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Hello once again, or 'Keora', as the Maoris would say.
Im writing right now from Pahia in the Bay of Islands. I last wrote from Queenstown where I ended up staying a good 5 nights or so as bus after bus of people would turn up day after day all looking to go out partying! Just when I thought Id have a quiet night in, a new bus load of people would turn up and I'd soon be convinced to join them on a night out! I eventually managed to wrestle myself away from that cycle and began my journey North.
Having already seen much of New Zealands south island, we headed towards the north island but not before stopping for a day or two at Kaikoura, famed for its marine life. I went swimming with dolphins there and it was so cool! The species of dolphin there was the dusky dolphin, amongst the most playful of all dolphins, and they lived up to their reputation! When we got in the water we were told to make noises to attract them, and they;d swim right up to you literally about a foot away and swim in circles around u! Im still not entirely sure whether us making noises was intended to attract the dolphins or amuse the crew, as we did end up looking and sounding quite like the local special needs school was on a day out to the seaside! Aside from the doplhins I also saw a wandering albatross fly over me, the bird witht the longest wing span of any bird in the world, 3.5 metres!
After spending a lot of time in the South Island I had to wizz through a few cities including Wellington, the capital city, and Taupo, before stopping a couple of nights at Rotorua. Rotorua was quite interesting. For a start, the whole town smells. Of egg. It has all these mud pools and the sulphur causes the whole town to smell quite awful. Luckily I had a blocked nose for 2 days but when it cleared I was quite shocked! I did a couple of activities here, both pretty special in their own right! The first was a visit to a Maori village where they performed traditional songs and dances, as well as the fearsome haka. I was quite fascinated by it all and could have watched the all day. The haka is really very intimidating. Seriously, if I had been on Captain Cooks boat that first landed in New Zealand, when I saw the Maoris and their haka I would have ran right back on the boat and sailed away as quick as I could. They are traditionally a warrior race and some of the men are HUGE! Once again though, its got to be seen to be beleived, I took a little video of it but in person its really scary!
The second thing I did in Rotorua was possibly the silliest and most hilarious thing ive ever done. Its called zorbing. Basically, they put me and a friend in a giant inflatable ball, poured some water in with us, and pushed us down a hill! It was absolutely hilarious, and i laughed the whole way down! Id highly recommend it! Ive got some photos, ill upload them when i get a chance.
From Rotorua we headed up to Auckland, NZs biggest city. As with many cities, there wasnt a great deal that interested me to do during the day, so I headed up here to Paihia, in the bay of Islands. Yesterday I did a day trip to Cape Reinga, the most northern point of New Zealand, where the Tasman and Pacific Oceans meet. Its not everyday that you swim in 2 different oceans within a couple of hours. The scenery there was beautiful but a highlight was certainly sand boarding down the sand dunes! The dunes were very steep and it made for some excellend high speed boarding down the sand! We finished th day trip off with what seems like NZs staple food- fish and chips.
My time at this net cafe is almost out so I'd better run! Speak to u all soon!!!
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