Day Five: Hanging out in Taupo

all week i was trying to talk justin into going skydiving today because it is like the cheapest in the world. we got all the way to the place to book it, and decided against it because that would not give us much of a budget for anything else. instead, we worked it all out that we would go kayaking down the wiakato river and jet boating over rapids. we started off with the kayaking with this whelsh family. we got in at this little inlet into the river and went down to where the bungy jumpers platform is. it was a beautiful day which meant lots of jumpers. from where we were we could see a line of about 80 people waiting for their turn. the water in this river was absolutely amazing. we could see everything below us it was so clear and they say the visibility is around 30m. we hung out and watched a few of the bungies go and then headed on down the river. half way through the trip, we came to this hot spring that dumps into the river around 102 degrees. it was so nice to hop into the water and soak in the natural warmth. my favorite spot was where the warm water met the cold water to make the perfect temp.

We finished the kayak and headed back into town for some lunch. on the way out to our jet boating, we passed huka falls, which is the most gallons per second in all of NZ or the world or something. it was really impressive and i would hate to fall into it. we got to where the jet boat was and asked if we would need to change in case we got wet. they assured us it isnt that kind of ride. at first we got in and cruised on the lake a bit, hydroplaining across the water. after the driver thought we were comfortable, he started the real excitement. this is when he started throwing in the 360's, the skimming past rocks i totally thought we were going to hit, jumping off rapids, going over rocks we could see below us, and spraying everyone. by the end of it, we were completely soaked. highly recommended. on the way back we had seen signs for craters of the moon national park. we thought it might be a good way to dry off after the jet boat. it was cool to see the steam wholes and boiling mudd pits, and it was seriously 10 degrees warmer there. after a 30 minute walk aroung the park, we had about enough. good thing it was only 5 bucks. this is a silver fern plant, the national plant. we went back into town and saw this great park that we though we would enjoy the next few hours of the afternoon just relaxing and napping.

we walked around the town a bit before eating at this terrible chinese food place, and then returned to our hostel to continue on in the LOTR marathon.