Well things really have turned a little exciting in the last couple of days, I've had an action packed week to say the very least. 
For a start I learnt to surf. I'm certainly not renowned for my technical prowess, my sporting abilities tend to rely in clumsily hitting things as hard as possible, but I actually took to surfing relatively quickly. I did end up drinking a fair bit of sea water in the learning process but eventually I was standing and catching most waves. I don't think I'll be catching any tsunamis any time soon but I shall definitely be surfing again in the future given the chance. After that little experience I thought I'd keep the adrenalin pumping with a spot of white water rafting. A group of 6 of the people from the bus got kitted up in various wetsuits and buoyancy aides and after a quick lesson on death avoidance we went for a paddle. 
The Kaitiaki river is a grade 5 white water experience, I'm not sure what that really means but its bloody exciting. We started off learning the paddling basics backwards, forwards hold-on-tight & brace-here-comes-a-20ft-waterfall. So after an hour cruising through a selection of fast moving rapids it came to the big finale. I got myself all rehearsed and psyched up for the fall but it didn't do much good, as the raft went down it folded in two and I smacked my teeth on the persons helmet in front of me and split my lip open. It was well worth it though despite the fat lip and minor blood loss. Then finally just to top it all off I jumped out of a plane and done a gentle bit of skydiving. At 1500ft above lake Taupo, it seemed quite along way down. But after only 70 seconds of free-fall and 4 minutes of gleeful parachuting I managed to land safely. 
I got a DVD made of me doing it but until I figure a way of getting that on the website and editing out the expletives, you shall have to put up with the pictures from the ground. I've only been in New Zealand a few weeks now but I'm truly amazed by this country. The scenery, the people, the activities, the cultures and even just the fresh air are unlike anything I've witnessed or experienced before. I'm now chalking up a few stamps in the old passport from various places around the world but at the moment I'd have to say New Zealand is currently in pole position. Its a bit of a cliché and I know its been said a thousand times before, but I can clearly see why people call New Zealand the 8th wonder of the world. I'm off to the south island tomorrow and things are only meant to get better from there. I can hardly contain my excitement, something I only just about managed to whilst jumping from a plane in my borrowed overalls, so until then why not take a look at the photos.
For a start I learnt to surf. I'm certainly not renowned for my technical prowess, my sporting abilities tend to rely in clumsily hitting things as hard as possible, but I actually took to surfing relatively quickly. I did end up drinking a fair bit of sea water in the learning process but eventually I was standing and catching most waves. I don't think I'll be catching any tsunamis any time soon but I shall definitely be surfing again in the future given the chance. After that little experience I thought I'd keep the adrenalin pumping with a spot of white water rafting. A group of 6 of the people from the bus got kitted up in various wetsuits and buoyancy aides and after a quick lesson on death avoidance we went for a paddle. 
The Kaitiaki river is a grade 5 white water experience, I'm not sure what that really means but its bloody exciting. We started off learning the paddling basics backwards, forwards hold-on-tight & brace-here-comes-a-20ft-waterfall. So after an hour cruising through a selection of fast moving rapids it came to the big finale. I got myself all rehearsed and psyched up for the fall but it didn't do much good, as the raft went down it folded in two and I smacked my teeth on the persons helmet in front of me and split my lip open. It was well worth it though despite the fat lip and minor blood loss. Then finally just to top it all off I jumped out of a plane and done a gentle bit of skydiving. At 1500ft above lake Taupo, it seemed quite along way down. But after only 70 seconds of free-fall and 4 minutes of gleeful parachuting I managed to land safely. 
I got a DVD made of me doing it but until I figure a way of getting that on the website and editing out the expletives, you shall have to put up with the pictures from the ground. I've only been in New Zealand a few weeks now but I'm truly amazed by this country. The scenery, the people, the activities, the cultures and even just the fresh air are unlike anything I've witnessed or experienced before. I'm now chalking up a few stamps in the old passport from various places around the world but at the moment I'd have to say New Zealand is currently in pole position. Its a bit of a cliché and I know its been said a thousand times before, but I can clearly see why people call New Zealand the 8th wonder of the world. I'm off to the south island tomorrow and things are only meant to get better from there. I can hardly contain my excitement, something I only just about managed to whilst jumping from a plane in my borrowed overalls, so until then why not take a look at the photos.