Guess what I did today...

If you guessed, seeing a nearly extinct kiwi bird, you would be correct. I couldn't take any pics to prove it, but V and I finally saw the adorable kiwi bird. It was housed behind glass in near pitch black at the Te Pui outdoor museum in Rotorua. It was as cute as I thought it would be, to the point that I whispered, "I wish I could pat his tushie." Kiwis are all fluffy, almost mammalian, and very diligent with poking around with their long beaks.

If you guessed that I saw a geyser shoot 50 feet in the air, you would also be correct. Rotorua is a geothermally charged tourist area, so there's all sorts of bubbling mud pools, crazy multicolored springs and ponds, and geysers. When I can get to my photos, I'll post a few. It's otherwordly in these area, and the whole town smells of sulphur.

If you guessed bathed in an aforementioned mud pool, you would also be correct. We went to a mud spa where we got to wallow in a private mud bath, and now my skin feels all smooth and soft.

And if you guessed bungee jumping...well, you're absolutely right. I did it! I bungeed. It was a scary, scary experience, but entirely worthwhile.

As we drove up, we saw the platform and it didn't seem to high. I should add that this "adventure park," which also included a skydiving simulator and other such activities, also had a farm with sheep, ostriches and cows. Not so intimidating. I was nervous while signing up for the jump, but at that point I had totally decided to just go for it. I was tired of talking about it, thinking about it and imagining it.

Once we started up on that crane though, I was singing a totally different tune. It was just under 150 feet up, and about halfway up I was all "Um, I'm not sure I can do this." Once we were totally up, I said "No, I can't do this." The guy in the cage with me was persistent and wouldn't let me back out. He assured me that he has dealt with others like me, it's perfectly safe, yadda yadda. That doesn't really matter when all of your natural instincts are kicking in and telling you NOT TO JUMP.

Still, he kept prodding me onto the ledge and telling me not to look down. All I could do was look down, and it was sooooo far. I was still saying, "Nope. Sorry. I'm not doing it." And then he was prodding me further out on this teensy ledge, and then I was holding my arms out while he held his hands under my arms, and suddenly people were yelling 3...2...1... and then I remember screaming on the way down.

It was amazing. Once I stopped screaming, I remember being vaguely disappointed that the falling stopped. Then I bounced back up and that was a whole new terror in itself, but it was exciting. Then I just found myself bouncing upside down in the air and getting a real thrill out of it. After a few bounces I was more than ready to come down, and finally they caught me and pulled me down.

And now I want to do it again. I don't know if I will, but coming down was definitely worth the anxiety going up.