Time to FULLY experience Taupo!

From Napier we traveled about 2 hours to Taupo. Thanks to Sara who drove while took a needed nap! We arrived in Taupo and were immediately greeted by Lake Taupo. We pulled over to enjoy the view and what an incredible view (and little did I know, I would see a very different view of it soon). We hung out by the lake before heading to our sleeping spot for the night. Someone told us about this place by the water called Reid's Farm where there are toilets and you can camp for free (which is always a plus!). We pulled into the place. There were many people there. We drove around a little. There was a guy sitting by this tent that was directing us to an open spot. After a couple of seconds I said, "We know that guy!" It was the Israeli guy Matan and the French guy Flo that we picked up hitchhiking outside of Christchurch on the south island. What a small world...so fun to see people again. We also met Melody from Colorado and 2 Israeli girls. We all cooked a big meal together and sat around and talked. Matan led us in some icebreakers so it was fun getting to know people. One of the questions that was asked was what are 3 things that you want to do in the next year. He said that in saying them, we have to try our hardest to fulfill what we say. I'm also writing mine here so I work hard on fulfilling them. I want to learn spanish and travel in South America, have traveled in all states except Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska (there are a few I need to visit in the northeast), and learn to play the mandolin.

The next day, I did this: I went skydiving?!?!?!?

Today I went skydiving....I still don't believe that I actually did it! I said that I'd never do it, but I did. I was convinced to do it by our Israeli friends on the Kepler Track. When I get something I want to do in my head, I must do it. I couldn't back out now. I've been thinking about it ever since and getting myself soooo scared (but there was nothing to fear). I arrived at Tandem Taupo Skydive at 10:30 and was greeted by the people there. I had to decide what I wanted to do. I could pick from 12,000 or 15,000 feet and with or without a DVD. I was most scared about the falling so I decided to go with the 12,000 feet and the DVD. Everyone there tried to convince me to go for the 15,000 feet. They said I would regret it if i didn't. I was going with 4 other girls and they all decided to do 15,000. I couldn't be the only one at 12,000 so I decided to go for the 15,000. One of the girls was from Malaysia and her name was Mei See (now I have a friend in visit in Malaysia). I met my tandem partner Alan and he suited me up for the jump. The process happened so fast. As I was getting ready, they took photos. Soon we were off into the plane. The plane was very small and filled with 15 of us. It took about 25minutes to reach 15,000 feet. During that time Alan strapped me in. I asked him how many times had gone down...he replied, that's a personal question. It made me feel even more nervous. I corrected myself and asked how many time he had skydived. He said over 3,000times so I felt very confident in him. We strapped me put and made sure everything was in place. I looked out the window and could see a great distance. The higher I got, the less nervous that I became. The green light went off and it was time to FALL! I was the second one to go. I looked over at the exit camera and Alan flipped us out of the plane. We literally just flip on out. It took a couple of seconds to realize what happened and begin to look around. The day was beautiful with blue skies all around. From the height that I fell, you could see four coast of the island. The scenery was incredible. You could see Lake Taupo with mountains all around it! There was also guy flighting around me taking pictures and a video. I was told that I fell for over 60 seconds before the parachute opened. It didn't even feel like we were falling. It felt more like I was flying. AMAZING...AWESOME...EXCITING...INCREDIBLE...what was I ever scared of. I loved it! So trilling! When the parachute opened, we shot up. I had a good amount of time on the way down to look at the views and talk with Alan. The scariest part of the trip was when Alan had to spin us down in order to get down faster. He did it about 4 times and it made my stomach drop but not to bad. We had a safe landing. I had a hard time standing up at the end. When all 5 of us landed, we were so excited! They had us jump around and act excited to add to the video. We all got to watch to video. I was fun to relive the experience! I can't wait to watch it with everyone when I get home.

Pictures will be posted soon...