I am currently in Wellington and it has been a fun filled time getting here from Rotorua.

My last days in Rotorua were very chilled we walked around the town, visited the local hot pools in the park and swam in the hostel pool. The hostel pool was outdoors but was really warm just like laying in a bath which was nice as New Zealand is definately not the hottest country at the moment. As we were leaving Rotorua we stopped at a thermal park and saw the geysers that were there and boiling mud. We also got to see a Kiwi bird there. They were much larger than I thought they were going to be. We also stopped on the way into Waitomo and watched Angora rabbits being sheared. Very odd as they tie them up as the were shearing them.

The afternoon I got to Waitomo I went black water rafting. This is bascily a few hours in the caves that are all around there. They kit you out in wetsuits nice hats and boots so we were all looking good then we absailed into a cave. They absailing was cool having never done that before. it was very tight at some points and apparently some larger people have got stuck in there. After absailing down we walked through the caves then were attached to a wire and dropped down into a lower bit. They made us switch our head torch off for this and set some explosions off as people were going down so you really didnt know what to expect. When we got down there we sat on a ledge and eat some cake and then were told we were going to be jumping into the water below. The guide picked me out to go first which I was a bit unsure about but didnt really have a lot of chance but to do it.You had to jump with an inner tube around you and land inside it so you didnt go too deep. I wasnt expecting to get as submerged in the water as I did. It was very cold and came as a bit of a shock. Once everyone was down we hooked our feet together and had to switch our head torches off again so we could see the glow worms on the ceilings as the guides pulled us around. it was then time to get out of our inner tubes and walk and swim through the water in the caves. We were all doind lots of silly dancing to stay warm as we were walking along so Im sure we must have looked pretty funny if anyone could see us. The last part of it was climbing out of the caves through three waterfalls. Its not as hard as it sounds once you get used to the water rushing past you and the climbing out was probably my favorite part. It was good to see daylight at the end after being underground for a few hours.

The next day after we had left the hostel we had to wait for another group to finish the caving. Some of us sat on the bus watching a dvd which probably wasnt the best plan as we managed to blow something and the dvd player no longer works and when the bus driver tried to start the bus the battery was flat. An interesting hour followed as the bus driver called in people with big enough batteries to jump start the bus and lots of men stood round scratching their heads trying to figure out how we were going to get going. Eventually they sorted it and then we had a record speed bus drive onto our next stop to try and make up the time which wasnt that enjoyable.

Our next stop was Taupo. I decided that this would be the place where I would do my skydiving and a group of us got picked up to get taken out to the airfield. I kept waiting to get scared as I was preparing to jump but didnt feel it at all even when I was up in the plane. I even asked my sky diving instructing to spin me as we came out of the plane. The only thing I wasnt prepared for was how cold it was going to be up there. For some reason it hadnt even entered my head that at 15,000 feet its a bit chilly. Trying to move during the free fall is very difficult so my dvd is pretty interesting and very funny. After the parachute was pulled it was very relaxing floating down aside from the part when the instructer asked me if I wanted to spin a bit to which I of course replied yes. I even managed to land without falling over so I was pretty pleased with that. I thought sky diving would be something I would only do once in my life but already I want to do it again.

That evening we had a toga party in the bar at our hostel with free pizzas. It was all a bit rushed after doing my skydive then coming back having a shower and trying to wrap a sheet around myself to look like it was a toga so not the best costume. Some of the other peoples looked really good though. The next evening was haloween so another fancy dress party was planned. We spent part of the day trying to sort oour costumes out which wasnt that easy seen as it was holoween and most of the cosutmes had been sold. I found a hula necklace and decided to go as a hula girl and made a skirt out of crepe paper. it looked ok till the bar got really busy and bits of my skirt starting to get ripped off. I was glad I was wearing shorts underneath.

The next day was an early start after a very late night so we were all feeling a bit delicate. On the way to river valley we stopped and walked for a few hours to a warterfall which seemed to do the trick for waking us all up. Our next stop was in the middle of nowhere. We were staying in a lodge which the bus couldnt even get down to so we had to walk down and there was nothing around for miles. The dorm at the lodge was definately the most interesting one I had stayed at so far. It was basicly bunk beds made out of one big bed across the room. Everybody in them was from our bus apart from a very random guy that was right in the middle of the bed. When we first got there I ended up with the bed next to him. I then noticed that he had the dirtiest feet I had ever seen it was like he had been walking in mud all day with no shoes on. I promptly moved to a space on the top bunk as was glad I did as the next morning he still hadnt wached his feet and had slept in the same clothes he wore all evening. I know were meant to be dirty travellers but I thought that was taking it to the extreme.

The next morning was another early start to go white water rafting. We went on rapids that went up to grade five so very exciting. On the first rapid we went down the other boat flipped which was very funny to wactch but I dont think the guys enjoyed it that much. their guide later admitted he had done it deliberately to get them used to falling in the water. I was glad it happened to them and not us. The next rapid we want down was called the swimmers rapid which we told we could swim down instead of going in the boat. All of my boat decided to swim but I think the other one decided they were wet enough. The swimming was good as it got us used to the cold water. To get back into the raft you were pulled up by your life jacket and hauled in. Very elegant! We were all taught what to do as the guide instructed us but it did seem to get a bit frantic as you were going through the rapids when you were told to hold on then sit down get up and forward paddle all in very quick succesion whilst water was being thrown at you. At one of the grade five rapids the instructers left us at the side and went down to check what it was like. Apparently because the rivers are so new here they are always changing with rocks moving about and the day before the boss had flipped a raft on the rapid. They came back and told us we were going to go down a different side to normal and they had never done it that way before. It all went well though and both rafts made it with nobody overboard. The next rapid the other raft went down first and hit a few problems ending up going down backwards wiht both the instructer and another girl being thrown out. We made it down ok though. At one point at a still in the water we were told we could climb onto a huge rock and jump off it. The lads were straight up there with mosts of the girls staying in the boat. At first I decided I didnt want to do it as jumping into water from heights is not usually my sort of thing. Then I changed my mind and decided to go for it. I jumped off without hesitation and without fear again. I am starting to wonder where my sense of fear has gone. At the end our guide asked us whether we would like to flip the boat as we hadnt come out at all. We all decided we wanted to so performed what they called the helicopter. The guide took a rope attached to the front of the raft and pulled it forward whilst we all sat at the back at the boat paddling in opposite directions. It meant that the front of the raft rose forward whilst spinning around faster and faster untill it flipped over. Great fun!

After that we left river Valley and headed on to Wellington which is were I am now. Its a very nice city and I have just been chilling out mostly since I got here. We went a visited a musuem and just generally walked around. being here a few days more busses turn up with people you have met at other times which is wierd seeing the same people again. There are lots of people here at the moment so the bar should be good tonight. Tomorrow I leave here to go across to the South Island which I am looking forward to although Im hoping it wont be too rough as its very windy here at the moment.