At first when presented with the IFSA-Butler arranged trips I was a little dissapointed. I am not really one for big 15+ group activities where you get shuttled around on a bus and told what you are doing and when we headed out on our "Wander in the Waitakeres" day trip I was expecting a simple little "wander". After the second water crossing that was up to our waists I started to think that "wander" was a misleading term and "swim" would have been more like it. Then it started to get interesting, and become my kind of trip. After we were all sufficiantly drenched, from falling, wading, or swiming through the river we followed through the lush and thick rainforest we were confronted with the first of three major waterfalls. Our guides (who can only be described as 100% men) looped a rope around a nearby tree and proceeded to repell down the side of the waterfall, as if they do it everyday (which I reminded myself, they probably do). Needless to say, it ended up being one of the coolest parts of the tramp.

Usually while tramping you follow a trail or path of somesort, this time we really just followed the river and waded through it for a couple hours, occasionally walking on the banks, so it was no surprise when after a few more kilometers after the first repell we came upon a bigger waterfall. This one did not require any ropes or fancy equipment like that, No, this just required us to throw our bags over and for us to follow them. Of course I put my camera and dry clothes in a waterproof bag so had no way of taking pictures of the sight, but there is NOTHING in this world like jumping off of a waterfall. Dont get me wrong, this was no Niagra falls, but it was still a sizable waterfall with fast moving water. As I approached the edge and lobbed my bag over and watched it splash there is that little twinge of anticipation and fear, but an even greater desire to JUST JUMP. Its very freeing.

Some of the group were not as keen as others to jump off so we had to chear them on, which made it even more fun and satisfying to see someone let go and face their little fears. Afterall, sometimes there is no turning back in life. When you are confronted with a waterfall, there is no turning back, you just have to JUMP.

After getting back on the shore we rock climbed along the banks of the river attempting not to fall in and force ourselves to swim (which I did towards the end unfortunatly) and keep on our way to the next, smaller waterfall that was a piece of cake compared to the last. The final challange was attempting to just climbed down a smaller waterfall towards the end of the track, to which Brad, a fellow uni student muttered under his breath "now this is just plain dangerous"...which it was. But completely worth it.

And of course, leave it to New Zealand to have some of the most amazing and varried landscapes. After trekking throught the jungle we ended up in leafy fields, and then a black sand beach, which was like a find dust. The black sand was amazing and apparently magnetic. As we attempted to climb the huge dunes to get to the noisy crashing waves we heard on the other side we could only help but notice the eary black swans that floated accross a little pocket of water trapped between the sea and the jungle. New Zealand sure does surprise me just when I think I have it somehwat figured out.

Walking along the beach we were all driven to silence by the crashing, defening roar of the sea that seemed so muted while in the jungle. The rain that had been falling all day was mixed with the salty spray that wafted off of the beach. Before we knew it we had made our way back to a car park where we pack ourselves in a van and took off to nurse our aching muscles in the natural hot pools on the way back to Auckland. Of course there was a contest to see who would fall the most that day (our guides had a sense of humor) and honestly, was it really a contest if I was there? No. I won spectacularly, with about 10 really good falls, 2 of which were into water. I did not get the BEST fall, which went to Yusef....it was like art. ANYWAY, after a soak in the hot pools and a barbeque I reluctantly went back to my flat to begin studying for my exams...