Lake Taupo

Got a short break waiting for my Chicken Tikka Masala and Nan - one of the things I miss living in Seoul. We just finished sky diving over Lake Taupo. We're on our way to Rotorua, the stop back was to get Austin's photos developed - who does that anymore? He had a good reason though, they were underwater pics from snorkeling in Australia.

It was a rough start this morning. They weren't messing around when I asked for my Pad Thai hot last night. Every bite was literally painful. Austin said his stomach was irritated like mine and he only mixed a small forkfull of my noodles into his. In retrospect I'm glad I only finished half of the otherwise tasty dish.

Skydiving was a blast. "Not so scary as exciting" according to our new Welsh friend Ellie, a young recent medical school graduate. Dead on as far as I'm concerned. The view was beautiful. Even at 12,000 feet instead of the more expensive fifteen. The jump "didn't do anything" for Austin, who's now all about the bungy jumping. I'd do it day in and out if I could.

Last night we arrived at Lake Taupo with enough time to charter a fishing trip. We were pretty much the only ones out that evening - a surreal experience. Austin was bouncing off the seats - one too many Red Bulls and he was ready for adrenaline induced adventure. But even he was obviously excited at the thrill of reeling in a Trout. Unfortunately, we both reeled in fish that below the 18" minimum - we were to go hungry for the night. We also both missed our first bites! The guide said we were unlucky, but I donno.