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Published: December 1st 2006
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Sunday 19th November Paul - As predicted the weather was crap so we left Tongariro National Park and we still hadn't seen any of the volcanoes through the mist! After a couple of hours driving along the coast of the biggest lake in New Zealand we arrived at Taupo, a little town settled on the lakes shore.
We learnt quickly, due to the lack of rooms, that the World MotorCross championships was going on at the moment so we ended up in a slightly crappy hostel complete with dirty kitchen and wild ducks. Not wanting to spend a minute in the hostel we decided to go to 'Rock N Ropes' on Neal and Danielle's recommendation. I was very excited as it's an adventure playground for adults set about 12 metres above the ground. The good old danger factor!
I was in charge of Laura's saftey and slightly worringly she was in charge of mine. That meant belaying my ropes for me to make sure I didn't fall off. I was more concerned that Laura might nod off given her current reputation for sleeping. The first few acitivites were walking along wires and bridges suspended way above the ground.
The first real challenge was walking along a tiny beam forwards and then backwards but thankfully I didn't fall off.
Laura had a hilarious attack of nerves on the beam at first but finally rustled up the courage to make it across and back without falling off. For being so brave our instructor told Laura she could go first on the "Trapeze'. All she had to do was climb up a 15m high pole, stand on top without falling off then jump for a trapeze suspended in mid high and catch on to it. Piece of cake I thought...
After Laura caught the trapeze I was slightly worried. What if I don't catch it? The humiliation! Maybe it's further away than you think? Maybe my hands will slip off? These thoughts went quickly out of my mind when Laura let go of the trapeze after her arms gave way. She free falled about 5 metres down, screaming all the way. The instructor laughed and did it again and Laura told him he was a "fucker". Honestly the language children come out with these days.
I did manage the trapeze and next up was the 'Giant Swing' which
was fantastic. Basically you attach yourself to a harness and leap off a huge pole and free fall for a couple of seconds before swinging about. It was great.
After all that excitement we decided to have a little potter about Taupo and see the powerful waterfall, Huka Falls. We ended up down by the lake and we finally saw the volcanoes across the lake as the sun was setting and it was a lovely way to end the day.
Monday 20th November Paul - Unfortunately the weather was against us again today and we couldn't go on our scenic flight over the active volcanoes. At least it wasn't raining though and it was pretty warm too so we went to see Taupo's other sights - namely a bizarre set of rapids that get "turned on" every 2 hours as it's usually dammed and the "Craters of the Moon".
We sat at the rapids, watching a very small trickle of water flowing down thinking 'this is going to be rubbish.' A siren then blared out and the dam opened and the trickle of water turned into something that you wouldn't want to go
down under any circumstances. The 'Craters of the Moon' were slightly more relaxed and were basically huge shoots of steam coming through the ground thanks to Taupo's location on the Ring of Fire. It was nice to look at but we'll be seeing more exciting volcanic activity in Rotorua.
For the evenings entertainment we decided to go rock climbing at the indoor centre here. Watched lots of small children scale the walls like spiderman and thought about climbing up and pushing them off. Bloody show offs.
Tuesday 21st November Laura - We finally got to go on our scenic flight today at midday. It was well worth the wait! The plane was absolutely tiny and me and Paul were the only passengers. It was a real adventure because we had to wear headsets to talk to each other! I was sitting up front with the pilot and was VERY careful not to touch anything. I was slightly concerned by the pedals beneath my feet and the steering wheel (or whatever it's called in a plane) in my lap.
We flew over Lake Taupo first of all, and that was lovely - very big and
a beautiful shade of blue. Then we flew into the clouds above Tongagriro National Park. We could see Mount Egmont poking above the clouds in the distancem which was impressive as it's about 200Km away! I was worried that we wouldn't be able to see anything below us but fortunately the cloud cleared in all the right places! It was really amazing to be flying right above the gigantic (active) craters. They were so much bigger than I expected. The volcanic lakes were really impressive too. After the volcanoes we were taken over the Craters of the Moon and Huka Falls, so it was cool to see them from the sky. All in all it was an amazing experience!
In the afternoon we went to a thermal stream, just outside of Taupo. We paddled our feet in the ridiculously hot water while we ate some lunch. It really was strange to see steam rising off a little waterfall!
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Catherine
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Wow what a fantastic time you're having. The volcanoes look amazing and the bungee jump was brill (think you're mad). I'm a celebrity is finishing here tonight, Jason Donavon's fav to win. Christmas shopping has started in Freshney Place, there's an ice rink in St James square and Gladiator Jet is in the panto. Thanx for the postcard, much appreciated. Take care. (Won't have to buy your usual festive white toblerone this year) x