Jumping out of planes and other great stuff

Yep - offically fulfilled a burning desire to hurtle myself out of a plane - took a great sky jump right over Lake Taupo, probably the cheapest place in New Zealand to jump.  It was absolutely beautiful - you can see the siltation at the edges of a deep volcanic lake, with the green of the largest manmade forest in the world blanketing the space all around it.  I wussed out at 12,000 feet - I should have parted with the cash for 15,000 - but it gives me the potential to do another jump over the Franz Joseph Glaciers down south... I may have to have someone hide my credit card.

I am ahead of myself - before Taupo I stopped for a few days of "rest" in Rotorua, known here as Roto-Vegas. My hostel was right over what the region is famous for - hot pools! The whole hostel (and the fab pool) all heated geothermally from the local volcanos. Nice, eh? No need for expensive spas - we climbed into the nearest human-friendly creek and just bathed. It's one of the older Maori settlements - some of the hot pools (that can just decide to flood your house one morning - not fun) can be over 98 degrees - the Mauri used to just throw food into them to cook it!  We were also treated to a Mauri Hungi (cook-out really) by a local Mauri family - the kids got a hold of my camera and I have some great shots.

Sally - you'll be pleased - I managed to pick up a second hand copy of The Bone People by Keri Hulme - the book is fascinating - more like a very long poem soaked in metaphor than what you'd commonly read for a novel.  If you can get your hands on a copy in Canada, it's giving my travel-flabby brain a work out, not to mention a better appreciation for the land and the people here.  One of the things that is really clear, is how many concessions the Bristish needed to make not to get themselves killed. I haven't ever seen colonial churches with so much influence of the local people - one in the old Mauri village even has Jesus dressed as a Mauri cheiftan, and a full Mauri-carved pulpit. 

I have just made it to Windy Wellington (again, living up to it's name!) and hoping the weather will clear a little for the south Island. So far Sally - made it through the Te Papa museum - its probably one of the most impressive museums I have ever been too (and I got to seperate DNA too... how cool is that?).  The museum has an incredible modern structure, with fantastic modern wood Mauri carvings and interesting steel fabricated intallation pieces, and very interactive exhibits... earthquaking houses, virtual bungy jumps... I wish I could pass for a kid.