New Zealand: green hills, white clouds, thermal activity and adrenaline activity all of the place. Only 15% of NZ has urban development, a local bus driver informed me there is 4 million people and 50 million sheep in the whole of the country! As we only had 11 days in the country we both decided to concentrate our travelling efforts on the Northland. I explored via the Kiwi Experience tour bus while Brides headed down to see his Cousin Sophie who is currently living in Wellington. New Zealand to me was all about the Kiwi Experience. While Brides headed off to see his cousin for a few days in the capital, i kicked it with the 'experience' crew. Had a great 9 days cruising the North Island, met some nice people, some from England, some from Denmark and Holland. The important thing was they all knew how to party! The towns we visited may have been small but we rocked them for all they where worth. After a night with Brides and So Young celebrating St Patricks day in Auckland, and getting a bit too drunk! (Well, they did make u drink 5 shots if you wanted a special St Patricks hat!!!!), i set off on the expo while Brides caught a plane to Wellington (the very to south of the North Island) planning to catch the Magic Tour Bus on his way back up North. First stop on the experience was Whitianga. Invovled a stop at Cathedral Cove and hot water beach. Cathedral Cove was beutiful. Favourite part was jumping off a cliff into the sea! It wasnt part of the group activties but there was some locals throwing themselves off so i though why not! Love the old cliff jumping. Hot water beach was as u can guess all about hot water. It was an awesome beach, you could dig your own hole in the sand and lay in it! The heat came from the extreme level of geothermal activity. On the way to Rotorura we particpated in walks around the countryside to fully appreciate the landscape surrounding our bus journey And then we went to...... Rotorua: all about the geothermal and culutral aspects of New Zealand. Chances to see geysers, mud pools and learn about the Maori culture. The Maori's are the orignal natives who ofcoarse are the proud creators of the Haka, the aggressive tribal dance made famous by the All Blacks rugby team, who perform it pre-match to intimidate their opposition. Seeing this dance close up is a moving, scary experience and laughing is forbidden, if not merely impossible. A Maori welcome on the other hand is perhaps the warmest in the world, it involves two people pressing together their noses, now this is difficult not to laugh at, what's wrong with a hand shake? . Rotorua iteself was a crazy town, you could be walking through the park and you'd see steam coming fromsmall holes in the ground (geysers), with the mix of sulphure dioxide gas creating a horrid smell becuase of the geothermal activity. There are geysers and loads of hot springs. At night me and So Young headed down to the pollynesian spa to sit in the hot pools, the spa was voted inthe top ten of the best spa's in the world! Cant be bad and it was cheap. Waitomo This place was all about the caves. highlights included glow worms! the cave is made from limestone, which is very old dead fish! bit crazy. Enjoyed an educational tour of the cave and a BBQ at night time followed by red wine! Lake Taupo A town full of adrenaline activities! We were there for two days and enjoyed the small town ambience. The actual Lake was said to be caused by a massive volcanic explosion in 186 ad that made a hole large enough to fit Singapore in!!! Thats crazy. Didnt actually go in the lake tho, we went further up the river to enjoy the natural hot water than flowed from the streams. It was beautiful, the river was freezing while the hot pools where amazingly hot! Enjoyed a great night in Taupo, living the bars up to their fullest, dance moves all over the shop. Lake Taupo is where i did my Skydive, i did it a few days later on my way back up the North island, due to the weather. The skydive was amazing, it was tandem so a professional was attached to my back pulling the strings. I wasnt so much scared but had a feeling like wow! Oh my god im 12,000 feet in the sky jumping into thin air! Awesome. River Valley River Valley boasted a great wooden hostel cabin in the middle of nowhere next right next to a grade 5 whitewater rafting river. Although i didnt go rafting due to the old budget it was cool to chill in wilderness for a day. Wellington Awesome city, the capital of New zealand boasting a great arty culture, swarve cafes and lively nightlife. I enjoyed a night out there before heading back up the island to skydive and arrive in Auckland to chill. Unfortunately Brides had already left Wellington by the time i'd got there but we did bump into each other in Lake Taupo, after he and his cousin Sophie had spent the day doing the Tongariro crossing, supposadly the best 1 day hike in New Zealand, if not the world. Our tour buses both arrived back at Auckland central backpacker hostel 2 days before we were due to fly out. After sharing our stories and experiences Brides went visiting a friend we met in Fiji who lived nearby while i chilled out and prepared for South America.