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Well hello all!!!
And? on both anna and i's part, we are very sorry that this blog entry has taken so long!!! But New zealnd is a busy and active place! This will be my telling of the North Island, which we have just left this morning, to conquer the cold weather and the beautiful landscapes, which the south island is most known for.
We started off our adventure in Auckland on the 30th of April. We first headed north to the bay of islands.. known as the "winterless north".. well it was sunny, and breathtakingly beautiful, but my was it cold!!
Our first morning there anna and i booked ourselves in for some dolphin swimming... out on the boat it took us less than half an hour to fin a pod of dorsal finned dolphins... which are sooo big!!
Alas we could not swim with them, because among the magnificent beasts were little babies, only about 2 months old. and it is illegal to swim with pods who have babies among them.
After the bay of islands, we headed back down to auckland, where we stayed in auckland for a further 2 nights. and awaited to be taken south to the Coromandel Peninsula, to stay in Whitianga, AKA Mercury Bay... not much going on here fokls! Then headed on down to Rotorua... the smelly tonw!! and oh my god, it was rank! and i mean that in the original term of the use "rank"!!! The town is surrounded my sulphuric lakes, ponds, mountians... and it just gives off the most rotten egg smell you will ever encounter... anna and i did not understand how people had managed to live there.. they must have got use to the smell.. which seems impossible! You just walk through strong wiffs that has you actually covering your mouth and nose with your jumper!
From rotorua, we ambled on down to Taupo.. where we stayed for a glorious 2 nights!!....- every place we go, we stay one night.. is very taxing on the tiredness part of the brain.. leaving at ungodly hours of 7.30 in the morning, not realkly arriving very early, after going on walks and sightseeing etc, and then not sleeping much, and being off again the next morning... is very on the go.. hence the lack of emails, or blog entries-.... So it was 2 nights in taupo.. where we were all given the opportunity of a skydive!!!! something anna and i have been looking forward to since last year.. and for myself, since i saw my sister doi it 4 years ago!
So off we trundled, and when we arrived they told a coach full of 40 anxious but thrilled teenagers that we couldnt do it due to the cruddy weather! What a let down! But we were told we had the opportuity of doing it the next day after our walk.. which most of us had booked.
This walk started at 5.30 in the morning, called the Tongariro crossing, where on the walk, you climb "devils staircase" and walk past (and have the opportunity to climb) Mount doom.. now for all those sad sods who dont watch lord of the rings, they were 2 pivitol places in LOTR.. and were actually filmed there.. obviously! The long walk had us finishing at 3.00pm.. so about a 7 hour trek/hike... was not easy!!
Unfortunately 2 things didnt quite go according to plan this day... firstly.. anna started throwing up on the bus on the way to the walk, so had to be vehicled back to the hostel.. and i carried on with our new friends, rachael and hannah. After about 4 hours of walking, i started to feel very sick indeed... throwing up, and stomach cramps which made it next to impossible to walk.... let alone up a mountain with blisters...
I managed to get to the early bus though at 3.30pm and go to the skydiving point, only to tell a recovered anna that i couldnt jump.. for fear of throwing up the second i fell out! Anna boldly went and fell out among fellow backpackers while i went back to the hostel to sleep..
The next day was off to River Valley Lodge, where Anna had her White water rafting, and where once again i had to forfeit another passion due to my increasingly bad stomach bug!
On from River Vally lodge, we headed down to the Capital, Wellington. Which was such a cool city, and where anna and i wished we had more time in NZ so we could spend another 3 nights.
But alas, on friday night, as my stomach started to perk up after McDonalds chips... yer thats right, mcdonalds chips made my stomach feel better!!! Anna, Rachael, Hannah and I went out for a chinese to say farwell to our new found friends of 2 weeks!! Was very sad.. but we all had a hearty meal, only to be followed by the most huge icecream, and most rich chocolate i have ever eaten... was absolutely amazing.. and i was glorying in my new stomach, which not only felt better, but had decreased in size from lack of food for 5 days!
And now i sit in "sunny Nelson" ready to be taken down to westport... and eventually on to fox glacier... for my skydive!!!
Much love to everyone... missing you all lots x x? x x x x
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