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Hi everyone,
It's been a while since I did my last blog, mainly because I have been extremely busy and had limited access to the internet. However, today I have arrived in Franz Josef and decided against paintballing so am using my Danish friend's laptop while he is out getting shot at by án ex Irish soldier. Although I am currently in the South Island, I am going to reflect on the first half of my New Zealand adventure in the North Island.
So to the beginning, way back on the 12th October where I left San Francisco at 8:30pm only to arrive in Auckland on the 14th October at 5:30am feeling very tired and confused at the bizarre scenario of losing a day due to international time-zones. Although functioning on automatic mode, I did manage to stumble my way through Auckland Domain to visit the Museum where I proceeded to spend 3 hours wandering around. On my second day I visited Rangitoto Island which is one of the world's youngest volcanos at just 600 years old. I was pleasantly suprised to find I had brought the sunny weather with me from San Francisco, my Kiwi Experience bus tour started on the 16th of October and this is where the real fun began!
One of the first things I realised upon reading my Kiwi guidebook is how much there is to see and do in New Zealand! I spent my first day kayaking in beautiful Cathedral Cove with a delicious spagetti bologonese cooked and waiting for me when I arrived at the hostel in Mercury Bay. On the second day I managed to fit in a flying visit to see some distant relatives in Rotorua, it was lovely to see Jean, Nigel, Mandie and Ella but was only a shame I could have stayed there longer! The reason I had to make my visit so brief was because I had planned to go to an authentic Maori hangi feast in the evening, in hindsight it wasn't worth the $88 as I found the whole thing quite touristy and a bit rushed.
The next morning we were able to go Luging in Rotorua which I think is the best value for money you can get in NZ in terms of an activity. It was really great fun, a lot of us did it so we managed to have a couple of very competitive races. Luging is like the winter olympic sport except there is a dry track and you use go-kart like cars to go down - highly recommended at just $30 for 3 runs. In the afternoon we visited Waitomo to see the glow-worm caves which was very interesting.
The people on the bus are very friendly and found it easy to make friends quickly, sat next to a Danish guy called Morton (whose laptop I am using) on the first day and have hung around a lot since. Quite a lot of English on the bus which is both good and bad, I have tried to mix with a range of people so know most of the bus - we have had Dutch, Germans, Australians, Swiss, Italians, Candians Swedish, Danish and even a Brazilian so a good range of people.
I did my skydive in Taupo which was one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life, words can't really describe the feeling of falling out of a plane at 15,000 ft but it is certainly both exciting and extremely scary! Mind you, it did take 4 attempts to get the plane up successfully because of the indifferent weather so when I did jump it was more of a relief then anything else! I didn't think I could top the feeling of a skydive but I was able to try white water rafting for the first time in River Valley the very next day which in a way I enjoyed even more! The river is a grade 5 and this is the most difficult rapids a novice can undertake, 2-3 hours of brilliant fun!
We finished our trek around the North Island with a vist to the capital Wellington. It was a bit of a brief stop as we arrived at 6pm and left at 7:15am the next day! I was quite close to missing the bus also as we all had a heavy one the night before! I could have hopped off the bus and stayed longer as I wanted to visit the museum but I am tight on time so had to stay with the same driver.
The nightlife has been good although New Zealand isn't exactly cheap for going out! There are about 35 of us on the bus and we have been like one big family, Flea (our bus driver) is a part-time photographer so all the pictures she takes we will get a copy of in Queenstown. Going to be a lot of epic pictures! I could go into even more detail about the other stuff I have been up to but there just isn't the time, very much enjoying the travelling lifestyle at the moment but I have to say New Zealand has been more like a holiday then anything else! In the South Island I am currently focused on bugeting and doing as many low-key activities as possible, having said that I am spending $155 on a 8 hour trek up the Fox Glacier tomorrow but as they say, when in Rome!
I hope everyone is enjoying Autumn in the UK as I am looking forward to spring/summer time in the South Island and Australia!!
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