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hey guys Ashlee here to fill you in on the end of our time in New Zealand as in a few hours we shall be flying out to Chile to start the next chapter of our adventure.
When Toms blog ended we were on our last day in Queenstown, that day Tom went mad dog river rafting and got wiped out by a vicious rapid called the 'maneater' whilst me Gemma and Nathan spent the day having a scenic coach ride and then a thrilling jet boat ride in Skippers Cannon (trying without success to snag ourselves some gold). As we left Queenstown we left our friends from the bus we had travelled with for over a week and headed back up to Christchurch just for an overnight stop and then on to Kaikoura. on our first day their me and Gemma sunned our self on the shingle beach (ah doesnt it remind you of home) whilst Tom and Nathan went fishing to catch our tea. The boys came back victorious with lots of perch and two crayfish (what the kiwis call a lobster). After we had got to grips with the tricky business of cooking the crayfish we dinned on a delicious meal of fish and lobster with garlic, butter, lemon and herbs which was beautiful. If that wasn't enough Tom and Nath then preceeded to spend the rest of the evening scoffing bear battered cod with the owner of the hostel. The next morning we got up at 5am so that we could go and swim with the incredibly cute dusky dolphins, on the boat we saw the sun rise and then had four swims with pods of hundreds of these gorgeous creature, which was pretty breathtaking (as was the freezing cold water).
We then made our way toward the ferry which brought us over to the North Island, our first night was spent in Wellington which we had hardly any time in but still managed to find time to got to New Zealands biggest and free museaum which was pretty impressive with is giant squid. The next day we headed off for Taupo with big plans to do a skydive and walk the tongariaro crossing, infortunately the weather was against us and we had the crossing cancelled and our skydive cancelled 5 times in a day and a half. All was not lost however as we managed to watch some of the iron man which is very hardcore, then me Gemma and Nathan walked to an amazing waterfall and swam in a geothemal pool by the side of the river which is heated up by the volcanic activity in the area.
The next day we headed to Rotorua which smells less than pleasantly of sulphur, as soon as we got there we booked our skydive and a very nervous Tom, Gemma and myself made our way to the airstrip to await our turn in the sky. We ended up waiting for three hours but finally the time came for me and Gemma to get kitted up and head off in the plane with our tandom men. Gemma was extremly nervous so me and her instructor tried to keep her calm (by giving her a few scares), the only time i was really nervous was when Gemma jummed and the plane wobbled, outher than that i did not hesitate. The feeling of freefall is indiscribable, i really cant tell you how amazing it feels, the air is so strong against you amd you dont feel like you falling but actually floating. It is truelly spectacular.
to be continued
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