SKYDIVE!!!

On Saturday, we headed to Taupo, which was a very short drive, only a couple hours. I had planned to skydive in Taupo, and that's why I was staying there. The skydive was scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but the weather wasn't very good, so it was postponed until Sunday. It was kind of a letdown, because I had pumped myself up thinking I was going to be skydiving on Saturday, and then it didn't happen. But, the weather was a lot better on Sunday, so I was able to skydive!! It was awesome!! I wasn't that scared, not as scared as I thought. I jumped at 15,000 feet. There was one guy in the plane who jumped at 12,000 feet, and it wasn't until they opened the door and he jumped that I got scared. I had a really great partner, his name was Charley, and he totally knew what he was doing, which helped me a lot to not be scared. Plus, he does all the work so all you have to do is sit there and then he jumps out the plane, and you are going with him!! The freefall was 60 seconds and then he opened he parachute. During the freefall, it doesn't really feel like you are falling, it's like you are just laying down and a whole bunch of really really strong air is blowing in your face. Once the parachute is open, you get to look around, and the scenery was awesome! I can't even say how great it was! I have a DVD and pictures of it too.

Sunday afternoon, after the big jump, I took the bus to Rotorua. That night, I went to a Maori Cultural event and dinner. The Maori are the native people of New Zealand, and they performed some dances, and we had a dinner that was cooked in the ground. It was really good!!

Today (Monday) I took the bus to Auckland, the capital of New Zealand. In the afternoon I walked around a bit and took a ferry to Devonport, a little town across the harbour. It was a cute area, and I got some really good pictures of the Auckland skyline.

Tomorrow is my last full day in New Zealand! I can't believe how fast the trip has gone! I fly on Wednesday, first to LA, then to Seattle.