Craters of the Moon

We got back on the tour bus this morning and headed to Hoka falls. They were really pretty. Not exactly waterfalls, but some pretty raging rapids. Next, we stopped at a geothermal parkm called Craters of the Moon to see the craters. It was pretty weird how steam just seemed to be coming out of the ground. It also seemed like once I saw one crater I had seen them all though. I wasn’t exactly awestruck by beauty, but it probably doesn’t help that it’s pretty overcast today.

Huka Falls

Craters of the Moon

We took a short drive up to Rotoura afterward and everyone jumped off the bus to go zorbing. I went with Sebastion in the wet zorb because it was cheaper. I guess I should have went alone though because they only let doubles go on the straight course and the zigzag course looked a lot more fun. I wasn’t huge on zorbing, regardless, it just felt like sliding down a plastic water slide but enclosed. You can only stand up for the like the first few seconds too and it goes by really fast.

The zorb hill

We stopped for lunch in town after zorbing. Everyone wanted to go to a thai restaurant though, so I pretended like I wasn’t hungry and then picked up some McDonald’s fries after. Granted, I was hugely hungry, but I could have ate. I don’t really want the whole group to pick a restaurant based on my tastes though, and, as it was, I didn’t really want to eat in a restaurant and spend that much money.

We wandered around town after lunch, but there wasn’t much there, so we headed to the hotel and checked in. Skydiving got pushed back because of low cloud cover and, for a few minutes, it looked like we weren’t going to be able to go. It all worked out though. Eight of us headed to Nzone Skydiving and jumped out of planes J

All suited up

That's me!

I went 12,000 feet up because it was $100 cheaper than 15,000. There was 45 seconds of freefall. The scenery was beautiful. I was freezing the whole time because my shoes had holes in them and it was pretty cold. I’m so glad that me and Jaz went last though for our jumps because we got to see the sunset as we were going down. Ricky, my guide, pointed out some of the scenery after he pulled the parachute. There was a volcano and a gigantic lake. I felt like I could see all of New Zealand. I’m so glad I waited to go some place pretty instead of doing it at home. I got the video and picture package, so I’ll have the memories forever too. I’d definitely do it again except for the pain in my abs from the harness.

Since so many of us went skydiving, we ended up a little bit late showing up to the Maori cultural dinner. Luckily, they hadn’t started without us. We ate a “traditional” Maori meal that was cooked to health standards instead of being cooked in a dirt pit. It was great in terms of substance, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the taste. I think everyone was amazed by how much I ate though after my lunch issues.