Hey guys,

Its been almost 2 weeks since my last entry and I apologise as I know how much you've all been waiting for this:P I also apologise in advance that you might be here a while reading this, so I'd get comfortable.

My last blog finished on the Friday we were in Paihia after we won the karaoke competition. As a result, we decided to stay an extra 3 days in Paihia so we could take advantage of our 2-4-1 prizes. Naturally, for the whole extra 3 days, it poured down! As such, we couldn't use any of the vouchers we'd won and we were both a bit miserable as a result. But no matter, on Monday we headed back to Auckland and on Tuesday, out to Whitianga/Mercury Bay with the Kiwi Experience.

The weather wasn't particularly good in Whitianga either and the only remotely interesting thigns that happened were meeting plenty of people on our bus and, when on the beach the next day, a man got carried out by the rip current so I FINALLY got to use my lifeguarding skills to some extent (sadly, I didn't even get to do the slow motion run that I train so hard to do). We also passed by Hobbiton at some point - not as Hobbity as I would've liked but hey, at least i've been there.

On Wednesday 16th April, we arrived in Rotorua (Rotovegas, Sulphur City). Louise and I, along with a girl from our bus called Marie, went Zorbing. Effectively, it's a giant plastic ball, which they fill up with a bit of water, you get inside and they roll you down a hill - a tad expensive but sooooo much fun! In the evening, we went to a Maori Village called Tamaki, where we were shown a traditional Maori village, greeting, war dance and most importantly, the Haka (i'll get the video up as soon as i can). We also had a massive buffet which was so good i think it warrants a mention. We went out for a drink afterwards with some of the people we'd met on our bus although i retired at about 1:30 as I was extremely tired.

Thursday 17th was a mixed day - we woke up early to go to the Wai-O-Tapu geothermal park (look on google images as my pictures don't really do it justice) and the heavens opened. It was really unfortunate because the park itself was beautiful, particularly the Champagne Lakes but the experience was somewhat marred by my drenched jeans. Louise, Marie and I went out to the Hot Rocks Hostel Bar in the evening, had a few drinks and a dance which was really fun, particularly after we'd met some of the interesting characters that seem to frequent the bar.

Friday 18th was pretty much a day of travelling between destinations so I won't bore you with details of that. The only thing of note, bearing in mind the previous day we spent $50 on a geothermal park, was that the Kiwi Experience takes you to a geothermal park on the way out of Rotorua for $25 so we were not happy and decided to drown our sorrows in Mochas and big breakfasts.

The weekend Sat 19th-Sun 20th was the best part of the trip so far so I'm going to take my time over this one. On the Saturday morning, after spending the night in a hostel in Waitomo, I went Black Water Rafting. Beneath Waitomo's countryside is a vast labyrinth of caves. The Black Water Rafting company, allows you to explore them in the most enjoyable way possible. You start off with a 40m abseil into a crack in the ground, scrabbling down the walls and squeezing through gaps and you progress through the pitch-black caves through a series of zipwires, cliff jumps (I was first for both of these) and floating down the underground rivers. It isn't in the least bit claustrophobic as one would've thought. Its effectively a combination of caving, cliff-diving, abseiling, zipwire, and waterfall climbing (probably my personal favourite) in a somewhat surreal atmosphere -thousands of glow-worms light up the ceiling with tiny green dots, otherwise, apart from your headlight, the place is pitch black. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who passes even close to Waitomo.

That evening, we arrived in Taupo and went on a walk to Huka falls before checking into our hostel for the night. We caught up with a few of our friends we met in Rotorua (they had only spent one night there whereas we'd spent 2 so they were a bus ahead) and Louise went out to the bar with some of them - I elected to go to bed early as I had to be up at 5am in order to do the Tongariro Crossing (for more information and pictures just have a look on Google).

Sunday 20th April was probably the best day of my life! The Tongariro Crossing is an 18km trek which takes you through the centre of the Tongariro National Park. I started it at around 8am and proceeded to trek across a canyon floor, surrounded by mountains, frozen streams and most importantly, Mount Doom (Ngauruhoe is the actual name but Doom is easier to spell). The next stage was a long section of steps hewn from the rocks and was particularly hard to scale due to the steep gradient. The climb levelled off onto this plateau between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Doom where I was exposed to freezing wind, trekked over frozen mud and experienced some awe-inspiring views. 'The Devil's Staircase' to the top of Tongariro was an icy path riddled with narrow ledges and inept German tourists. After finally reaching the summit, the cloud set in and the temperature plummeted (thank God for the gloves and scarf i bought in Taupo). It was so cold my hair froze and i had ice crystals all down my right side. The clouds unfortunately blanketed the green and blue lakes (something to do with the sulphur content) and I pressed on gradually coming down out of the cloud into a 3 hour long descent through hills and finally a rainforest. One of the coolest things i saw on the way down, despite the panoramic views, were the huge steam vents that billowed steam from the side of the mountains (they're actually volcanoes - probably should've mentioned that). In any case, I completed the walk in 5 and a 1/2 hours (the average is around 7 - get in there:D) and was adamant that it was the greatest experience I'd ever had. This feeling lasted about an hour..........

SKYDIVE!! After an 18km hike, i was ready to fall an additional 5km (15000ft) from a plane. It really is the coolest thing anyone has ever done, ever. There was no apprehension, even when looking out over Lake Taupo with the Tongariro Park in the distance. To be perfectly honest, there isn't time for apprehension. Once you're suited and up in the plane, you're tandem skydiver shuffles towards the edge of the plane, a short smile for the camera and you're gone. The experience is quite impossible to fathom. You try to scream or breathe but you can't. The air is just completely gone from your lungs and the rush in the few seconds you fall out is enormous. Once you level off and reach your terminal velocity, you realise how amazing the views are whilst at the same time realise,'I just jumped out of a f*cking plane', its pretty special. I even got to steer the parachute on the way down, thats why on the DVD, even though i jump 2nd, i land 3rd. It truly is the most awesome adrenalin rush and just amazing thing a person can do. As the Kiwis would say, it was 'Sweet as'.

Since then, our activities have been fewer and further between as there isn't much either of us particularly wanted to do until Franz Josef glaciers in the south. As a result, we've blitzed through Taupo-Nelson with very little happening except a ferry ride, an old German lady undressing in our room (scary stuff), a walk to Taranaki Falls and a hell of a lot more views.

We're currently in Nelson on the South Island and we head down to Westport and the West Coast on Friday. We did some wine-tasting yesterday in the Marlborough region which was pretty sweet (i say 'some' wine-tasting where in reality we did a little more than 'some' - good times)

In any case, that pretty much brings you upto date with our adventures since Paihia. If anyone's particularly interested or just has alot of time on their hands, definitely have a look at some of the places and activities I've mentioned on google. I trust everyone is well back home and you're enjoying the sunshine (permit me a chuckle) and I'll keep you updated! Hopefully speak to you guys again soon. xxx

(Also, this blog doesn't have a spellchecker so I apologise for my grammar and spelling!)