Day 83: Lake Taupo

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I was still stuffed from the feast the night before so I skipped breakfast and hoped to burn some of it off on our morning walk. We headed to Te Puia gate to see some more Maori culture, thermal geysers and finally a pair of Kiwis! The geysers were huge, steam pours out all day long - a bit like a whale's spout. Kiwi's are nocturnal and highly endangered so there are small breeding centres throughout New Zealand. The chance of seeing one in the wild is really slim so we were pleased to see this happy pair of kiwis saving their species. We then got on the road to our next stop, Lake Taupo. We had a relaxing afternoon, with a casual 12,000ft skydive above the lake! It was a fantastic experience and was much easier than I thought it would be! I was out of the plane first but landed last and enjoyed a beautiful canopy ride under the parachute with great views out to the mountains.

Bailey's bit: During our tour of Te Puia we were treated to a little snack, an egg cooked in one of the thermal pools! The skydive is something you can't explain unless you have done it. The initial drop is a shock but once you stabilise it's just unreal! It was also a little scary seeing Cat disappearing out of the plane first, I didn't know whether she was going to be ok or not!

Daily mileage: 7 Did a full loop round Rotorua, passing the centre, museum, lake and thermal pool park. Upon arriving in Taupo we found the Ironman being run, most were into the final marathon stage but people were still coming in at midnight which was the cut off point of 18 hours!

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Comments

[valerie]

skydive
thank god you both survived the sky dive - but what a wonderful experience. i am enjoying reading your blog better than a novel