Delia and Brenda's Travel Log: Sweet As.......

Due to the slight change in our Tongariro Crossing date, we finished the hike and immediately had to head off to Taupo to meet our friend Leigh Austin. Before we left National Park behind us though, we did go back to the Lodge to pick up our things and say good-bye to Yvette, Colin and Jimmy. Delia was still on a high so told a bit of our story of the successful crossing and the successful climb up Mount Ngauruhoe. Due to the questionable weather and our decision to change days, the owners of the Lodge were pretty stoked that it all worked out for us. Kiwi's genuinely care about other people's joy.

Leigh Austin; who lives in Taupo, is a friend of Delia's sister-in-law; Shannon Close (Delia's brother; Jason's wife). Well, a friend of the family really, but the connection is ultimately through Shannon. Shannon and Leigh have been pen-pals since they were 13 years old and have kept in touch ever since. They have seen each other a few times and have remained friends. Leigh knew we were coming and was more than willing to welcome us into her home and entertain us in and around Taupo. As you know Delia and I love New Zealand, but of all the places that we have been so far, Taupo is one place that I really felt at home; a place where I could definitely live. It is the location of Ironman New Zealand to start, so you can imagine that the terrain and atmosphere gears toward the active individual. Lake Taupo is gorgeous itself and is surrounded by mountains, great cycling and running routes and to top it off; for the directionally challenged trait of mine, the town is small enough, but big enough to get around easily. We met Leigh at her place and pretty much instantly we felt at home. We met Leigh, her flat mate and her two cats;

Kodi (short for Kodiak from Leigh's trip to Alaska) and

Mocha (Leigh's favourite drink; Cafe Mocha). We had a great dinner; chatted and drank New Zealand wine. Leigh taught us some Kiwi sayings such as; Sweet As and Knackered. Leigh also completes ironman races and is the Run Direction for Ironman New Zealand so we were not short on things to talk about. Things were not completely planned for our time in Taupo, but there was no fear that we weren't going to be entertained. The next day was a day of organization. Unfortunately Leigh had to work, but we were able to go to town, look around and get supplies for dinner that night. The weather forecast for the next few days were not that great so we decided to drive north to Rotorua for the next couple of days and book our skydiving for Friday March 26th,

Rotorua is known for Maori traditions, geysers and hot springs. Delia and I love to learn more about the indigenous people and their culture and without knowing any local Maori people, we were forced to trust the tourist industry. This is not my favourite thing to venture into, but the "i" site in New Zealand has been very helpful to us so far so we thought we would at least try. We booked accommodations at Victoria Lodge in Rotorua for two nights. It was quaint and with no surprise at all, the owners were friendly. As we drove in to Rotorua, we followed the signs to the "i" site to plan our time there. We saw the "i" site sign and even though it looked smaller than usual, we stopped and went to check things out. The "i" site is usually alot bigger and more of a "Department of Conservation" feel to it, but Rotorua is smaller so we didn't think anything more about it. To tell you the truth, nothing really caught our attention as it all looked very touristy. After talking to the representative and reading the pamphlets, we decided on attending a Mitai Maori for that night, including a concert, hangi (Maori method of cooking in the ground with hot stones), glow worm bushwalk and tour of the Rainbow Springs Nature Park to see Kiwi. For the following day we booked a 7 1/2 hour Maori tour including the thermal park and geysers. Seemed that this would cover most things in Rotorua.

Once everything was booked, we went back to our lodging, relaxed and waited for our bus to take us to the Mitai Maori. The whole experience so far did not feel good and as soon as the bus pulled up to our lodge, we had a really bad feeling. We wanted to renege on the whole deal, but it was a little too late for that. From there, it just got worse! It reminded me of the horrific experience we had in Hawaii at the Luau (in ancient times the Hawaiian people would gather together to celebrate auspicious occasions with a feast. These celebrations were held for many reasons); just a tourist trap. When we arrived at the place, there were hundreds of people. I couldn't believe the crowds. We filtered in and sat at a table. We couldn't hear very well, the place was uncomfortably crowded and it was so commercialized we thought we were both going to melt and die!

The concert of the Maori dance was actually very good, but other than that, it was horrible! Now, before you make your own judgements, Delia and I were sitting across from a British couple that seemed to

really enjoy it; some people like that stuff. It was just not our "cup of tea". In fact, it is one of my worst travelling nightmares. The night was so bad and we were so tainted by the commercialized aspect of the Maori tradition experience, that we cancelled our tour for the next day. Who knows, it might have been better, but we were not willing to chance a 7 1/2 hour tour and $150 each for something that might just be as commercialized as we just did. I cringe everytime I think of it. I must tell you though, Rotorua was not a complete loss. We took this opportunity to relax and enjoy the sulfur springs. And the ironic thing is, that day when we were driving around to find something else to do, we found the "real" "i" site. The other one apparently was just a tourist company impersonating the NZ "i" site - no wonder! Well, I am not sure a trip is complete unless you have been subjected and get caught in the 'ole tourist trap!

On our way back to Taupo, we stopped at Huka Falls. Unbelievable amounts of water that were flowing down this river and falls. And the colour was awesome. Pictures do not do it justice. The sound was deafening. While in the area we also drove through Huka Lodge. This is suppose to be one of the place to go to before you die. It is $1000 a night to start, so driving through was the closest we were going to get. I always wonder what could be so good that it is worth $1000 a night? Other than a nice view, great service and a comfortable bed which we got even when we were camping; what else does one need? Even after going through for a quick peak, I still couldn't figure out what all the fuss is about.

Back in Taupo we headed straight for Freefall.

That's right boys and girls, Delia and I were going to do some skydiving. Taupo and Nelson were suppose to be the best places to skydive in New Zealand because of the views. In Taupo we could see Lake Taupo, both the Tasman Sea and the South Pacific Ocean, Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe, Mount Tongariro and Mount Taranaki. And we did see it all! There were 5 of us that went up in the plane together, each with our tandem skydiver and photographer. I was the first to jump and had the best seat in the house. I was literally sitting sideways to the door that we jumped out of.

Delia jumped second and the rest followed. We had a freefall of 1 minute and then parachuted the rest of the way that took about 5 to 6 minutes to get down. I wasn't scared or nervous at all. It is amazing though, when you have all these thoughts of what you want to do, but when you are actually falling 200 km/hr, you forget everything. There is serious "G" forces acting on

your face and body. I

thought my face

would be permanently stretched. Delia said that she was actually not nervous, but when she jumped from the plane she freaked out. By the pictures, it looks like I am the freaked out and Delia is the one relaxed - go figure! Anyways, we had a great group (1 guy from Canada, a