New Zealand

Got into Auckland about 5.00 pm last Thursday 26th. I was to make my way to Lake Taupo, I thought it was about 2 hours away but was advised when I pickled the hire car up it was more like 3.5 hrs. I decided it was too far to drive that night as I had been up since 5.30 am. As it happens it was a good decision as the journey eventually took me in total over 4 hours. I headed for a Hamilton about 120km from Auckland to spend the night and got quite a nice room at a Motel for a reasonable price.
I got to Lake Taupo the following day but the weather had started to deteriorate quite badly with very heavy rain and quite strong winds. The weather really only cleared properly yesterday. I am staying at a backpackers Lodge called Rainbow Lodge, its quite nice, I have my own room with a shower and toilet. The place is actually run and owned by a Scottish guy called Ross, there is a constant stream of people coming and going from all corners of the world. This is the second time on my journey I have stayed in a backpackers lodge, the other was at Byron Bay. If you are on a tight budget I can certainly recommend them.
As I said the weather has now cleared, its cold but sunny, just like a nice crisp winters day at home. Lake Taupo is more or less in the middle of North Island and is huge, more like a small sea. The mountains and volcanoes surrounding the lake are beautiful and so big.
There is also another local connection I have found. There is a guy who drives the limo for Skydive Taupo, he is called John he comes from Sedgefield.
Now to the Skydiving, there are 3 skydive operations in Lake Taupo, all situated at Taupo Airport, Skydiving is very big here, mainly tandems (its a lot cheaper here than in England). The centre I have been jumping at is Skydive Taupo, they operate a Cresco Turbine, which takes 8 or 9 people. Its quite a plane and Pink (you can't miss it). All of the staff have been great, I will give them a roll call later. The view from 12,000 feet is stunning, it is so clear you can see as far as the Pacific Ocean.
When I initially contacted the DZ when I arrived here I spoke to Lottie who runs the manifest and told her the reason for the trip. She has been fantastic, she contacted the local Newspaper for me, the Taupo times, and they sent a reporter and photographer out yesterday, so I was able to tell them about the charity and Colitis and Crohn's disease.
As I said the staff at the DZ have been very kind and helpful, they even gave me the first jump free.
I will be staying in Taupo until Thursday morning and then plan to head to Rotorua to try and jump at a DZ there. However the weather is forecast to turn bad again, so we will have to see how things go. I have taken quite a few pictures and the DZ have also kindly taken some pictures of me under canopy. I cannot put them on through the PC I am using at the moment. But will get them on when I can.