18 - 19th Dec - Last Days in Sydney

Our last couple of days were spent doing stuff with Mark, Jackie and lovely Alice - I think I'll have to frisk Pauline again on leaving.

We all dressed up (looked fine if I do say so) and went out for drinks and dinner. The Shangri La Hotel has a cocktail bar on the 40th floor with great views over the Harbour - eventually getting great views after playing musical seats with people leaving - don't think the waiting staff were too impressed.

We had dinner on the Rocks (the Rocks is a really old area of Sydney with original Colonial buildings which are being lovingly restored) in a micro brewery. The restaurant up stairs was great and served really fantastic food. We had a few drinks downstairs before the mad rush for the local bus home, which gave us a chance to see other parts of the city, Pauline and I have been a bit Harbour centric.

On our last day we went to the Observation Tower with Alice to watch her face pressed against the window - Oh that was Marks face pressed against the windows. No matter how many observation towers I go up I always love the view from on high - a position I should really hold.

Our last night was spent with our family soaking up the familiar atmosphere before the next leg of our journed in the big bad world.

17th Dec - Manly - the beach only

Hoping for warmer weather we ventured out to Sydneys other famous beach Manly. It was a really nice day, how I expected Sydney to be, hot, very hot. This beach is a local favourite and much nice than Bondi, not so built up. Being sensible and hungry we went out of the midday sun (or maybe not all of it as here it's really between 11 - 4) and wandered around the shops looking for a few bargains. It makes you realise how expensive Britain really is.

At night Pauline and I ventured back out to Balmain without the protection of Mark. There were plenty of pubs to choose from all full with office Christmas Parties. It was really strange not being part of one this year. We played the who's the worst dancer in the room competition but had to give up cos there were just so many candidates. Old men really shouldn't be let loose, letching over the young things in their offices - it's not big and it's not clever.

We ended up in a bar with a live Jazz band playing and soon were being hit on by the local wierdos. Shane (could he be called anything else) seemed normal at first but wasn't. He did take a joke well, and didn't seem to mind us calling him the most repugnant human being that's ever walked the earth. At least he wasn't as scary as the Russian bloke who just stared then said 'hello' - time for a quick exit.

At least one part of our day was truly Manly.

16th Dec - Sydney Opera House

During the day we took the boat up to Watson Bay for lunch and sunbathing. We had seen a bunch of cafes there and thought it would be nice. Unfortunately the cafes turned out to be one - Doyles Fish place and the choices were the fast food place or the expensive place. We choose the fast food and it was OK but nothing to brag about.

Mark reserved tickets for Handels Messiah playing in the Concert Hall of the Opera House - I told Pauline it was a really good, famous Australian boy band so she would go - she fell for it hook., line and sinker!

We met Mark, Ian and Dino another ex-Wosw person (this must be one of the biggest gatherings of Ex-Wosw people ever) to a few pre-concert drinks. Inside the Opera House isn't a patch on the outside, really concrete and very 70's.

The Concert Hall it's self is quite impressive and was full for the concert. The playing started, the singing started and it was really great. At half time Pauline and I both admitted to having a wee chuckle at the male soprano who sang way to high for a bloke, until we saw his photo in the program - he was hot - going way up in our opinion - I'm sure it will mean so much to him - us being such clasical music critics.

After, while slipping cocktails on the patio of the Opera House Bar, we exhange our favourite bits, Halelluliah ofcourse was up there but the firm winner was the 'We all like sheep' line.

15th Dec - Bridge Climb and Bondi

The walk up the hill to the entrance to the bridge climb ended up the hardest part of the day for me. Once paid up we were kitted out and they really left nothing to chance. Everything had to be clipped onto you, the handkerchief, the baseball cap, my hair band, sunglasses they would be closed down if you dropped anything over the cars and trains below.

The actual climb was really easy, the best bit was at the start and finish when you climb ladders and emerge between train lines - I got a real fright when a train came past. I waved at the passengers - nobody waved back. The pace was really slow to give us really good opertunities to see (though not photo - no cameras allowed) the Harbour and the Opera House. No matter how many times I saw it, it is still amazing. We got a tacky certificate to say we did it - ovbiously will be framed and put on my wall beside the sky diving one.

Pauline and Mark (crazy people) went for a run around the botanic gardens - I had lunch. Then we took the bus with all the other British tourists (the bus was full of us) to the famous Bondi Beach. We had been told it was a bit of a dump, and is much more built up than you ever see on TV, but isn't really that bad. We stripped off to our bikinkis and lay down and while the sun was out it was really nice, as soon as the sun went behind a cloud it was freezing, made all the colder by the cold air coming off the Pacific Ocean. I ended up with all my clothes on, sarong wrapped around me with goose bumps all over. Pauline, made of stronger stuff, braved the cold in her persuit of 'The Tan'.

We stayed in for dinner with Jackie Mark and Alice, she used to us now - at least she doesn't cry when she see us like many a poor child. It's really nice being part of a family again, feeling like a real person.

14th Dec - Blue Mountains

The bus picked us up outside a swanky hotel (obviously we weren't staying there) for our adventure to the blue mountains. Our first stop was at an animal park full to the brim with indiginous wild life. Pauline and I were thrilled that we got to stroke a Koala, bit disappointed cos Jackie has actually held one - but you can't have everything - even if you want it. In one area you were able to feed the Kangeroos and give them a wee pat. I payed my 50 cents for a cup of their food and held it out to a wee joey who grabbed it from my hand. All the others were politely nibbling from the cups I obviously got the bad boy - story of my life. I did get to pat a few which were really cute - they were only babies and much nicer than the dead one we saw on the road to Apollo Bay.

There were other native animals in the park the ugly wambats, the wierd Tasmanian Devils and the lovely dingos who were getting suntan cream and insect repellant put on them by one of the wardens - wee pets lambs. A white peacock, rare in itself, had it's tail feathers spread in the most beautiful display.

Our first views of the blue mountains were from a view point, it's really strange you can't see them from the bus cos you are surrounded by thick forrest. The view point was really high up the mountains so we were looking down the valleys. The blue colour is a trick of the light really, the eucalyptus trees excrete a fine mist which in sunlight looks blue.

After lunch we went to a disused mine to take the steepest railway in the world down the side of the mountain and a cable car back up. It was quite scary when it first goes over the edge, we were grateful of the barriers to keep us in.

Wodden walkways allow you to wander throught the rain forrest and see close up the massive trees and wierd and wonderful plants, unfortunately the native fauna were a bit more shy keeping hidden in the tangle of plants.

12th - 13th Dec - Sydney

Mark (Lloyd of Ex West of Scotland Water fame) met us at the airport with the most lovely wee girl who he says is his (likely story - she is gorgeous). Mark and his lovely better half Jackie had kindly (stupidly you might think) agreed to put Pauline and I up in their flat in Balmain East. The flat is near the water with views of Sydney Harbour and the Bridge - really cool. The best mode of transport into town being the local ferries which only take a few minutes but take you within spitting distance of the Opera House (I kept Pauline form actually spitting) so things were set up pretty great.

Our first night Mark took us up to his local pub in Balmain East which was pretty nice so he's got it made over here. Pauline was a bit disturbed as the weather was difinately no better then Melbourne and a storm the day we arrived actually closed the airport for 3 hours - she's a jinks - couldn't be me.

On our first venture across the harbour by boat (neither of us sick) we wandered around Sydney until the heaven opened (frowns from Pauline) so we took refuge in the Aquarium for a few hours looking at the amazing stuff we were going to see at the Great Barrier Reef - or so I hope.

That night we went into Balmain to another pub to meet another ex-WOSW partier Ian, who like Mark also works for Sydney Water (are they stupid or just hard up - Sydney Water that is).

Alcoholics amendment to New Zealand.

How could I have forgot I went to the best wine tour every just outside Auckland. We visited 3 wineries serving very nice wines including the 'Cats Pee on a Gooseberry Bush' very nice wine and not all all like cats pee although I have to admit to only smelling said substance and never tasting. Most fantastic cos the first winery (at 10 in the morning) let us sample 12 of their wines - the guide took us for lunch after cos we were all a bit tipsy. The wifee pouring the wines obviously didn't know what other wineries do i.e. give you tiny amounts.

She had a really great excuse for drinking - she thinks - and I totally believe her - that some drinks have a very low evapouration threashold - everything I drink evapourates out of my glass very quickly even on a day thats not that hot.

Talking of great excuses for drinking Mairi met two trainee doctors (so they must know what they're talking about) at the Franz Josef Glacier who told her we have two types of brain cells, slow ones - which are a bit thick and fast one - the intelligent ones (I have lots of these). They then told her alcohol kills the slow brain cells. Therefore everytime you drink you get more intelligen.

Theres a few of you out there who need to drink a lot more - that's all I'm saying

2oth - 21st Dec - Uluru

We left Jackie and Alice waving us off on the balcony - I think Alice will miss only our bags which she loved rummaging in.

The plane swept past the Olgas and Uluru (Ayres Rock) giving us our first views of the giant rock and a great photo opertunity. We arrived at Uluru and it was hot, really really hot. I headed straight for shade in the hotel while mad Pauline sunbathed. The nights tour included a camel ride at Uluru. Strange but true Oz has 600,000 wild camels roaming the bush. Basically they were a really good transport mechanism until the car stole their thunder, so all the captive camels were let go and now are a bit endemic.

We were both a bit apprehensive about getting on a camel, everybody says they are bad temered, smell and spit - a bit like Pauline then. We arrived at the camel station (for want of a better description) and the 20 or so camels were sitting on the ground in a neat row. They are massive close up and look fairly scary. The guide tried to calm us all down by telling us they are really friendly and don't spit. They vomit on you if annoyed - well that made me much happier.

We were introduced to our camel and took position me at the front Pauline at the back and, leant back and jerkily the camel stood up. Totally scared we were going to fall off, at first we held on for dear life and we hadn't even left the paddock.

The walk was through some bush near Uluru which in the changing light of sunset went from a rich red to a deep purple. Whats amazing about this mountain is the landscape it's in. There is basically nothing for miles except flat desert bush then out of nowhere Uluru and the Olgas thrust out of the baking earth.

I was pretty glad to be back at the paddock and off the camel, they are pretty friendly and have really regal expresions, I guess they know were terrified.

Back at the hotel, the town of Uluru has half a dozen hotels, the airport, a couple of shops and not much else. We opted for the BBQ at the hotel which to Pauline's shock was cook your own. She didn't, I did cos she doesn't know how to cook except to boil a few potatos. She was complimented on her onions and she was sure they meant the ones I had fried up.

Next morning we were up really early for the base walk at sunrise. The guide took us around the 9km base of Uluru passing the religious sites, telling us stories of the dreamtime and the ancient Aboriginies.

OZ has surprised me as there is really little info on the Aboriginies and their culture which is one of the oldest in the world and one of the most interesting. NZ have embraced the Mouri culture and even non Mouris know the history and are proud of it. OZ needs to do something similar.

The guide was really good telling us information on the Aboriginies view of the creation of Uluru and the geologists, I think I prefer the Aboriginies much more interesting.

The rock is amazing it acts like a giant sponge in the desert and around the base is an oasis with water holes dotted around. Unfortunately with lots of foliage comes lots of flies and Uluru must have more than you can shake a stick at. I asked the guide if the steriotypical Ozzie hat with corks on it works but he said he was way too cool to try - doesn't look to cool to me frantically waving your hands in front of your face every second in the Ozzie salute.

We had a couple more hours to kill before our flight so Pauline sunbathed while I took refuge from the heat in an air conditioned roomwatching really bad TV.

4th - 12th Dec - Melbourne Oz

Melbourne is great and not just because my best friend Michael lives there, let us take over his house and disrupt his life totally. Pauline and I arrived both knackered but that didn't stop us going out with Michael and Barb to his local the GB (yes the Great Britain) and drink copious quantities of beer. We had an excuse for drinking the beer - the local beer being served in the GB is called Piss and in Victoria (the region Melbourne is in) you ask for a Pot (instead of a pint or half pint). So we went to the bar and orders a few Pots of Piss and weren't thrown out of the establishment - infact the bar man gave us a rather palitable light alcoholic beverage. We each had to have a shot of asking for a Pot of Piss - it would have been unfair anyother way. Ofcourse we didn't really need to each have three or four shots I suppose but I did have a smile on my face and a wee chuckle to myself each time I asked for a Pot of Piss.

My time in Melbourne was spent in various and sundry bars and restaurants - there are just so many to choose from it's difficult not to. Brunswick road is full of nice little places as is Richmond where Michael lives.

We did venture out of Melbourne to The Great Ocean Road with it's stretches of white beaches full of surf dudes and the giant limestone cliffs and rock outcrops which litter the coast line. It would ahve been really nice but nobody tolod us how cold Australia is around Christmas time - I've always been told this is the land of sunshine and drought - they had massive big signs saying preserve water, reservoirs are down to 60% - but it was freezing - therefore no chance of evapouration and it rained - a lot. Through the rain and fog we did see a couple of the Twelve Appostles but none of the Otway forrest. I'm sure Pauline and Michael want me to tell of the part where I almost killed us all trying to swat a kamikaze killer fly as I drove but I was always in control of the car - really.

Our only moment of heat was from Pauline face as a moustace clad, tarten lumberjacet wearing, ancient local got his mate to tell her 'she was hot', while he flexed his muscles in the background. Micahel and I haven't laughed so much in years and although Pauline is in a running club I doubt she has ran so fast ever.

Back in Melbourne, we went up the Tower to watch a massive thunder and lightning storm and went to the Old Melbourne Goal where Ned Kelly and various and sundry members of his family were once incarcerated. His body armour and the gallows which killed him sat side by side. The most interesting part of the jail was the death masks made after hanging the prisioners - back then Doctors believed in Phrenology, so made total head moulds of the dead which are now on diaplay - not ghoulish at all.

Michael would be devestated if I didn't mention the weather cos it's about all we talked about while we were there. Seems like Melbournes weather is more like Scotland than the rest of Australia i.e. totally unpredictable and crap - if you don't like the weather wait 10 minutes. Sorry (on behalf of Pauline) to have gone on so much - but then she was only there to develop her tan.

On our last day we took a tour to Philip Island to see the Penguin Parade. Basically thousands of tiny fairy penguins wait till sunset then run up the beach to their burrows. I've said before that penguins aren't graceful out of the water and these are no exceptions. It's hilarious watching a crowd of them in the water waiting for a signal and darting up the beach for the long grass. They are so scared of predators (never mind the hordes of tourists sitting on the beach) if one thinks theres a problem they all run (or rather waddle baddly) back to the safety of the surf. They are always in a group totally believing in safety in numbers. One seems to be the leader keeping them all together and raising the alarm if anything is amiss.

Once on dry land you can follow them on purpose built platforms to their nests hidden in the scrub. They are no more than 10 inches high and really cute, we had to frisk Pauline at the exit to make sure she hadn't taken one as a pet.

1st - 3nd Dec - Milford Sound

The drive from Franz Josef to Queenstown was long and boring, with few stops except for lunch, I suppose it's the Magic bus not the miracle bus and nobody can make a long drive fun. At least along the way we saw all the sheep NZ is famous for, we were starting to think it was all a lie as in North Island and the north of South Island not a sheep did we see, however there were more sheep than an insomniac could count down here.

Queenstown is much larger than I expected and there are lots of bars and restaurants to frequent, mostly tourist hangouts cos the town does basically nothing else these days.

The trip to Milford Sound, which more correctly named is Milford Fijord, was interesting snaking along the valleys, surrounded by massive mountains and rain. Rain, rain and more rain, this area of NZ is famous for it - they get 7000mm of rain a year that makes Scotland look like a desert. The only good thing about the rain is all the amazing waterfalls it creates and there were many.

The boat down Milford Fijord cruised out into the water to the coast passing hundreds of thundering waterfalls along the way. The best bit of the journey for me was the dolphins who graced us with their presence, swimming along infront of the boat for 10 minutes as we all watched, oohing and aahing as they jumped out of the water. I was amazed at how fast they swam inches from the boats hull, they were totally amazing.

The other wildlife spotted were a coloney of seals and a couple of tiny penguins like the ones we saw in the Galapagos islands. They were really cute jumping along the shore, unelegantly wobbling along to their burrows, how different from in the sea.

On the 3rd Dec Mairi and I parted company - no we didn't fall out - I was going to Australia and Mairi staying a few weeks longer in NZ to do some more site seeing. We are meeting up again in OZ in a few weeks time - so no tears or trantrums please.

I took a non magic bus up to Christchurch where I was flying to Melbourne from. Unfortunately the bus didn't stop along the way at the sites, as Magic had done, so I missed the photo opertunities in MacKenzie country, Mt Cook and the fantastic blue lakes along the drive. NZ is really beautiful and theres so much to do - I've barely scratched the surface.

29 - 30th Nov - Franz Josef Glacier

Our first day in Franz Josep town was spent sleeping off the hangover from Monteiths. The second day we organised a full day walking on the Glacier. Kitted out in walking boots, waterproof trousers and jacket, hat, gloves and scarf we made our way by bus to the car park of the glacier. The car park is a few km away and we walked towards the glacier. It looked really small until you realised we were a few km away. The face is a over 100m high and it snakes up the valley for a couple of km.

We put on our ice talonz which made walking on the hard packed ice a lot easier and started the climb up the face. Thankfully there are steps up the face cut out by workers of the tour company each morning - what a job.

The 16 layers of clothing I had on, were a bit excessive and at each few steps stripped off another layer. We were split into different groups, Mairi going with the young fit people I choosing to stay with the old unfit farts.

The climb up the face was the hardest part of the day the rest was wandering around the fantastic Ice shapes down corriders of ice and through tunnels. The colours are amazing, deep illuminous blue reaching deep into the crevices. The easiest way I found to get through the narrow passageways and tunnels was to shimmy - it works - even if it looked a little strange slip sliding along the ice walls.

We lunched on top of the glacier eating heartily but drinking little - there's no toilets up here and the guide didn't want any yellow snow on her office! Sitting eating, the temperature quickly went down and the 16 layers were quickly put back on only to be taken straight back off once we started hiking again.

One of the older guys, kept getting his beer gut wedged in the ice - I kept telling him to shimmy but would he listen.

The couple of kms walk back to the car park was the longest ever but I had to make it to get to a toilet. Back at the town we ate and drank heartily in a really nice restaurant the Blue Ice where we were served large portions of lovely hot soups. We slept totally knackered a good knackered.

26th - 29th Nov - South Island New Zealand

We left Wellington taking the boat across the sound between North and South Island. The day before the weather had been pretty awful and we were a bit worried about the 3 hour crossing. Thankfully it was dead calm and no sea sickness anywhere. Our first stop was at Nelson a little town on the west coast. The hostel had a BBQ on so we eat and found a great reason for opening the bottle of wine we had bought at the winery tour in Auckland (yes we had carried a bottle of wine for days without opening it).

As there wasn't much to do in the town so everybody was doing the same as us, eating and drinking on the patio by the hostel pool. The hostels in NZ are really good, some are like fully blown hotels with cable TV, pools and all the facilities that you'd get in a hostel.

The second day we toured down to Greymouth stopping along the way to walk along the cliffs at the coast. Greymouth is famous for one thing beer - magic this bus really is as they've organised a tour of the brewery. We alight first at the hostel, Noahs Arc where all the rooms are kitted out in the theme of different aminals. As each guest, in front of us, was given the tiger room or the elephant room we were really excited about what we would get and stepped up for our animal. Pig, pig is what she said, pig I said, can you not give us old cow or something - the room was pink, totally pink, the bed covers the walls everything pink with paintings of pigs on the walls. Cute if you're a 6 year old girl - I just hope we don't have hangovers tomorrow.

The brewery tour started with a wander around the brewery showing us how they make the beers. Then we were taken into the tasting room, kitted out like a bar and sampled all of the 7 varieties Montieths have. We didn't like only 2 the guinessy one which tasted like burnt beer and the lime one which was like a lime shandy - waste of beer. We were then allowed to sample a half pint of our favourite. We both had the Celtic Red which was a really nice tasting reddish (as in the name) lager. We were then taken to a local pub for BBQ and more drinks. Your first was free (if on the tour) then you got a 1/3 larger pint for a dollar off for the rest of the night - bargain all round. The BBQ was a little basic and I asked for the veggie option to be told it was extra. I asked how could the veggie option be extra, to be told I could have as much sausage a I wanted with the veggie option. The logic was totally lost on the stupid girl and I had to pay an extra few dollars to get a tasteless veggie burger. I made up for it by having as many cheap beers as I could manage - that'll show them.

23rd - 26th Nov - North Island New Zealnd

The Magic Bus picked us up outside our hostel to take us on a magical sightseeing tour of New Zealand, well it's a Magic Bus so that's what I'm hoping for. Our first destination was Rotorua in the middle of NZ surrounded by pools of hot water from the volcano. Our hostel actually had a goethermal heated swimming pool. We stopped first to do some black water rafting which is basically white water rafting through caves (so the water looks black!).
It wasn't as fast as white water rafting, the guide having to pull us through a few sections but we had to jump off a 4 feet high waterfall into the mirky water below which was quite scary. The cave walls were lined with tiny lights from the glow worms and we floated down the cave looking up at the lights which were quite beautiful.

At Rotorua we had dinner and a show at a traditional Maori village watching all the Maori doing the Haka, sticking their tongues out and rolling their eyes, can't say I find it attractive, but each to their own! Singing and dancing preceeded the dinner which was really beautiful some of the people's voices were amazing.

Next day we headed for Taupo a huge volcano with a massive lake inside it. The country side is amazing, huge snow capped mountains and lush green valleys. It was a bit wierd cos it looks so like Scotland only bigger, I thought it was Scotland on Steroids, it's easy to understand why so many Scots emigrated here, it must have felt like home.

The mornings activities consisted of wandering through some pretty stinky thermal pools, all different colous and sulphourus smelling - lovely and the Huka Falls where a massive lake escapes through a tiny gorge pushing thousands of water past every second. The power of the water was immense and it made you wonder about the sanity of the white water raters who have tried to go down it, many failing and their bodies washed up a while later.

We arrived pretty early at Taupo cos there are so many activities to do in the area. I signed up for a Tandem Sky Dive. Just cos I signed up doesn't mean I'm actually going to throw myself out of a perfectly good plane. The bus stopped at the airport and we got off, or rather the idiots who had signed up to jump out of a perfectly good plane got off, Mairi not an idiot stayed on the bus.

They went through a video and chat about what would happen if we jumped and made us sign a declaration that if we died it wasn't their fault - reassuring.

We were then taken into a room to be kitted out, and I overheard one of the other girls saying - she was basically blocking everything out and didn't really believe it was happening - I think thats what I'm doing too. I may be in a jumpsuit with a harness, but that's an everyday occurrence - not.

A big cloud delayed the jump and I was getting pretty frustrated and said I just wanted to get up there, unforutnately the big cloud disappeared and we were ready, oh no - I didn't really mean it.

We were introduced to our instructors and taken to the tiny plane with a couple of benches in it, no plush seats, the last few minutes on the planet won't even be comfortable. The instructors were all very chatty and unscared unlike the faces of the poor idiots - white or green watching the land get smaller and smaller until we were at 12,000 feet. I asked the instructors had anybody every pee'd their pants whilst jumping he said no, but theres always a first time. I also asked if he still got a buzz (since he has done over 4000 jumps) and he said totally - wait and see - no idea why he said that I'm not doing it!

We were told we were at 12,000 feet and the plane door slid up and opened. The first pair immediately went, and I watched them plummet from the aircraft and disappear past my line of vision. At this point I started to panic, thinking you can not be serious, you cannot do this, it's insanity. The next person went and I tried not to watch as they too plummeted towards the earth at 200km an hour. I was thinking you can stop this at anytime. The third person went and at this point I realised my feet were now dangling out of the plane. The instructor strapped to me, all along, had been inching us forwards on the benches and now there really was no way to stop the lunacy, I really was going to be thrown out of a perfectly good plane. He shouted smile for the camera - smile - that's not the look on my face - click and head back we're out crashing, plummiting, diving towards the earth. My first thought was that I could have a wee accident in my pants - luckily I didn't. Then all I could think, as the air rushed into my face, was that I couldn't breathe and didn't know how long 45 seconds would last as I screamed, plummeting to the earth nothing protecting us cos there was no parachutte at this point and how long I could last without air. The instructor checked his altimeter and thankfully pulled the cord and the chutte opened and we started to float to the earth - easy nobody scared here.

The instructor asked me how was that and I said I couldn't breathe and he said I was holding my breath - no I wasn't - OK - maybe I was, in all my panic I'd forgotten how.

The next couple of minutes, floating high above the earth the only thing stopping you from crashing a large piece of silk, was fantastic. It's so peaceful and the scenery amazing. I don't think it would be the same if you didn't have the view of the snow capped mountains where the Lord of the Rings were filmed and Lake Taupo stretching miles ahead of you. At each pull of the chutte we twirled and saw another view, keeping in line with the landing strip. I first 45 seconds seemed to last for hours these few minutes flew past way too quick.

The landing site seemed to come up pretty fast and we were landing, elegantly, on our bottoms. What a rush, the others like me all wanted to go again it was so amazing. Maybe next time I would be able to enjoy the first 45 seconds, cos there will be a next time.

That night we met up with a few of the other divers and we ranted excitidly about our jumps. Poor Mairi and the other nonjumpers had to endure hours of us reliving the jump. Mairis only consolation was that the pub we met the others in sold Irn Bru, what a perfect day, jumping out of a perfectly good plane and drinking Vodka and Irn Bru to celebrate. If Brad Pitt had walked in it coulndn't have made it better (almost).

Our last day in North Island was totally overshadowed by the jump, every few minutes I would laugh and point at the sky - I think Mairi got pretty fed up pretty soon.

We stayed the night at Wellington and I went to the Te Papa museum which tells the history of New Zealand. Unfortunately I didn't have time to really explore the place but it was really good.