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hello! greetings from Paihia! we left Taupo for Waitomo where we stayed in a cute log cabin type hostel Juno Hall and spent a lovely long evening watching DVDs and eating a lot of bangers And mash. good times.
The next day we all kinda split up. Dan and Alice went black water rafting whilst i chose to visit 3 seperate caves, the Aranui, glowworm caves where you go on a little boat in the darkness and arwe just surrounded by little stars of light which was so beautiful, and the Ruakari (sp?!) which had some pretty awesome stalagmites and stalagtites. i bloody love rocks and stuff! dave managed to visit the angora shearing shed and see a huge fluffy rabbit become a tiny startled looking animal! they enjoy it tho apparently and fall asleep whilst being shaved!!
the next day i went to the Rotorua museum which was an amazingly misplaced huge tudor mansion which was a spa back in the day and had a great guided tour and admired their collection on maori carvings and some incredible carrera marble statues. we also visited the stinky hot springs which got a bit heavy going at time (they dont call it sulphur city for nothing! we went to the polynesian spa the next day which was lovely and relaxing until i could feel my heart beating coz the water was so hot (and again, the evil smell was too much at times!! alice just said i was being over sensitive lol!) to be continued when i have more internet credit!!........
That evening we went on the Maori experience which was fantastic. we got picked up by our guide called Natta pronounced nutter, who was hilarious and had us singing songs and telling us jokes, and he took us to the little maori village where we were treated to a traditional welcoming ceremony and the haka plus other customs. we ate a hell opf a lot of delicious food cooked in a hangi (underground on hot coals) and alice and i indulged in a bit of retail therapy at the gift shop. good times!
the next day we went and FINALLY caught a glimpse of the elusive kiwi at the rainbow springs park, where they take eggs from the wild (apparently the parents dont even notice ?!) and rear the chicks until big enough to be released back, and it looked like they were doing a great job because they had 2 young males and a 30 year old female in their nocturnal pen, and they are soooo cute and weird! they were really big as well, i was quite surprised! that night we took it easy and had perhaps the best thai curry ever!
onwards and upwards we then went, with a mammoth drive to Auckland where we stayed for a night and went out on the town! slightly hung over (well, that is the only way of justifying the Maccie D's breadkfast, eugh) we drove to Paihia in the Bay of Islands which was an adorable little town where we found greenstone on the beach. well at least i hope it is! the next day we went to 90 mile beach where i found some interesting shells and then up to Cape Reinga where they have a lighthouse and an 800 year old tree which is apparently a Maori entrance to heaven/underworld. it was cool but it was a 6 hour round trip which was a bit extreme!
and now we are here back in Auckland! went out to watch the rugby last night after a box of horrible goon-like alcopop flavoured with fejoia (like a kiwi in taste, but shaped like a passion fruit- and yucky!) and today we went to see sex and the city movie (OMG!!! OMG!!! was so good! go see it now) and went up the sky tower, thinking about doing the sky jump if we have time!! sorry mum, ive got a habit of jumping off things now! two more days here then off to fiji we go where i may have to end my blog as it can be tricky to get on the net there but here's hoping! Cheers!
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