Why care, Moana?

Guess what we just did? Our very first "Great Walk"!!! That's right, we were in the "bush" for 4 nights and five days. We walked a 43 km track around Lake Waikaremoana and it was AWESOME. First we had to travel an unbelievably long gravel road to reach the lake and then we both had to pack our backpacks with about 15 kilos each containing our food, clothes and equipment for the hike ahead of us.

The first and second days were the toughest parts of the trip. The first day we climbed up to Panekire Bluff (1180 meters high, 662 meters of going up). Then the second day we had to go down, which was the worst part especially since my knee didn't want to cooperate. Oh well, we made it past that and the rest of the track was pretty much smooth sailing. The first night we had to stay in a hut and the other 3 nights we got to camp. We were the only campers at the places where we stayed. The last night we even think we heard some Kiwi birds near our tent. The lake views were amazing and on the last day we got picked up from the beach by a water taxi. The whole experience was great!

Now we are in Gisborne and are just going to relax a few days before heading to Rotorua. Christoph is going to skate later and we might play some mini golf. It is a very sunny and nice day today. Oh and before we left the lake we met a nice family that invited us to stay on their farm for a few days. We will probably do that this April or so. They are nice and have the two cutest little girls.

Ok, take care all and I promise that I will try to write back to some of your e-mails as soon as I get a chance. :)

It's Just a Jump to the Left...

...and then you fall out of a plaaaaayyayaaaane!

Simple really! So obviously we ended up going skydiving and it was AWESOME!!!! Just ask Christoph. Only wait just a little while because he looks a little green.

After I landed I went up to him to see how he liked it and he was totally on the verge of passing out. He was all green in the face and wasn't answering me. Then he passed out a little and had to lie down on the ground. Then he came to and was really queasy. I mean I felt a little queasy too, but nowhere near passing out. Apparently his harness was a little too tight and was pinching a main vein in his leg and his tandem master was spiralling down a lot too. My jump was pretty calm and AMAZING. Christoph even got to help control the parachute a little. We had great views over Lake Taupo and the mountains and everything. The sky was clear blue and we had the most perfect weather for jumping. We wanted to go yesterday but it was too windy so we couldn't. So instead of going on my birthday we went on Friday the 13th. Even better and scarier, huh? :)

We got an exit picture of me but the one of Christoph didn't take. We also got a DVD of parts of the experience. So here without further ado and for your viewing pleasure: me about to jump out of a plane at 12000 feet above Lake Taupo!!!


The glasses and hat make me look so sexy that I almost asked if I could keep them...NOT!

The Good, the Bad, and the Kiwi

Hey sweethearts! I've got some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first? Both at the same time? Yeah, right! And then we wend up with some crazy mumbo-jumbo that the known secret services can't help but interpret the wrong way. Sorry, but I had enough of that bit the first two times around. Well, since you're just useless as far as decisions are concerned, here's the good news first:

1.) New Zealand is great. How great is it? Greater than the Great Wall of China, and the Great Barrier Reef, and Peter, Alexander and Kathrine the Greats, and the Great White Shark, and the Great Gatsby, and Great Balls of Fire (Goodness, Gracious!), and Great Britain (including the Greater London area), and the Great Gig in the Sky, and the Great Lakes (without Ontario though), and the Great Canyon, and (oh my gosh, like) the greatest sale ever, and the Great Crystal Ball of Eastern Torigonga (greatest crystal ball in the southern hemisphere between 17 and 23 degrees longitude) all put together in a great bunch of great greatness. Pretty great, huh?

2.) We have seen a lot of waterfalls.

3.) We have seen glowworms in numerous caves, wading through waist-deep water in one of them.

4.) I have been surfing, although not very successfully.

5.) We have seen endangered birds on Tiritiri Matangi.

6.) I have started eating kiwifruit with the skin after I learned from an Irish couple that other people do it as well. It's a little weird at first, but you get used to it and it's much more convenient than scooping that stuff out. Show that fruit who's boss! It's healthy, too.

6.) We did a "walk" up Mt. Karioi near Raglan that included pulling yourself up using chains at steep bits and lotsa mud. Needless to say it was fantasmic!

8.) We went down some awesome waterslides and had delicious steak that night courtesy of a farmer who stayed at the same campground. It was from his own animals and he had marinated it. We hadn't had meat (other than lunch meat) at that point for a while, and that steak was outa this world.

14.) Kumara tastes really really good.

15.) Our sandfly bites have stopped itching.

16.) I go skating like every other day.

Now the bad news:

1.) I cracked my skateboard.

Don't worry though, it's not completely broken in half yet, but it's a matter of days at this point. We also added more pictures to the gallery.