Rotorua - there's a light smell of rotten eggs everywhere due to all those geothermal spots over there. I asked a Maori guy how to get to a place called Hell's Gate and he just told me: drink a lot, drive fast and crash - but as he didn't want to lend me his car I had to take the bus to that mean-smelling ( worse than rotten eggs ) place, steam is coming up next to boiling mudpots- they've chosen the right name for it. In the evening I had a Hangi meal and saw a cultural performance of the Maori- a haka ( kind of war- dance). Went to see some more geothermal landscapes the next day, full of amazing colours, unfortunally I can't capture the smell of those spots for you, lucky you!!! I hiked through the Waimangu Volcanic Valley - there was a lake called Frying Pan Lake and due to all the steam coming up there was a layer of fog on it's surface that had something mystical --- I had to think of Lord of the Rings all the time. I went on to Taupo on Thursday, it was cloudy that day so I couldn't do what I had in mind. I did the Tongariro crossing yesterday ( Friday ) . That's a one-day-hike through the volcanic valley between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngauruhoe, the last one may be known to some of you as Mt. Doom in the land of MORDOR. It was pretty foggy when we started, so you couldn't see the summits of the volcanos, but it was still worth it, seeing lava flows, waterfalls, volcano craters ( hot steaming soil under your feet at a high of almost 2000 meters - while there was snow on the next mountain) and beautifully coloured lakes. And I got some fresh air again after all ! When I woke up today ( it's saturday althrough this diary says that it is still friday ) and looked at that blue sky I knew that I would get some more fresh air today -- while skydiving !!!!! Still can't believe that I jumped out of that plane at 12.000 ft--WICKED !!!!!