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Hey hey!!!
It's been an absolutely epic week or so in New Zealand... it's such a beautiful country and I'm loving every minute...apart rom the fact that it's flippin freeeezing!!! My body has not adjusted well to the cold. so a warm clothes shop was in order as soon as I landed.
So I've done some pretty cool stuff.....
I started in Auckland and did a little tour of the city... climbed the harbour bridge and a few random volcanos... there's not a great deal to do in the city but part of it are really nice to see..
I joined the kiwi experience the next day and it's been a whirlwind since then. it's a shame i don't have longer as the whole thing has been pretty rushed but it's definitely the best way to see everything as quickly as possible! it's been amazing. We went up to the Bay of Islands where i stayed two nights and it felt really nice to chill out, meet some new people. I also went on a boat cruise and saw loads of wild dolphine swimming round the boat which was cooooool.We passed back through auckland briefly and stayed long enough to have a good night out to say goodbye to a girl who has been travelling for 15 months and is finally going home... lovely girl.
Next was hot water beach. we stayed in a nice little hostel village thing and the only thing to do really was go to the beach at midnight when it was low tide, dig a massive hole and sit in it because the water comes up from under ground and is BOILING hot. Pretty clever actually... a geologists dream (matt hicks).
which brings me onto Waitomo.... where i went black water rafting. The craziest thing i've ever done!!!! (except since then i've done a sydive so maybe not so much anymore) but anyway we absailed down 35m into a pitch black hole (which is the height of an 11 storey building) then ziplined 20m (also in the pitch black) down into glow worm caves. Next we basically went caving/tubing in 8 degree water which was ridiculous. SOOOO cold!!!! but amazing. I honestly don't think i've ever been so cold in my life as the water was mostly waist heigh, sometimes neck height and sometimes i found myself swimming in this water. luckily we had super wet suits on but ohhmyygooodness it was cold. we checked out the glow worms and generally went caving around, exploring little tunnels and things. Then to get out we free climbed up two waterfalls with absolutely no harness. it wa bizarre and i couldn't quuite believe i made it to the top. AMAZING experience... i can't imagine i will ever be spending 3 1/2 hours at 60m underground inwater ever again in my life... but i'm so glad i did it.
Next stop was rotorua.. the cultural capital of new zealand. We did a cultrual Maori evening where we got to see loads of the traditional culture, talk to the maori people and ask questions and learn all about it. it was so interesting and so impressive how the cultures are intergrated (compared with Australia who have done a terrible job) We saw a show and watching some dancing and singing and then they did the Haka which was incredible. Then we ate a traditional maori meal and went home... great night!
So my most recent trip was the skydive... from 15000 feet over lake taupo. By far the most AMAZING thing i have ever done my life. The freefall lasted 1 minute at a speed of 240km/hour and it was the best feeling in the world. The view was amazing, the experience was terrifying but amazing....just the best thing EVER. so so so fun and i want to do it again!
So that's it. We were supposed to do a 16km walk today over the lake but it's been raining. so we are all just having a chill out day and doing nothing for a change! which is actually quite nice. So that's it.
More to report soon. Love you all xxxx
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