Hello again! Quick apology for my last entry - thanks to the knowledgeable Nick Owens - Auckland is not the capital of New Zealand. It is in fact Wellington and I'm there now. It's very nice, much nicer than Auckland, but so small for a capital city! It's at the bottom of the north island, which I have been travelling around on the Kiwi bus for the last fortnight, and I'm hopping over to the south island in a few days which everyone tells me is much better than the north - but I've already loved it here so much I don't see how it can be! I must be in for an amazing time.

I'll try and quickly summarise what I've been up to as I've crammed a lot into the 2 weeks! My transit from Bangkok to Auckland was very lonely and depressing but I got straight on the Kiwi bus and headed up to the Bay of Islands, where I very quickly met lots of lovely friendly people, both Kiwis and other travellers. The Bay of Islands was lovely and really beautiful, although I imagine it's one of those places best visited in summer. We still did quite a lot, I went out on a really fast jet boat on the Pacific ocean in really choppy weather and my face got pelted with sea water but it was still fun. There was also a day trip up to Cape Reinga which was good, we visited the northern most point of the country and saw where the Tasman sea and Pacific Ocean meet which was cool, and the most fun part of the day was boarding down 90m sand dunes, which I really enjoyed, although they were really steep and scary! I ended up spending longer in the north than I intended as I was quite tired so it was nice to have a few days to chill out and as I'm here for 6 weeks I'm in no rush.

So I headed back to Auckland last Sunday and spent one night there, then got the south bound Kiwi bus the next morning. It's always full on a Monday so there were loads of people to meet. We went up to Mount Eden, just on the edge of the city, which was pretty spectacular, with great views. I've taken some amazing photos while I've been here (well the views are amazing, maybe my photography not so much!). Anyway, we went to a place called Mercury Bay on the first day but we didn't really do much there, again it was more of a beachy summer place. I would love to come back and see what it's like here in summer too. It's gorgeous in winter becuase of all the snow - and apparently this is the coldest winter there's been for ages! Typical it's the year I pick! I've had to shop for lots of winter stuff.

The next place we went was Rotorua which has loads of geothermal activity and steam everywhere coming from the ground, and it really smells of sulphur which is lovely! It was a really cool place though and I hope to go back there on my way back to Auckland. We went to a Maori festival which was both really insightful and entertaining - people who are descended from the Maoris dress up in traditional costume, complete with facial tattoos, and perform various things, including the haka which was incredible to see. Then they provided us all with a Hangi, or feast, which was all you can eat, so as hungry backpackers we took full advantage, and everyone was far too full afterwards. They did cook amazing food though, apparently they do it underground.

The next place we went was Waitomo which is world famous for black water rafting. I wasn't going to do it but the trip sounded so good I somehow ended up signing up for the most hardcore one, the Abyss. This involved me peeling myself into a cold wetsuit, abseiling into a deep hole, jumping off a high ledge into icy cold water and swimming through very small gaps and climbing through small caves. Those of you who know me well probably can't imagine me ever wanting to do this, and to be honest, neither can I! I was especially shocked to learn that in order to exit the cave, we had to climb up through 3 very big waterfalls, although there was an easy option. But everyone in our group was brave and we all made it out back into the open air, but it was bloody hard work! But even though it doesn't sound it, it was one of the most fun things I've ever done, and a real achievement. I've never been so cold in my life though!

The next day we woke up to a beautifully sunny day. We were heading to Taupo, where lots of people do skydiving, and where I had decided to do it. But because I had met loads of people who hadn't been able to do it due to bad weather, I wasn't really thinking about it. Suddenly it hit me as we arrived in Taupo that it was now or never! Everyone was really nervous before we got there but everything happened really quickly and before I knew it, I was standing beside an airfield wearing a fetching red jump suit and climbing into a very small plane. I chose to do a 15000 foot jump as you get longer freefall time - why I chose that I don't know! It was worth it though as the time goes very fast. It took about 25 minutes to ascend and the scenery was absolutely stunning. We could see the lake, the mountains (including Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings!) and views for miles. We were all really calm and no one spoke! If you have google earth type Taupo in so you can see where I jumped. Anyway, before I knew it the doors opened and I saw my friend Katie fall out of the plane. I thought there would be big gaps between the jumps but within one minute (I was the last out) my instructor, who I was very tightly fastened to, was giving me instructions and then the next minute I was hanging off the edge of the plane with nothing below me. Only when I think about it now does it really sink in! I remember falling out of the plane but then it cuts out for about 10 seconds - apparently it's really common as your brain just doesn't cope with what's happening. Then I was falling towards earth at 120mph and shouting and swearing a lot, I didn't scream though! It lasted about a minute and then the parachute was released, which was quite scary, and for a while I thought I had detached! The descent was really nice and calm and it was late in the day so the sky looked beautiful. I wish I had photos! It was amazing, I'm so glad I was brave enough to do it, as until I got there, I never knew if I would! But if you come to New Zealand you have to really - well that or bungee jump, and I'm not up for that!

Anyway, enough talking! I won't bore you with the details of the last few days - I've just been to some really lovely pretty places and chilled out after all the crazy activities! I'm getting used to dorm life now and have a few girl friends who I have been sharing with which is nice - I much prefer girly rooms! Some of them have straighteners so I have fallen off the wagon, it feels good! We went out for a meal last night and dressed up which felt so nice - I miss my heels though! :( Every one is really nice and you get to meet so many people all the time - I am really glad I decided to do the Kiwi bus as it takes away a lot of the hassle of when you do things yourself.

Anyway, I'm off to the south island in a few days and I really want to hike the Franz Josef glacier, which will be hardcore but good fun. I also will be going down to a place called Wanaka and then Queenstown, which are the places everyone raves about. I wanted to try a bit of skiing but I think it's out of my budget! Also want to go to Milford Sound which is meant to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. But one thing I can definitely say is that after my worries that 6 weeks here would be too long, it is definitely not long enough!

As always, love and miss you all lots! Email me with your news - contact is a 2 way thing and I haven't heard from some of you in ages!

Lots of love and hugs, Anj xxxxxxxxxxxxx