Since our last we we then headed off for Fraser Island. We had a wicked group of people in our van so it was such a laugh. We spent 3 days and 2 nights driving down beaches in our 4x4, walking up Indian Head and the Champagne Pools, lots of drinking and BBQs and also trying to dodge dingoes and venomous snakes!! We stayed in an aboriginal camp in a rotunda rather than tents which was brilliant as the first night it absolutely pissed it down! On day 2 our van broke down which was a bit of a palava, but another van rescued us and we got a new one the next day.

After that we left on another overnight bus to Surfers Paradise. We weren't overly impressed with it but did have a good night out when we did a bar crawl with 7 other hostels. Meant to go to Wet n Wild but were too hungover! Just dossed around and played crazy golf, wooo!

Next stop was Byron Bay which was lovely. Spent a bit of time on the beach but having to retreat because of the rain every now and again. One morning we went horse riding along the beach which was really cool! However, both of our horses were little s***s and kept trying to run ahead of the others so it was quite hard work trying to keep them under control! That afternoon we walked up the Cape Byron where there is a lighthouse and you are in the most eastern point of Australia. It was about 2k and we thought it was quite hard work until our later walking experience!!

We left our travelling partner Lewis there and fly to Auckland where we spent 2 nights in horrible weather so really did nothing...ended up going to the cinema to pass the time! After that we boarded our first kiwi bus and headed north to Pahia or the Bay of Islands. Luckily the weather was really great up there and we went out on a boat to see and swim with dolphins which was great although it was quite a small pod and they kept swimming off everytime we got in the water, but we did have a brief close encounter with them. Also did parasailing (I really badgered Kell into doing it!!!) which was great! Its so relaxing and peaceful. It was the highest one in the southern hemisphere getting up to 1200ft.

After that we headed to Mercury Bay where we stopped at Cathedral Cove where we spent the afternoon lounging about, jumping off rocks a bit out to sea and swimming into little caves round the side of the bay. The next day we went south to Rotorua stopping off to do a walk in the Karangahake Scenic Reserve where we walked through a derelict train line and I (Char) got to use my head torch...score!! That afternoon we went luging which was soooo much fun! Bombing down a hill in little tobogans, by our second go we thought we were formula 1 drivers! That night we went over to the Tamaki Maori cultural night which was brilliant. We got to learn about their culture, history and way of life and they did a performance of lots of singing and dancing. The guys also did the Haka which was amazing! They look so scary! We also got a big buffet dinner which we really enjoyed as we have been eating so much rubbish!

The next day we went to Waitomo and did black water rafting. My God, it was terrific! We had to clamber into this little opening in the cave, passing out rubber ring down first. The water was only about 12oC so it was pretty chilly! We floated our way through the caves in our rings, having to jump backwards off waterfalls as and when they emerged. We stopped for a few minutes and all turned off our head torches and when we looked up at the ceiling there are thousands of glow worms all over the place, so pretty! Like looking up at the stars. A couple of times the instructors told us to turn off our torches as we were floating along...quite scary at first but then we got over it and it was loads of fun.

Our next stop was Taupo, where we are at the moment. We spent one afternoon at some hot pools up the road which was nice and relaxing. The water is so hot, like sitting in a bath...our first one in 6 weeks!! Got an early night that night as we were up at 5.30 the next morning to do the Tongariro Crossing. It is an 18.5k walk up and down a mountain/volcano...my God it was hard work!! It took 7 hours and at the peak we had climbed 1900m and at some points were actually in the clouds!! The views at the top were spectacular and worth the hard work but we both said we wouldn't do it again...we are still aching! We celebrated our survival that night which took us into Kells birthday and had a wicked night.

Had a couple of chilled out days to recover and Char plans to do her skydive tomorrow on her birthday, woooo!! Then we are heading back up north for a couple of days to go to a massive Kiwi party that happens once a year before we continue our voyage back down the country.

Love to everyone,

Char and Kell xxxxxxxxxxxx