Bay of Islands - Arrived early, dumped our bags and decided that we deserved a nice lunch after a long journey, so we went to a rib restaurant and had the obvious! Afterwards we met up with Sophie and Katie and chilled out on the beach for a bit before heading back to the hostel to get ready. There was a bbq and then in the hostel bar there was a quiz night happening, so we all got involved and met some really nice people. All in all it was a good night.

Cape Reinga - A horrible early 6am start we headed up to the most northern part of New Zealand. On the way we drove along 90 mile beach which was amazing as the coach was driving through the waves! We stopped for a bit to experience sand boarding which Olive loved but Georgia rolled off the surf board and landed in a stream, so wasnt happy with her wet and sandy clothes. When we arrived in Cape Reinga we took the short walk towards the famous lighthouse along the cliff edge and looking out to sea we saw the meeting point of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean which was amazing as there were waves in the middle of the sea. On our way back down to the Bay of Islands we had 'New Zealands Best Fish & Chips' which actually was delicious!

Hot Water Beach - During the day we did a long walk to Cathedral Cove which along the way had amazing views and we were rewarded with a refreshing swim when we got there. In the evening we had to wait for low tide which was 10pm so a group of us struggled through the dark with no torch to the beach where we a dug a hole and the water was boiling - hence the name!

Waitomo - Hostel was nice and we finally didnt have to sleep in bunk beds! In the afternoon we took a bus to the caves where we discovered black water rafting, it was amazing and scary. 65 metres underground we had fun jumping off waterfalls in rubber rings and turning our head torches off and seeing glow worms.

Rotorua - This place is known for its eggy smell and sure did stink the whole time we were there. In the afternoon we went luging which involved getting a gondola up to the top of a hill and racing down in a go kart, this was so much fun and tired us out. In the evening we were picked up in a bus to go to Tamaki Village where we discovered the Maori Culture which was very interesting, we learnt how to do the haka and how their food was cooked, afterwards we enjoyed a big buffet.

We have had such an amazing time so far, sorry we havent blogged for a while, as you can tell we have been a bit distracted with all these activities!

xxxxxx