A little like going to camp...

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Trip Start Sep 15, 2007 Previous
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  Napier, New Zealand
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The trip is starting to feel like camp since every day we seem to have a very cool activity lined up - skydiving, big trout fishing, world class horseback riding have all been recent activites.... I decided skydiving was a must on this trip and apparently Taupo Tandem Skydiving is the best and biggest in the world. They will let you jump as high as 15000 ft. and suprisingly i decided to pay a little extra for 15 additional seconds of freefall over the typical 12000 drop. The first two thousand feet of freefall was into the clouds and the moisture in the clouds hitting my face felt like little needles as i hit speeds around 140mph. Then broke through the clouds at about 13000 feet and could see the entire lake (which is the size of Singapore) as i continued to drop for at least 45 more seconds. Not too much else i can say to adequately describe it but i think the pictures do it justice. I also have a DVD that I'm trying to figure out how to post. Overall - it was an incredible experience.

Trout fishing was great on the Tongoriro river which feeds into Lake Taupo- went two days with a local guide, Will Kemp, who is a mate of our friend Tim in Annapolis. Great guy and after finally getting my casting skills back - we started to get onto some big Rainbow trout averaging around 4 lbs. In typical fashion, I managed to lose a huge one on the first day after fighting for over 15 minutes - B then joined for the second day of fishing and managed to land the biggest of the afternoon. Planning to go again once we hit the South island.

As you might expect, B managed to locate one of the best riding centers in New Zealand while in Taupo. She became quick friends with Karen Neiderer, who was on the NZ Olympic Equestrian team and now does a few lessons. B did 2 days of lessons, and although shes still recovering, had a great expereince and is fired up to get back into riding once we return

In our 10 days in Taupo - we've made lots of new friends and are on a first name basis with all the local shop and restaurant owners. Perhaps our best new friend was a woman named Jenni Donovan, who Betsy met in the local convenience store and who babysat for Lila for several days. Jenni actually traveled with us to our fishing spot over an hour away to watch Lila while we fished. She also owns 16 calves who are 10 days old and need to be bottle fed...B jumped at the offer to get up one morning and help out with the feeding.

Since we can't always convince near strangers to travel with us all the time to watch Lila, we have kept with our reliance on Tim's entire list of NZ contacts and convinced Tim's sister Jane to join us for a week to help out with Lila. Lila loves Jane and the feeling seems to be mutual. Most of the time Jane calls Lila "darling" and "gorgeous" in her lovely NZ accent, however we have learned some new words to describe Lila's less than favorable behavior - our favorite new expression is "grizzley" when Lila becomes "a bit naughty." Jane has been great company and we will certainly miss her when she leaves us in Wellington - we just hope we can convince her to come meet us in Queenstown for the last 2 weeks of our trip and have her help taking care of Lila and Lila's friend Lucy, when Charlotte and Paul Bashforth and their 18 month old daughter, Lucy, come join us.

Left Taupo on Monday and we're now in the town of Napier (the largest collection of Art Deco architecture in the world) in the Hawke's Bay region (renown for Sauvignon Blanc and other tasty NZ wines) and have an amazing house overlooking the Bay/Pacific Ocean. Planning to hit a few vineyards tomorrow after spending most of the day today enjoying the sunshine and hanging out at the Spa pools overlooking the black sand beaches of Napier. The trip continues to be a great adventure and actually seems to be getting better...we leave for Wellington on Friday and then catch the Ferry to the South Island on Saturday.

Napier hotels Slideshow Share

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Taupo Skydive	Taupo Skydive	Taupo Skydive	Taupo Skydive
Taupo Skydive	11-Taupo Skydive	12-Taupo Skydive	13-Taupo Skydive
15-Taupo Skydive	16-Taupo Skydive	17-Taupo Skydive	19-Taupo Skydive
20-Taupo Skydive	21-Taupo Skydive	22-Taupo Skydive	24-Taupo Skydive
25-Taupo Skydive	Double hook up	Flyfishing	Flyfishing
Flyfishing	Flyfishing	B and her trophy	Flyfishing
Flyfishing	Flyfishing	10-Flyfishing	First catch
Flyfishing	ANother good fish	Dinner	B and J
J and Will	Betsy on Dagwood	A view of Harakeke Farm	Former Olympic Rider gives Betsy a Lesson
Cantering	Getting pointers from Karen	Getting some tips from Karen	Betsy and Dagwood
Betsy learning to jump again	Approaching a Jump	Bottlefeeding a 10 day old calf	Attack of the hungry calves
Bottlefeeding the runt	Jenny and Lila	lila and jane	Great views in Taupo
Lila getting ready for a swim	Lila splashing mommy	J and L at spa	mom and lila   Comments!
Lila now sitting up...	Napier	Napier	Lila
B and her driver	Napier	VIew from spa at our house in Napier	View from house in Napier

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