Thurs 6th July Got 8am bus to Hahai, did a supermarket stop on the way (saves money for lunches!). Arrived at 1pm. Went on a longish walk to Cathedral Cove, the weather kept raining on and off but it meant there were lots of really big rainbows which we thought was really cool. We have now seen one or more rainbows almost every day we have been here so they are not as exciting now! Had a play on the rope swing on Hahai beach on the way back. Had a big BBQ for tea and a bottle of wine and sat up chatting for a while to get to know everyone that would be on our bus journey for a while. Friday 7th July 8am start again. We stopped off quite early on Hot water beach which is exactly as it sounds. It was a pretty cold day but we all stuck in and dug a hole on the beach and sat in the hot water. It could actually burn you if you stood ona bubbly bit so we had to mix a bit of sea water in to even out the temerature. Did another supermarket stop and arrived in Raglan at 2pm. Some of our group were having surf lessons so we decided to go body boarding. It was sooo cold running down the long road to the beach in our bikinis and it was chucking it down too. Body boarding in winter in the rain doesn't sound very sensible thinking back but we had wetsuits on so it was okay. I got a flipper injury, they rubbed all the skin off my left ankle which was fun! The body boarding was ace tho, helly had to teach me what to do and we had a wicked time. Had showers and cooked tea, and then went into the t.v room with everyone to chill out. Got chatting to the surf instructor guy who was a proper surfer dude, with blonde hair and talked really slow! He gave us lots of free tequilla which was amusing, I think he fancied Helly but we were just in it for the free booze ha ha! Had a go on the flying fox (zip line) in the dark, was less scary during the day time. Also saw lots of glow worms. They glow up cos there poo is green! Sat 8th July 8am start AGAIN! Bit achy today and the flipper injury hurts! Stopped off in Waitomo (which means water under the ground in mauri) to do tumo tumo tubing. We had to put wetsuits on yet again (i put mine on backwards!) and we got to wear sexy white gum boots. We got to slide down a big muddy slope on our bums on the way to the cave. And we were underground for about 2 hours. Was good fun, got to see glow worms, climb rock, and lye in big rubber tubes whilst we floated down stream! The water was unbelievably cold! After drying off we went to see some Angora rabbits being shaved, was the funniest thing ever as they span them around on a wierd contraption! Its not cruel, they have to shave them or else they over heat and die. Checked in at Base hostel in Rotorua and went straight out to a cultural night with Maoris. We did a danc thing with balls and the boys learnt how to do the Haka. They did a play thing for us and we all pulled maori faces!! We then went straight out to Lava bar and got introduced to Jaegar Bombs! Was quite a big night as we finally get a lye in tommorow!! Sunday 9th July Walked to Te Puia to see mud pools and Gisa. Bus at 12.30pm to Taupo. Had walk down to lakeside. Hadd bbq and a few beers, early night. Packed for big trek tommorrow. Monday 10th July Up and ready for 6.20am only to find out Tongariro crossing (Mordor and Mount Doom) was cancelled du to bad weather. Bus was due to set off at 8am but had to wait til world cup finished! Got to hotel (Skotel) in Whakapapa village in Tongariro National park. Did a 2 hour walk and then a half hour walk to see the waterfall that was in LOTR. (Tawhai Falls) Did another short walk to see a maori war site. Had tea and drinks in hotel restaurant, was Becky on our bus's birthday. Tuesday 11th July 9am bus to Wellington. Long drive today arrived at 4.20pm. Did a speed check in at Base hostel and ran to the LOTR museum b4 it shut. Got to see all the outfits, tree beard and the ring! Also a dead waxwork of Sean Bean which made me jump! Was a bit to life like. Went to cinema in evening to see Pirates of the Caribbean. It was the cinema wher Return of the King was premiered. All the seats had the names of who sat in them, so we all had a go at sitting in Gandolfs seat!! Weds 12th July Got 7am shuttle bus to Wellington ferry terminal. Set off at 8.30 for 3 hour journey to Picton. John on out bus decided to fly as he gets sea sick. As they were waiting to take off a boing 747 came in and missed the runway and then had to take off again! He was clingin on to his seat the whole way across!! tee hee! Glad we got the ferry! Pretty much got straight onto the new stray bus which we soon named retro bus cos it was so old! Went to stay at Old MacDonalds farm that evening and cooked a big group meal together drank wine and played cards. Thurs 13th July Went on Catermeran in the morning along the coastling up to Abel Tasman National Park and saw seals yay! Was pretty cold. We helped put the sail up and down. Also saw split apple rock which was in LOTR's, tho we r not sure which one or whcih bit. If anyone knows it could you let us know?! Its a big rock by the shore thats split almost perfectly in two. Had a long bus journey at lunch time to Barrytown (BazVegas) Was a tiny village by the sea with about 10 houses and a pub, we stayed in the pub! We had a bin bag fancy dress party, lots of drinks a water fight and got to bed about 5am! Hangin out with the locals is fun! Friday 14th July Woke up with a black nose and whiskers this morning (I went as a black at last night!) hmmmm! Went to bone carving at 9am to make our own neclaces (Maori war chains as John liked to call them!) Caroline couldn't hack the smell of the bone being cut, something to do with the sambuka shots I think! Our neclaces were maori symbols meaning safe travel across water. Went for a drive down the coast with Nemo, who tricked Jhn into eating a bit of seaweed tee hee!! Sat 15th July Went to Pancake rocks and then had pancakes at a nearby cafe! Drove to Franz Josef today, mountains look pretty amazin (even tho they are only half the size of the Himalayas!!!) Went straight to quad biking as soon as we had checked in. Was pretty amazing driving around at the bottome of a glacier with mountains and rainforest surrounding us. We drove through rocks, mud, streams. puddles and rainforest and named the bike Quadamir and the Glacier Glacigorn (everything has been in LOTR's!) Met everyone at the pub and then went to the community hall for a charity fire and Ice ball. Was some crazy entertainment, pretty weird night to be honest, don't really know how to describe it. There was a fire throwing man, his glamorous partner who we thought was a man cos of her amazingly hairy armpits! A snowman, an igloo and a cocktail making competition and an auction. The band were acually quite good so we had a boogey! Sunday 16th July Went heli-hiking on th glacier today which was amazing. 15min helicopter rid to near top of the glacier then we put crampons on and walked about for a couple of hours before getting the helicopter down again. Monday 17th July 8am bus to Queenstown. Stopped off on way for a few people to do a bungy at the first ever bungy jump place. They jumped off a bridge over a river, Stelios ansked to get his hands wet, he got dunked all the way down to his waist tee hee!! Was our last journey with Nemo the bus driver today boo hoo! So we decorated the retro bus and played lots of games! Went out for drinks at night, went to world bar where you get cocktails in tepots! Then back to hostel bar for a good old jeager bomb! We must have been a bit drunk cos we all got up and did kareoke together, twice! Synda a crazy American girl who had recently joined the bus molested Nemo and he had to get her thrown out in the end for being drunk (poor nemo!) Tues 18th July Had a lazy morn Went on Ride of the Rings this aft with Caroline (we are totally turning her into a LOTR's geek like us!) Saw a few of the places where it was filmed including Isengard. Our group went for a thai meal tonight to say goodbye to Karen and Nat. We all picked up out team Nemo hoddies that we had made. Weds 19th July Went to Milford Sounds on a boat was wickd. Thurs 20th July Went to sheep shearing farm. Had fish n chips in Riverton and got to Invercargil at 6ish.