lots of news

We are now in Palmerston North which is very near the bottom of the north island. We are staying with Laura's family, Julianne and John who are lovely and have made us feel right at home.
Since Auckland we have done loads!
In whitianga we went to hot water beach for the day. when you dig a hole in the sand the water is hot enough to burn your feet. needless to say we didnt stay in the water for long. i also went boogey boarding with the youth hostel owner. the waves were huge and i was in the sea for ages!
In waitomo we went blackwater rafting through glow worm caves which was a freezing cold but incredibly beautiful. We started by abseling down a tiny whole, then went on a zip wire before jumping into the water and floating in the dark on rubber rings looking up at the glow worms. 3hours later we began the climb back towards the sunlight up a waterfall! we slept well that night!
Taupo was all go. we did a sky dive!!!! it was amazing and once you were off the plane it wasnt scary at all. we each had our own camera man who filmed us on the way down so we have a dvd to show everyone when we get back! not the best pictures though as the wind flattened our faces :S
Emily and i also did another walk up morden from lord of the rings. we stood at the base of mount doom but decided not to add 2hrs to a 6hr walk! i have decided that 4 hours should be my max!
In River Valley we went horse riding which was fun to begin with but did not end well. Emily fell off her horse when he tried to jump a dich and another horse fell into a marsh!

Love Emma x x x x x