Even more Grr...
Bit pissed off today. My Ipod isn’t ready yet, and they didn’t even call me to try and let me know. I’m getting a little sick of this. And to be honest, the way they are talking, I doubt I'll get any data back.

Another day waiting
Took a pretty chilled out day. Did a light gym session then took a walk around town checking out the park properly. Is a really odd place. But really cool to hang in. Chilled in the evening with the guys from the hostel and said bye to Anna and said we’d meet again in Wellington.

CRAZY GERMAN GIRL!
Hit the gym this morning then chilled out until I got a pleasant surprise in the evening. Anna, the Crazy German Girl, who I met in Paihia, arrived in the hostel. It was really cool to see her again and we sank some whiskeys and a few beers and went for a quiet walk down to the waterfront. It’s always awesome meeting folk again and hopefully we can meet in Wellington.

Grr
I put my Ipod in to get fixed 5 days ago after being told that it would only take 2-3 days and now I am being told it won’t be ready till at least Monday. I like New Plymouth and all but I really want to move on and I don’t like the way this store is giving me really vague details.
So I am just continuing to chill with the locals and do exercise.

4th to the 10th
Been exercising every day either running the coast walk or going to the gym. I’ve became quite friendly with a guy in the hostel named Andy who is cool. I put my Ipod into a store to see if they could do some data recovery on it and save it. They said it would take 2-3 days which means that it should be ready for when I head off.
Andy even invited me out to play some basketball with the folk from his course which was a good blast although it nearly descended into prison rules at some point.
I like the town and it's good to get some chill out time.

New Plymouth
Arrived in New Plymouth which an awesomely pretty little coastal town. I headed out to do the coast walk but was driven back by rain. I chilled in the excessively cool Sunflower lodge, the hostel I am staying in.

Moving on
Came up to Rotorua the night before to hit up a hot spa bath as after my month of adrenaline sports I wanted to cool off a little, rest up, relax and get myself back to neutral. I started the day with the hot spa then decided to head to Hamilton and see what it was like for some R 'n' R. When I got there I decided it didn't have the right atmosphere for me so I had to find somewhere else. On a whim I booked passage to New Plymouth.

JUMP!
Took an early morning jog to the obstacle course by the Huka falls and realizing how unfit I had become (definitely no Prince of Persia anymore).
I hung out a little with folk round the hostel and then made a 2.30 call in to see if the skydive was happening... IT WAS ON! The adrenaline kicked in almost instantly and I swung from feeling sheer fear to unstoppable excitement. I got totally psyched. I was ready for it.
Got a lift from the company to the take-off area and got kitted up into our jumpsuits, harnesses and flightcaps. I met my 'pilot' who would be strapped to my back on the way up and he seemed to be a bit of a joker. We bundled into the plane and at 8000ft Roy began strapping and fastening our harnesses together. At 12000ft it was time to jump. The door opened and I watched the first few folk leap out the plane. As we slid along to the door I turned over my shoulder and shouted:
"Hey buddy!... What's the difference between a Ferrari and an erection!?!"
Roy laughed: "HAHA! Damn right! I DON'T have a ferrari! Let's go!" and we flipped out the plane.
There was a couple seconds of disorientation as we tumbled and then leveled out into freefall. I can't even describe what it was like as we fell. I've never felt anything like that before. The wind rushing and me screaming. After around 45 seconds the chute opened and we glided gracefully into the landing area. Was buzzing for so long after it.

...
Woke up with a terrible hangover and phoned in to the skydive company to find that, to my relief, the sky dive had been postponed to the afternoon due to adverse weather conditions. The last thing I wanted to do was jump out of a plane with a hangover. I staggered out the hostel into a small store that sold the cure of all my ills... IRN BRU! My hangover evaporated and I set out for a walk down to Huka falls. I couldn’t believe how clear the water was. It was an almost unreal blue-green colour.
After my second call-in to the skydive company to find the weather was still stopping the jump I decided to hit the climbing wall and had a brief scale there. I called home to talk to my Mum and Dad and then headed out with Bob to get a few drinks.
Oh and I'm 23 now

Taupo and the All Blacks
By god! No hangover! The bus trip was fine and arrived in Taupo with no problems and checked into the very quaint little Rainbow Lodge hostel.
I took a brief walk down to the lake to get a view of the mountains and got chatting to a local Maori by the name of Monty. He told me a bit about the legends and history of the Maori in the Taupo area and was really interesting. I took a walk along the beach then headed back to the hostel.
I ended up playing pool with two Irish guys: Bob and Garth and their Scottish friend, Sarah. They gave me beer and invited me to join in their bbq which made me fall in love with them. We all headed out then to watch the All Blacks game in a sports bar.
We all got chatting to a Kiwi named John who had a 10 kilo weight chained to his ankle (stag night, go figure). And then proceeded to have a VERY drunken night. To demonstrate my drunkenness I phoned my Mum and Dad at the stroke of midnight as a B'day present to myself... then promptly forgot everything they told me on the phone since the guys bought me Tequila as a birthday present. Awesome fun.