Hey there!
Its been a while since my last post. Quite a bit has changed since then. I am 19, and I am now on the North Island, in a place called Rotorua.

But where I left you I was in Christchurch. It was a nice place, however there actually wasnt overly much to do in the main town. Most of it you had to go out of the main city to get to. So on my birthday, me and a few friends rented a car and went up to Kaikoura, a couple of hours north of Christchuch. The main reason was because my friends were finishing in Christchurch, and hadnt seen Kaikoura. But also I'd like to think it was a birthday outing too. ;) There we went on a fishing tour, and caught lots of fish, (of which i didnt eat any) and we also saw seals, and a (Apparently huge) Blue Shark! The driver dangled his rod in front of it, and it sniffed the bait but wasnt interested. I dont know how he would have caught it or where he would have kept it, our boat was only small!
Back in C-Church the next day, we went to see an NZ vs India One Day International, which was a lot of fun. Quite a bit of banter was going about, and the game was very good, with 31 sixes, and 700 runs scored in the day.
After chilling out in C-Church for a bit, I left and headed north to Kaikoura, where i planned to stay a night and go swimming with dolphins the next morning. However the weather forcast wasnt good, so i left dolphin swimming for next time i come back here... ;P
The next day we headed up to Picton and got the ferry over to Wellington. The ride was a bit rough, but the captain classed it as "Moderate", and in the end it was a good laugh swaying about on the boat.
I spent a few days in Wellington, as there were things to do, and also people to see. First i visited the Te Papa museum, which is like the natural history, science, and art museum, all in one. It was quite amazing to see the "Collosal Squid".
The next day i was all geeky, and went on a Lord Of The Rings Tour, in and around Wellington, and visited some of the spots they used for filming, and also the "Weta Studios" where they produced the visual effects for the films. It was cool to see where they filmed certain scenes, and also get similar photos of what you see in the films.
On my last day in Wellington, i had to get a hotel room, because all cheap hostels were taken because of a music festival in the city, which was annoyingly more expensive than what i had been used to. But nevermind it was nice to have a room all to muself, and have a decent shower aswell! During the day i went out of the city and visited my cricket club's overseas player for this season, Alex, who plays for Taita cricket club in the Wellington League. I got chatting to him, and his Dad also, and he is a really nice guy, and look forward to this coming season to see what he can do for the club.
From Wellington, I jumped on a coach to Taupo, where i originally planned to do a skydive. However the funds werent available at the time, so thats another thing i can come back for on my next visit! Taupo however was a very nice place, quite a quiet town on the lakeside.
I woke up early the next morning to jump on a tour to the Tongariro National Park, to go on a 19km hike. The day was really nice, but tiring. Also, 6km in to the hike, you had the choice of climing the mountian they used to film Mt Doom. Feeling quite fresh i decided to take up the challenge. And bloody hell was it challenging!!! It took about 2 hours to climb up, where you took 3 steps forward, and because of the loose gravel / scree, you ended up 1 step back. It was tiring to say the least! Eventually we got to a solid lava flow, as it is still an active volcanoe, and the solid footing almost went all the way to the top. It was a fantastic view from there, above the clouds and all. And the fun part was coming down. "It was like skiing in powder snow" i was told, but it felt more like slipping and sliding down a mountian to me... It took about 2 hours to get up, and half an hour to get down! But still was great fun. What annoyed me though is that i think i got some snad / gravel stuck in my camera lense, as i had it in my pocket on the way down, so now it doesnt work. But im using disposable cameras so there will be pictures... eventually... The rest of the trek, after doing Mt Doom, was exhausting to say the least! When i got back to the hostel, i went to sleep at 8, and woke up at 8 the next morning!
Ah well... On to Rotorua, where i only stayed one night at first, and i went Lugeing down the side of a mountian. Lugeing is where you go up a mountian in a gondola, and then ride down it multiple times on a track, in unpowered karts which just speed downhill. This was epic-fun!!! Especially in the rain!!! The breaks didnt work properly, and you couldnt see very far because of it. But still was very good fun. That evening i went to a Mauri village experience, where they performed various songs and tibal dances, and we also had a feast. I had been starving myself all day for it, and it was lovely! :)
The following day, i went off the beaten track, and headed out to Raglan, where i stayed 5 nights, and surfed during the day. Where we stayed was out of the main town, which was chilled out anyway, and as we were so far out, it was really quiet and relaxing. You had to get used to "surfer time", where if they said "the bus is at 3pm" for example, they actually meant about 3:30 (ish). But i had a really nice time there and everyone there was "sweet-as". I am definately going back there someday!!!
That brings me back to where i am now, Rotorua. Im staying a couple of nights here so i can do the things i skipped out on last time round. Today i went to the Te Puia springs, where they have mud pools and "Geezers" (I cant think how to spell it properly...) That was quite cool, as i was on a guided tour and learnt a few more things about Rotorua, and also the Mauri people as a whole.
Tonight is free pizza night in the bar, so im gearing up for that. :)
Sorry about the essay. Just so much has happened since my last post! ;)
Till next time!
xx