Lake Taupo - New Zealand Date: Sep 29, 2004 - 05:35 AM 6th September - 10th September. Taupo Taupo lies on the shore of NZ's largest lake, Lake Taupo which is 600 Sq. Km in area and is a very picturesque place. We had a great spot at our campsite, Taupo Motor Camp, right next to the Waikato River. [ Click on the 'Read More...' link ] The circus was in town when we got there and after Lee did the 'Rock n Ropes' course, he should join it! 'Rock n Ropes' is an adventure course with a difference. The 'course' is 45 feet in the air and consists of high wires, rope bridges and logs. The climax of the course is the trapeze. A trapeze is hanging in the air and you have to climb up onto a tiny ledge on a log 50 feet in the air. My legs were shaking at the top and I didn't think I'd be able to stand up onto the top. My guide, Glenn, encouraged me to do it and I finally plucked the courage to get up there. The aim is to leap from the ledge out and up and catch the trapeze.... and stay on the trapeze. I leaped with all that I had and grabbed the trapeze. I was so relieved to have made contact with it and stay on the thing. Glenn and Julie were well chuffed that I'd made it - not as much as me! I was dangling there for 30 seconds and Glenn instructed to me to let go (you are all roped up) of the trapeze. The bugger let me drop for a second and then shouted 'Not yet!'. I was so sure I was gonna plummet to the ground and nearly soiled myself. He lowered me down and I was buzzing for the rest of the day. We noticed a zip line and a sign underneath it 'Giant Swing $15' and thought we'd have a go. The 'Giant Swing' wasn't the zipline, but in fact a giant swing from 60 feet in the air! After being strapped in, Joo decided to go first. First or never, as she said. You had to basically hop to your right off the platform, where you freefall for a couple of seconds (which feels like forever) and then swing through the air at about 60 miles an hour. Joo hopped off and was deadly silent for the first 10 seconds and then just let out an almighty scream for the next 2 minutes. I was starting to reasess our decision to do this! It was a buzz and certainly got us in the mood for a skydive, that we've been planning to do whilst in Taupo. The Rock n Ropes is at Crazy Catz Adventure Park, where we also had a go on the quads and spent an hour lost in their maze. Thanks to Glenn at Rock n Ropes for a great couple of hours! From there we went and had a walk down to the Huka Falls on the Waikato river, where we met Craig and Vixx. We all decided that we'd do a skydive whilst in Taupo, so the next few days were spent contemplating what we were actually about to do! Enjoy the pix! Our spot, right by the river. Elephant from the circus. McAirways in Taupo. I bet they serve Chicken Wings... boom boom! Rock n Ropes course Me on the high wires - how nervous was I? It's hard enough getting up there! Terra Firma - the best place to be. 'Rickety Bridge' - This was the worst of the them all. 'The Log' wasn't much easier either. Joo on her way to the 'Giant Swing' platform. Me and Joo at Huka Falls. Craig and Vicky, who we met in Santa Monica, USA. This article comes from globaltour.co.uk The location of this page is http://www.globaltour.co.uk/article113.html