Waikato Region

Flying Kiwi: Saturday 19.01.08

We started off this morning by going to look at Wai-O-Tapu, where the mud pools are. Smelled really bad, and looked really disgusting, but in an odd satisfying way as you watched the mud bubble and spit due to the gases that constantly rise to the surface.

The next stop was Huka Falls, an incredible rapid with incredibly blue water. Sam and I saw those with Stuart and Alex before as well, so we skipped the 2-hr walk and decided to wander around Taupo instead. If you remember any of the info from my previous posts, you might recall that Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand. The city is located right at the bottom tip.

We also decided to skip the walk because once the others finished it, they'd have 2 hours to explore the town, but the skydiving we had booked occurred during that time. Which meant we would have had to go skydiving right after the walk and miss out on seeing the city. Unfortunately, it turns out that it didn't matter either way, because the skydiving was canceled. Really unfortunate, considering that it was a beautiful sunny day, but they said the wind was far too strong (30 knots = 35mph).

I wish now that I had gone on the walk, because halfway along the path there's a bridge where people can bungy-jump. Two people from our tour group decided to go. The first guy literally took 7 minutes to get up the courage to jump (I saw the entire video on someone's camera - he really did wait 7 minutes!). The second, a girl, jumped off almost immediately, but she was so nervous that her form was a bit off, all rigid, and she jumped feet first. I wonder if that caused any backlash or something. I haven't gone bungy-jumping yet, but when I do (not if), I want to go to one where I get to hit the water below (approx. 45m). Sam said that he would rather go on one that has a long drop (approx 135m).