So i left auckland and got on the kiwi experience bus up to the Paihia at the bay of islands. I'm on this bus for nearly 4 weeks. Its a sort of guided tour of the country but they also sort you out with accomodation and activities (which you have to pay for)

Paihia was really nice. Nice place. I went out on a big speedboat that went insanely fast and cos the sea was so rough it was airborne quite a few times as it jumped off of waves. It was pretty quick but really good. That night i had my first proper night out so far. Had a BBQ at the hostel bar and then got really drunk and did some (really bad) karaoke. Met a good bunch of people but then left them the next day to head back to auckland. Spent one more night there then got on the bus towards Mercury Bay.

On the way to Whitianga (which is mercury bay's Maori name) I went for a dip in the sea (so cold!) at cathedral cove. That night in mercury bay was jjust a few beers, loads of pasta and me winning loads of money at pool (and i'm crap at pool so they must've been realllllly bad!)

The next day we went towards Roturua where there is a lot of geothermal activity. we stopped and did a walk through an old gold mine (and also hugged a tree-long story!) Roturua smells of fart. it's as simple as that. There's loads of thermal pools, mud pools, geysers and the like. Loads of sulphur hence the fart-i-ness of the place. Went Luge-ing, which is basically hurtling down a massive hill in a wee sled with wheels and handlebars and rubbish brakes. great fun and i avoided serious injury! that night we went to a Maori heritage show and had the most amazing meal that was cooked in the dirt. sounds rubbish but was just brilliant. then when we got o the bar it was one of the Danish girls 21st. we made her drink 21 shots in a row and then all had a great night.

Next day we went to waitomo. on the way we went to a sheep show whcih obviously sounds s*** but was really funny and the sheepdogs were class. We also went to the Agrodome to see the girls do a bungy swing. then went through to waitomo for some swimming in the river and then more BBQ and beer (hard work!) and also the lads in the door invented 'Skulling'

Ok, so saturday 15/11/08 aka today. so far, one of the best days of my life. This morning i went blackwater rafting through some underground cave systems. You get a guided group tour through the caves-walking through underground rivers, jumping off waterfalls and floating through rivers sitting in your rubber ring and with only the glowworms in the cave ceiling to guide you. simply amazing. then this afternoon.....i said i would never... but i did a skydive. It was................just simply, ridiculously awesome. i jumped out of a tiny wee plane at 15000ft, did a free fall (whilst pulling some seriously cool dance moves) for 60secs and then parachuted down for 5mins. i even got to steer the parachute for a min or two. so so so glad i convinced myself to do it and i can see myself just doing everything now (money willing of course). still cant stop smiling and i'm off to get hammered with the group cos we all did the jump today. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh