The thing about New Zealand is you pretty much bump in to a lot of the people you have already travelled with... so the start of my stay in New Zealand was met with a lot of familiar faces who were all starting one of the many bus tours around the Land of the Long White Cloud. My first stop was Auckand and since I would be ending my trip here too I decided to throw myself straight in to the Kiwi Experience by starting bright and early the next day with a three day trip to the Bay of Islands.

We had a fairly long drive up to Paihia but this gave us the chance to chat and to see some of the great countryside. We arrived in the afternoon to great weather, which meant a high speed boat ride out over the sea. This was fun, the boat went really fast around the 144 islands, through archways created in rocks jutting out from the sea and in to caves while we were told about the sharks and other fish that lived in the clear blue water. It is beautiful up here and really peaceful. The next day we went up to Cape Reinga... on the way we stopped off at the Puketi Kauri Forest to see some trees that were over 2000 years old - they are huge! After this we made our way to the Cape to see where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean meet, this place is considered sacred to the Maori people. After this we headed to 90 mile beach for some sand boarding... this was great fun, safer than the one in Peru and a whole lot better than the one in Fiji. Although we did have to walk up the huge hill to actually board down - such hard work!

We took a drive down 90 mile beach (which is actually 64.5 miles long... not exactly sure where they got the name from ??), the waves here are so strong, at one point when we got out of the bus we nearly got sent flying by a wave that came literally from no where. Again this is another beautiful place, the sand dunes and the beach are surrounded by a forest so as you drive through the trees you get a glimpse of the dunes and it doens't look real.

Then came the best bit... fish and chips. This is worth a mention just because they were SO good. Our last day at the very top of the country was wet and rainy which I got caught in when I went for a hike. Arrived back in Auckland exhausted but ready to head South the next day and start the next stage of the trip.

My first bus on the Kiwi Experience was a busy bus with a great guide, just because he was so funny. Our first stop was Mt Eden which is one of the 70 dormant volcanoes in the region. Got a great view of Auckland from here, you could see for miles. We then headed to Cathedral Cove which was a lovely beach where the boys played extreme frisbee and the girls sat, sunbathed and chatted. Other crazy people went kayaking in the freezing water but since our next stop was hot water beach I don't think they minded. There is a small area on this beach where you can dig a hole and hot water comes through, like a bath and we all huddled in one trying to get warm in the cold evening. That night we stayed at a place called Mercury Bay where we had spag bol for tea and headed out in to the dead town to take up residency in the only open bar.

The next day we headed to Rotorua where we went in to dark underground tunnels at one point they got so dark we could see nothing of where we were going or of the people in front of us. I think we were all pretty happy once we saw daylight again. And the boys liked it because it meant they could shake the two swing bridges while everyone was on them... they made them go so much that you could actually see the bridge coming away from the ground at the two ends. We had a brief stop off in Matamata which is otherwise known as Hobbiton from Lord of the Rings.

The first thing that greeted us as we arrived in Rotorua was the smell... that lovely rotten egg smell that is pretty much everywhere and you can't get away from. Its an unusual place in that you see steam rising from under the streets, the Maori people call it Fongapepero which means an evil smelling place, it pretty much sums it up. That afternoon we went luging which is where you drive your own cart and race each other down tracks and trails... great fun! That night we went for a traditional Maori welcome ceremony and feast. Although very touristic this was really good. We had to select a chief from our bus (the other buses did the same) and these people would then have to offer gifts to the people of the village we were visiting. Warriors would them come out and decide if they were going to let you in or not. Obviously they did but it was pretty scary to watch these great big guys getting in the faces of the chiefs, rolling their eyes and sticking out their tongues (not as funny as it sounds and you are warned before you go in not to laugh as they can get really offended and the last thing you want to do is offend one of these guys). Once we were accepted we were let in to the village which we took a tour round before watching a concert they put on. This was amazing, their dances and singing are incredible and they did the haka for us which sent chills down my spine. After this was dinner - yay!! - they did hangi for us which is food cooked under the ground by hot rocks. It was delicious and we got dessert! All full up we made our way back to the hostel by a crazy driver who split us in to the countries we were from and made us sing a typical song from home. I have to say England gave a poor showing and the driver who knew all the words to Land of Hope and Glory pretty much did it for us. We then all went straight to the bar!

The next day the bus was leaving but I decided to stay in Rotorua for one more night. Had a really nice chilled out day where I looked round the town, took a walk down to the lake where a bird nearly pooped on me. Its really smelly here but for some reason there are hundreds of birds just sitting round this sulphur smelling lake. I also took a trip to the Polynesian Spa where I relaxed in hot baths. I left the next day on a new bus which in comparison to the first one was empty. Our first stop this day was Te Puia where we saw a geyser go off, this was pretty amazing. It was so powerful and you could feel the heat coming off it. They also had mud pools and a Kiwi House so got to see a Kiwi! They are an endangered species and the guides at the park are trying to protect them. We also learned how to play sticks, this involves getting in to pairs and throwing sticks at each other and catching them in time with everyone else and to the song that is sung while this is going on. You can imagine the disaster this was especially when they tried to get us to go faster.

On arrival in Waitomo I had a power nap (again very little sleep the night before) and then headed out to Black Water Rafting. This is nothing like White Water Rafting, I would even go as far to say its better. It involves abseiling in to caves, wading through freezing cold water, climbing over precarious rocks and up waterfalls and floating down the river in tubes. It was incredible!!

When we got there we were asked about any health issues, it was here I started to get pretty nervous as what I was doing hit me and I hoped that I wouldn't start freaking out in any enclosed spaces. We got kitted out in full on wetsuits, boots, helmets with torch and abseiling kit. The abseil was really good fun! Although when you stand at the top and stare in to a pitch black cave you start to have doubts. Once we were all down we walked through tunnels where we could see stalactites over 40000 years old. We then found ourselves on the edge of a long drop, one at a time we were stapped in to a thing called a flying fox - we basically sped down this rope in the pitch black with no idea where the bottom was or when you were going to hit it. Was excellent. At this point we were on the edge of a rock, looking down in to what we could only guess was the river. It was too dark to actually see. We were asked to sit on the edge and link arms. Freaking out that were all going to be pushed in they surprised us by bringing round hot chocolate and biscuits. This was good because I was already freezing at this point and I hadn't even gone in the water yet.

After our break we grabbed a tube and then we had to jump in the river. Can't describe to you how cold this was, it actually hurt. We sailed down the river and got to see the glow worms. Once you turn off your lights you can look up at the roof of the cavern and see these tiny little lights. It was really pretty, like looking at the stars however it was then we were told these glow worms were actually maggots going to the toilet - thats why they glow. Not so pretty now. It was also here that we were told about the spiders and the eels, didn't know whether to take them seriously but we saw quite a few eels on our way round. Just grateful the spiders stayed hidden! With our lights still off we got pulled along the river in our tubes which was really relaxing and completely led us in to a false sense of security. As we were moving along the water the sound was getting louder and louder. Stopping we got rid of the tubes and then had to wade (in freezing cold water) to the waterfall. The ground was really uneven so found ourselves getting wet again and again and again. And you felt it every time it was that cold. Stopping by the waterfall we were once again given a hot drink and chocolate (which as a side point, the Cadbury chocolate over here is amazing!) before jumping off. We then had to climb up what is known as the 3 waterfalls of doom. Thankfully none of us were doomed and we all made it to the light and out in to air once again where we got hot soup and bagels. This is by far one of the best activities I have done while I have been away and until yesterday was the best day in New Zealand so far.

So I suppose I should tell you what I did the next day to make it better. Well we left Waitomo for Taupo which just so happens to be the sky diving capitol of New Zealand... So after lunch we went to see Haka Falls, a waterfall and I think an excuse to let what we were about to do play on our minds. Only 3 from the group decided to sky dive so we left the others and went to the airfield. I won't bore you with all the details of what came before but to let you all know I jumped out a plane at 15000 feet and with a freefall of around a minute it was incredible!!! My ears were killing me and the harness was uncomfortable but you could see for miles and the feeling is like nothing else. As you fall out of the plane you roll over a few times in the air before just falling as a guy films you and takes photos and tries to make you do silly things in the air. I look ridiculous in my dvd but I needed as much proof as possible that I did this crazy thing. Once the parachute goes up you then float on your way down to the ground buzzing and hungry strangely enough. That night we went out for a drink and today what we did still hasn't really sunk in.

I'm staying a few days in Taupo, its a really pretty place with loads to do and hopefully I will be able to do the Tongariro Crossing which is a 17K hike through volcanoes which is supposed to be fantastic except at the moment they keep cancelling it because of the weather so fingers crossed...