempt us this time though as we're saving that for when my big bro gets here (pauls - that is!!). After a couple of crazy nights out at the Holy Cow (much to Natalie's delight) - dancing on tables and the like. We, somehow, managed to convince ourselves that a bungy jump - the least favoured thing to do by all of us - was the best idea. So off we went... to throw ourselves off a cliff, into water, upsidedown, 50m below, stupidly! I think Natalie will agree with me when i say it was probabily the most scary thing to date ive ever done. And if she denies it just look at her picture.... her knees were shaking so much that they couldnt put the harness on. For photos... look on www.taupobungy.com, click on 'more' below the daily pics icon, type 4th march as the date, go to page 12.... and look at us scream!! (we're the top and bottom 3 pictures!!) One bad thing from the experience was that we had to find out our weight which, for me, has increased to 81kg.....agh!!! So I have deemed the expression 'morbid obesity" for myself and use it whenever I can! Other than the bungy we went to the local Hot Springs which were hot.... strangely enough! So hot that we came out rosy. Was very wierd because the hot water runs directly into the cold lake so the contrast was interesting! Thoroughly enjoyed Taupo... sadly had to say good bye to Asha! :<

After Taupo we set off for Whakapapa ('wh' is pronounced 'f' which makes for an interesting place name!!) The place we stayed in was right on the foot of mt Doom (for all you Lord of the Rings fans) and we also stayed right where the battle of Mordor was filmed!! Very interesting... The hostel was amazing... it had a sauna, jacuzzi, gym and log cabin beds. As well as the poshest bathrooms.... bit like the Carlton... but not as expensive!!! Didint last long though as we were soon heading off to Wellington! En route we stopped off in Bulls for a spot of welly throwing. We were terrible.... one of mine actually went over the side and into a tree.... but not as bad as our friend Luke, who's welly actually landed further back than it started!! Can you believe that they hold the world renouned Welly throwing competition here!!

Wellington was a nice city.... much the same as Auckland but very very windy! We made use of the standard travellers bars.... specials all the way!! Found the area rather dull!!! I went to the film archive in the hopes of finding some Lord of the Rings or World Fastest Indian information and actually found a PC with a database on it. What a fun day that was!!! Te papa museum was our next days activity... 5 stories of 'Ancient Moweean' (as me and Natalie now call anything relating to NZ history) artifacts and information. Found out some fascinationg stuff on earthquakes and volcanoes.... like did you know that NZ has 35,000 earthquakes a year and it sits on a techtonic plate. Risky stuff this travelling!! Oh... and found a big kids slide, which was HUGE and a lot of fun to play on... we called it 'The Slide of Death' ... but we lived! Had another batch of farewells.... had to leave Kat and Ste(ve) (who was Natalie 'special friend'!!)

...Ok bye...

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Photos

Bungeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Success, we all made it down!!
Natalie, Kat, Asha, Paul, Unknown Welsh Girl, Matthias

Bath Time!
Nothing like a volcanic bath in 50oC water