We really don't want to bore you with the details of all the beautiful things we've seen here in New Zealand. It's hard to avoid going on about them though when the fact that the panoramas of this great country are simply extraordinary. Places such as Milford Sound, Lake Wanaka and the Otago Peninsula have left us speechless. We know that this may sound a bit repetitive, but after seeing so many striking sights, it's hard to describe things without this happening.

Even though this country is enchanting, unfortunately it's prices aren't. The culture here is in many ways similar to the European way; based on consumption and materialism (even if we don't want to believe this). Compared to our last six months, everything here is expensive (a little cheaper than in Europe, but still expensive nonetheless). Tours, transport, food, lodging etc. all add up to quite a bit and made it harder to economize. For the first time in our travels we had to put a strict restriction on our expenses and be careful not to blow the budget. To achieve this, we chose the things that we most wanted to do and stuck primarily to those. There's so much choice in this country and so many great things to do that this was not actually an easy task.

It may sound a bit radical, but there was one major thing that we could not pass the opportunity up on! Get ready for it because this was a big one... our chance to jump out of a plane at an altitude of 13,000 feet / 4,000 meters! We didn't do this on our own, but as a tandem skydive, accompanied by an expert each (which reduced the risk to a negligible level). It's very hard to describe the whole incredible experience. Initially there was a bit of rolling and tumbling about when we jumped out the open door of the plane (due to the mixture of wind and gravity). Once we stabilized, the next thing we felt were the clouds on our face as we plummeted towards the earth at 200 kmph. Our parachutes opened about 50 seconds later, which gave us loads of time to take it all in. With the opened parachute, we started to float in the air, and it was at this point that we realized what we'd just done (i.e. jumped out of a place). We enjoyed the view while our companions steered the parachute, doing a few twists and loops along the way until we landed smoothly. If we would have been able to, we would have done it again.

These last three and a half weeks in NZ have really flown by in the blink of an eye. Now (later today in fact) we are heading onto a new location. This time it's Sydney, Australia where I'm sure our fun will continue.