A Little Update

We've been having a great time so far. Yesterday we left Hamilton where we'd been staying with a family that Ryan knew on his mission - the Gillards. They were great. While we were in Hamilton we had a good time catching up with one of Ryan's old companions - Elder Brown (I guess he's just Josh Brown now). He's married and they just had a baby boy around the same time as Danielle. We also met up with a guy that Ryan knew up north who has since moved down south. His wife cooked us a great lamb roast with a fantastic salad. It was delish. All these people have been really nice and generous. We also went to the temple one morning and Ryan randomly bumped into a Kiwi guy that had been a missionary at the same time. Funny coincidence.

Yesterday we left Hamilton and went to Waitomo and Taupo. The drive out to Waitomo was beautiful! Tons of greens fields and rolling hills with sheep, cows, and changing leaves. It was really pretty. Waitomo has a bunch of caves there so Sis. Gillard hooked us up with some free tickets to see the most famous ones. We walked through this huge cave with a tour guide and then took a boat ride in the river underneath a ceiling of glowworms. The glowworms were awesome. Unfortunately, they don't allow anyone to take any pictures, so we have absolutely no proof. - Guess you'll just have to trust us that it's a must see attraction (especially when you get free tickets).

After the glowworm caves we made our way to Taupo. Taupo has this huge lake in the middle of it with mountains surrounding. It's a pretty place and has a gorgeous river. While we were there we decided to go bungee jumping. It was crazy! Ryan went first...I think he was pretty scared because he kept asking the people tons of questions - such as "does it hurt your neck", "can this thing really hold me up", and my personal favorite "has anyone ever peed their pants". So they strap in your ankles, connect you to the bungee, make you walk out to the edge of the platform and tell you to smile for a picture then you count to three and fall off. It's nuts. Ryan must of stood up there for a good five minutes before jumping - I think that's probably not the best strategy, it just makes you more scared. But he did jump, and he loved it. When it was my turn I was shaking like crazy. Before you jump they ask you if you want to touch the water, get dunked halfway, or go all the way under, when you fall. I opted for the touching the water because I thought that the getting dunked thing just looked scary and like it hurt. The lady told me that there was some variance in what could happen but they'd try to just make it so I'd touch the water. Then that was it - I stepped to the edge and fell (and let out the loudest scream I think I ever have). And instead of touching the water (like I had planned/wanted), I got fully submerged. It was crazy, especially since I wasn't expecting it. My shirt came pretty much off, and if it hadn't been for g's I would've flashed all the Korean tourists at the top taking pictures. 

Overall it was a ton of fun, as soon as I got to the boat Ryan asked if we could go again. He loved it.

Now we're in Rotorua - the tourist trap of the nation. We have a full day planned, so we better get going.

Love you guys! - we'll post picture/videos when we get to a wireless place that we can hook my laptop to.