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So here i am in New Zealand, we arrived in Auckland on Monday and stayed there for a couple days. First day we arrived was bank holiday so all the shops were shut, no one was around... the city was a ghost town.On top of that it was grey and... cold! By cold i mean 18 degrees, but when you have been in Australia for 10months with temps ranging from 20-35degrees, 18 degree minus the humidity hits you pretty hard. I have no idea how any of us are going to manage at home!!
In Auckland we walked round the city and did a free day tour which was interesting, and involved us doing a bridge climb to watch some of the guys on our bus do a bungee. We also went up on top of the sky tour at sunset; the view up there is amazing. In Auckland we jumped on our bus which is with a company called stray, upon jumping aboard we were taken to Mt Eden to overlook Auckland from another point of view and told a bit about what to expect with stray. This is the only bus company i know who actually needs you to go to the office so they can explain the process of booking and planning your journey online through New Zealand, there online booking system is very much drama and stress filled... i have figured out a way to find out if there are stray passengers in the hostel we are staying in... all i need to do is walk past the computer room, and the people shouting at the screen are usually the ones you see on your bus the next day.
Anyway, from Auckland we headed to Hahei were we got the chance to do some sea kayaking around Cathedral Cove before heading to Hot Water Beach, where we grabbed a spade and started digging in the sand until we reached hot water which allowed us to create hot pools. The reason that there is hot water there is due to a volcano erupting years ago, and while the volcano no longer exists there is still laver running underneath the surface which is cooling down... we were told this could take years and is currently showing no signs of producing cold water any time soon. One of the cool things i have found out on this trip is that the majority of New Zealand was under water and that volcanoes are the reason a lot of the earth has surfaced. A lot of what we would normally think are hills are in fact volcanoes here, the last one erupting years ago (our driver did tell us how many years, but i can't remember). After the hot pools we headed back to the hostel and enjoyed a BBQ with everyone on our bus before heading to bed. The next day we hopped on the bus and headed to Raglan, a nice little surf town on the west of the north island. We headed just out of Raglan to where we were staying in a little surf retreat near the beaches. From here we had the opportunity to either go surfing or head to the beach... to the beach we went. The weather in New Zealand is very hit and miss, you literally can go through the four seasons in one day, if i had a pound for every time we put on a hoodie, and then took it off, and then put it back on, and then took it off again... i would be a millionaire. The sun is really hot here; the reason being is that there is a gap in the ozone layer right over New Zealand. However, when the sun disappears, the temperature drops.... and so the putting on and taking off clothes begins.
From Raglan we went to waitomo caves for the morning, we got a little bit of caving in and then headed to Maketu and did our cultural night where we got the change to be welcomed into Maori culture, the guys on the bus learned the Hakka while the girls learned the Poi dance. To be welcomed in we first needed a chief, which is traditionally the oldest person of the tribe. So once our chief had been chosen we had to walk into the Marae and face the opposite tribe, they offered us a leaf and we were given 3 options, leave it, pick it up and keep it, or pick it up and give it back to them. In the Maori culture, if you do either the first or second you will not be welcomed, in some circumstances you will be turned away, in others you will be attacked. So our chief picked up the leaf and gave it back to the other tribe while maintaining eye contact at all times. We had to be careful not to step over the leaf as this is seen as disrespect. Once the leaf was given back we then had to go through the welcome process which is to line up, the males go first behind the chief and then the women follow. From here we had to greet everyone along the line with Kia ora (hello) and then touch noses as this is seen as the breath of life between people. Once welcomed into the tribe we then took to learning our dances, performing them and then enjoying the rest of the performances the tribe had to give. We then set up for bed, a part of the culture is to all sleep in the same room as each other so we all grabbed a mattress and set up shop. We then listened to Uncle Boy who was the tribe leader who welcomed us go through some of the history as a tribe and some of his family's history. It was a really interesting talk and nice to hear about some of their traditions. For instance, when a baby is born they are taken outside, stripped of their clothes and then raised above the tribe leaders head and shown the four corners - north, east, south and west - this is so the child will never lose their way in life.
After leaving Maketu we went to Rotorua, were we stayed for 4 days... 2 days to long in our case, and too long with the smell. Rotorua has a lot of hot pools, and because of this it smells really bad of sulphur or rotten eggs... its defiantly not one for the faint hearted, especially in some areas where it is really strong. But we got used to it in the end and were able to enjoy our days there, when we first got there we decided to go to Hobbiton - home of the hobbits in Lord of the Rings. When we got there we had to sign a disclaimer form, and they are currently preparing to film the Hobbit there and some of the sets have already been built. So while we were able to take photos, we can't actually publish them until the film comes out in 2012... So in a few years time when you see some pictures of little houses appear in a photo album on facebook, you know why. The next day we went Lugging which was heaps of fun, and you got a chance to see some of the scenery from the skyline we had to take up. The day after that we went to the wildlife park, and had the opportunity to be in the pen with a 4 month old lion cub named Ella, she was beautiful.
After that we had another day to chill and enjoy the smell before heading to Taupo, we only had the night there but it was a nice little town that i would like to go back to. Then we headed to National Park... the plan was to do the Tongariro Crossing, which is one of the top 5 walks in the world and is highly recommended by everyone over here, but unfortunately the mountain was closed due to snow. Now... going back to the four seasons that you usually see in New Zealand, up until this point on our travels we have had really good weather, only sun and cloud... nothing else in sight. Until we reached National Park, where we had sun, rain, wind and snow... how we have missed the snow! The cold weather on the other hand... we could see our breath it was that cold... again; i don't know how we are going to manage when we get back home. The hostel at National Park is 5*and is one of the nicest hostels any of us have stayed in.A perfect little place to chill out for a few days, inside, with a log fire over looking snow capped mountains. We liked it so much, we are thinking about stopping there on the way back up to Auckland, which may also give us the chance to do the crossing.
From National Park we jumped on a bus for 6 hours and arrived in Wellington, the windy city.... the VERY windy city and also very cold... we are getting into a theme here that I don't think suits our summer clothes wardrobe. It was so cold, that we had hats and gloves on.... really! Thankfully today, our second day in Wellington, the wind has blown away and the sun is out... however, we are all still wearing our hoodies to walk around town in. Tomorrow we leave the north island on a ferry and head over to the south island to continue our NZ travels.
Check in soon!!
xx
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