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24/03/2008 - This morning I left Rotorua to go on the "East As" part of the "Kiwi Experience" which basically travels around the east coast to the pretty remote parts of the North Island. The main rule on the bus is "NO STRESS." We stopped for supplies and lunch in a little town called Whakatane (fa-ka-tanny) which had a really pretty beach. Then we carried on, stopping for the most amazing ice-cream! We got to the Te Kaha Homestead Lodge early afternoon where we were greeted with tea, coffee and cake! It was a relaxed afternoon, chilling in the hot tub by the sea! It was so good!
We all had a big buffet dinner and sat on the verandah singing songs all night. It was quite unusual but so much fun. Some of the girls and I made up a song called "Travelling 9-5" to the tune of the Dolly Parton song then we performed it in front of the others. After our sing-song, some of us went back in the hot tub for more relaxing. It was really nice sitting there looking at the stars and listening to the waves at the beach.
The accommodation for the night was in one large family room, all sharing together!
25/-03-2008 - This morning we went to the Golden Kiwi Orchard in Te Kaha where we learned a bit about the NZ fruit. We also drove past Whangaparaoa, which is where the Maori people first landed in NZ. We had lunch in Te Araroa, sitting at the beach. The East Cape lighthouse has over 700 steps up to it but we didn't have time to walk up so we just drove past and took photos.
We arrived at the Eastenders Backpackers in Rangitukia ready for some horse-trekking! I'm terrified of pretty much all animals so you can imagine how scared I was on a horse! But it was really good fun and I'm glad I did it. Going through the water on the horse's back was amazing.
Then I did some bone-carving and made myself a traditional Maori necklace. It's bad luck to buy one for yourself so we all made them instead! We sat around the fire eating out BBQ and then had an early night.
26/03/2008 - Up early this morning to be among the first in the world to see the sunrise. It was a bit cloudy but apart from that it was good.
Then back on the bus. We stopped in Tolaga Bay for lunch then on to the Marae (traditional Maori village) in Whangara (fung-ah-rah). That was interesting to see.
We arrived in Tatapouri just after one so that left plenty of time for relaxing by the sea. A few of us went stingray feeding. That was really scary, I like fish even less than most animals! But yeah, again I'm glad I did it.
I don't think I'll ever get sick of barbeques, after this one, we all sat at the beach chatting, it was nice and relaxing.
27/03/2008 - A couple of us decided to spend an extra few days here so we basically just relaxed for a few days. We went into Gisborne (the nearest and eastern-most city in the world) to get more supplies. It was nice to take time out to relax and take it easy for a bit.
31/03/2008 - We left Tatapouri this morning and stopped at hot springs on our way back to Taupo. East As has been so much fun and I've met so many nice people.
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