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November 3rd wed: woke up feeling like I had a hangover as I was so tired. Caught the train to the airport, went through to departure lounge gate and fell asleep. Woke up 40mins later feeling much better. Flight over was fine. Saw the film inception. Very good film although a little confusing.
Staying at base hostel. Was pretty knackered so went into the lounge and fell asleep for an hour. Stephanie then woke me up and we went to the supermarket for food. In the night just had food and went to bed around 12, after looking at travelling around nz.
Thurs 4th: today walked around the city and the harbour front and up mt eden volcano, which is well worth the trek. You can look straight into the crater and it also offers fantastic views of the city. In the evening I went to the dentist and in the night just chose which bus company to go for.
Fri 5th nov: spent most of morning booking stray bus travel. Had another walk around the town. Went for a nap in the afternoon and in the evening attended motion on the ocean. A party boat that went out into the harbour. It was a pretty unique experience as they only have this party boat like 6 times a year and it was bonfire night. So seeing the city all lit up from across the harbour under the harbour bridge and seeing the fireworks all around was pretty cool. Party boat finished at 11 so we went back and had an ealyish night. There was an after party but steph wasnt up for it and I thought it would be nice to wake up early without a hangover or still drunk.
Sat: caught the stray bus up to the bay of islands at 8. we stopped at goat island and a cruise on a glass bottom boat, warksworth to some kauri trees, ekuteti (or something) beach and finally at paihia. Staying at base. After we got there we had a walk along the beach front and went to the supermarket for supplies. In the night just chilled out in the lounge area.
Sun 7th: day trip up to cape reinga with 'dune rider' tour company. We first stopped at taupo for some mid morning snack, then off to the gumdiggers park, then to a pretty beach (waitikitiki I think) then up to the cape reinga which is the northern most point of new zealand and is where the tasman sea and the pacific ocean meet. We then went to ninety mile beach and did some dune boarding. Stopped off somewhere for some fish and chips and got back to paihia around 8ish. Were pretty tired so another early night.
Mon 8th: today we rented out a two man kayak and did a mammoth paddle. We left paihia and went around the 3 close islands, we then went over to russell. After a short break there we carried on up the side of the coast line up to tapeka point lighthouse and then back to paihia. We reckoned it was over 15km in total and took us just under 4hrs. After the kayak we were pretty well knackered and just chilled out and got an early night. We are staying in the mousetrap hostel which is a pretty cool place. Its all higgledy piggledy and feels like ur on a boat.
tues 9th: today we went for a walk up to waitangi treaty grounds, where the treaty between the british and the maouri people was signed. It cost $25 to go into the grounds so we didnt bother. Instead we casrried on to the haruru falls. It was an hour and a half walk through the forst to the falls. Caught the stray bus back to auckland at 4 and got there at 8. then went for a happy jacks and then back to the room to chill out. We got upgraded from a 10bed dorm to a 6 bed with only one other guy there.
Wed: went to the library to sort my accom out for xmas /news years and had some real issues. And also skyped home and managed to speak to dad. It was good to speak to him after such a long time!
Did some other things to do with the stray bus. Nipt into town for food and on the way back I sliced my toe open. Really bad this time. Got back to hostel and there was blood all over my flip flop, went into shower and it would not stop bleeding. Some fatty deposits came out and I new I needed hospital treatment. I then tried to close the wound and it was spirting blood everywhere. Went to hospital. Was straight in to see the doc and straight to see the nurse. She gave me some stitches and cleaned and dressed the wound. The nurses were really cool and funny. They were english so there was a lot of banter and another one was a gavin and stacey fan so there were a lot of imitations from the show. Went backto the library in the evening and just managed to book accom for xmas and news years. I will be staying in queenstown. It was stephs last day, and after sending it with me in the library and hospital we went out for food and a drink.
thurs: said goodbye to steph and caught the bus to coromandel. Bus is pretty quiet. Full but noone saying much at all. Stopped off at thames for food. Didnt seem to be much there. In the afternoon went for a nice drive through the coromandel forest to hahei. Staying in a campsite that has a backpacker type hostel on it. Didnt do the walk to cathedral cove, foot to bad. In the evening went to hot springs beach, with a plastic bag over my foot. Didnt go into the springs for that reason. But the waves came in and ruined everything on a couple of occasions. In the evening sat around and mingled with the people on the bus. Met some nice friends and its a shame they are all leaving tomorrow.
fri: got on the bus to leave but then had to get off as they had too many people. literally did nothing all day. Just read and kept my foot elevated. Dont think I went further than 50m from the hostel. In the evening I went to the local pub but found it pretty empty. Had a drink and went back. Hoping to make the walk to cathedral cover tomorro. Woke up a couple of time because of foot, but just aching pain really, not bad
sat: went for a walk to cathedral cove. Lovely walk with some stunning scenery over the coast. Stopped off at stingray bay which was also really pretty. Gemstone bay was all rocky but looked really good for snorkelling. Got back just after midday, 3hrs in total. In the afternoon just rested the foot and read. The new stray bus came so in the afternoon and evening it was all about making new friends. Woke up in the middle of the night a couple of times with huge pains in my toe. No idea why but happened a couple of times.
Sun: woke up early and on the bus at 8. we drove straight to xxxxx where they produce the l&p soft drink. Stopped there for breakfast and carried on through to hamilton, the chlamydia capital of new zealand - I didnt get off the bus, knowing my reputation with women I kept everything in my pants, didnt even go to the toilet! ha. It was a very quick stop there and onto raglan. We got there around 12:30. stocked up for supplies and headed on to our hideaway lodge in the woods overlooking whale bay. Where singer/surfers ben harper and jack johnson have 'holiday' homes. In the evening just chiiled out in the hostel as we are to far away from raglan town to venture out anywhere.
Played spit with ciara, then a group of us went and had a look at the glow worms in the woods.
Monday 15th: raglan to maketu. We stopped off at waitomo caves where you have the option to do black water rafting, caving, abseiling and pretty much anything else u can do in a cave. Unfortunately I couldnt do anything because of my toe. Lucky enough there were a couple of people who decided not to do anything to.so we went up to see some caves that we could walk in for free. We then went to the nearby town for an hour. We then went back and picked up the cavers and proceeded onto uncle boys at maketu. We had a cultural night tonight. Uncle boys is a hostel that an elderly maori guy has set up. He has some people there who provide some dancing and singing. We first got welcomed by the maori with a battle dance (the haka) and then a friendly dance after we showed them we meant no harm. We all then welcomed each other with a traditional maori welcome with the touching of noses. They then performed some dances and songs for us. The guys then had to go off and learn the haka and the girls had to learn a traditional dance. We then had to perform in front of the others, guys infront of girls and vice versa. We also had a wonderful roast dinner with a selection of deserts. In the night we all just stayed there (no where else to go)and drunk and got to know the group. We all stayed in one room. 45 of us. It was the biggest dorm room ive stayed in. a few of us didnt get to bed till 3.
tuesday 16th: left uncle boys and drove to rotorua. Stopped for rafting at hells gate. The rafting was $80 for grade 5 rapids. The rapids were really steep of which one was a 7m waterfall. But it didnt last that long and there werent that many rapids. But think it was worth the money just for the thrill of those few very steep rapids. I then got off at rotorua with ciara and dorothy and katie and charlottle. We all stayed at the same hostel. With me katie and charlotte in the same room. While everyone else on the bus continued on to taupo. In the afternoon I prettymuch slept through it, in the evening just chilled out and watched a dvd with the girls.
wednesday: had a bit of a lie in. just chilled out with katie and charlotte in the morning. In the afternoon went out for a walk down to the lake to see the mud pools and springs etc. met this guy in his early fifties who said I could walk over to the hot pools (the footpath was set back behind a small fence with signs saying not to proceed), he came with me and told me a bit about them. After that he asked me If I wanted to see some more pools, mud pools, guysers etc and he would take me around in his van. So we did. We went to the park and saw a few pools and then went and saw a guyser. He then took me back to the river front. At the end he asked if I wanted to go see some hot streams and waterfalls, but it was 40min drive away. He seemed pretty harmless so far so thought why not. Good opportunity to see the place.we ended up in the middle of nowhere, saw a few lakes and then drove onto the wai-o-tapu thermal activity centre. We didnt go in but he showed me some cool stuff around the area for free. He then took me to a waterfall. Where he went for a swim, a naked one! It was so funny I had to try hard not to laugh out loud. Here I was, middle of nowhere, standing in a pool below a waterfall with a 50yr old guy swimming but naked around me. He then proceeded to stand up under the waterfall. The water was only 3ft deep so, yeah, saw everything a young boy doesnt want to. After that he then asked me if I wanted to strip off and go for a swim, he had a spare towel and a bag to keep my stuff in. I politely declined just as visions of deliverance popped into my head. We stayed for 5mins longer and he got out. We then stopped off at a place where a cold stream meets a hot stream. We then drove back to rotorua. As I left I offered him $20 for taking me around. But I feel like I paid him $20 to swim naked around me. Told the girls when I got back and they were histerical. We went out in the night to the pheasant plucker. Only place that seemed to be open. Had a live band there who played some good music.
thursday 18th: saw katie amd charlotte off at 12. I then went and walked around the lake but my toe started hurting so went back and then went to the library where I spent the afternoon finalising my stray tour, mainly after queenstown. In the night chilled out with ciara and dorothy and watched gran torino.
friday 19th: today was the start of the stray go east tour. Pickup was at 8am. Dorothy and ciara were also on the bus. We drove straight to maraehaka bay (couple of photo stops and food stop etc). When we got there the 7 of us walked up to the waterfall, which was woth the hour walk. After that 4 of us went out in the kayaks and went around the rocks. But only for like 1/2hr. The hostel is situated right on beach/rocks and has an amazing scenery out to the sea. Its so chilled out. In the evning we had a group bbq and sat around the log fire chatting.
saturday 20th: today we drove to gisborne. We stopped off at a couple of places, it rained in the morning though so the sites weren't great. We stopped at a church, for some caravan fish and chips and had an amazing icecream. In the evening we had a tradiotnal maori meal and some wine tasting of local wine, long bush. Everyone was pretty drunk after it and we sat around in the hole chatting away. Got to bed around 3.
sunday 21st: woke up at 5am to see the sunrise. But when I woke it was hammering down. So went back to bed. Woke up at 8 to get ready for the sting ray feeding. Just 4 of us doing the stingray feeding. We were in the water for half an hour. There were short tailed rays and eagle rays. Fed them about 4 times and stroked them and gave them a little itch around the noise. After that we went to town but it was still raining so we just sat in a cafe. Then everyone left and I walked back to the hostel. The weather was a little better and jason (tour guide) said it was only half an hour. 2 hrs later I get back to hostel. Just as I got back it started raining and didnt stop till about 5:30. its quite cold today. Got my jumper and trousers on. Got internet all night so spent evening watching tv and uploading photos. It is only me staying here and there is a guy working here who is also around.
Monday: did sod all. It rained all day. Didnt even venture out of the hostel. Early night.
Tuesday. Weather was better today. Got a bike from the hostel and rode into town. Then had a walk up the main street, which was quite a long one. After that I rode back and went to the beach. Not a great beach, just stood in the water and read my book for a while. In the evening the stray bus turned up but with only two people. Tonight is pretty chilled out. The guys here just had a little acoustic session.
Wed 24th: got up at 5am to see the sunrise. It was the first sunrise in the world for this day. It was cloudy but there was a small gap in the clouds so I was able to see someof the sun. went back to bed and woke up at 8:30. it rained all morning. In the afternoon I was able to have a quick bike ride up the road to the river but then it started raining again. Rest of the day just chilled at the hostel, playing pool, table football, darts and on the internet. Had an early night.
thurs 25th: left gisborne at 8am as we had a long drive back to rotorua and I had to catch the bus at 12:30. sat on the bus for ages before it eventually left rotorua. We stopped at wai-o-tapu and haku falls. So we didnt get to taupo till 6. went to the lake and chilled there with some people from the bus and in the evening chilled out in hostel and then went to mulligans pub with 5 guys and had a couple of beers. Not a late one tonight.
friday 26th: today walked around the town. Its situated on the edge of lake taupo and in the distance you can see the mountain range of the tongariro national park. Bought some new socks and a rucksack. My man bag is fine but its full to the brim and wen I walk it constantly bounces off my leg and its iritating. In the afternoon I walked around some of the lake. Stopped at this bench right on the lake edge and fell asleep for half hour. In the night went out into town with jody ( chelseas friend from canada but we didnt actually know this till well into the evening) and the danish couple. But me and jody stayed out till like 3. seeing that it was just the 2 of us and we didnt know each other we got on really well and had a great night with the locals.
saturday 27th: today was the big lake taupo bike race. So town was packed and the streets were all blocked off for the bike track. It was extremely hot today. 29 degrees. Was going to mountain bike but decided against it. So went for a walk up the river instead. In the evening there was a bmx competition so watched that. Some of the guys were really good and did double sumersaults etc. in the night just watched some dvds in the tv room.
sunday 28th: got up at 6am to watch the rugby game in the hostel. I was the only one up. Rented a bike and went mountain biking. It took hour and half to get to craters of the moon, but it went along the river and then through the woods. I was a little tired when I got there (I am so unfit its not funny, will have to get some serious fitness done when I get home). There are quite a few mtb tracks around here so I sampled a few and had a great 2 hours on some cool single track. This point I was knackered and wasnt looking forward to the ride back. The downhill bits were great, but the uphill in most cases I got off and pushed. I think I even ran out of latic acid as my legs kept cramping up and I cudnt straighten them. Legs are going to absolute kill tomorrow. Prob did too much today as I have the walk tomorrow. But even though it was a tough ride I loved it. In the afternoon I slept and chilled out. Another film night.
monday 29th: up early as we were attempting the tongariro crossing. The weather was very cloudy though so I didnt think we'd do it. It was an hour ½ drive from taupo. When we got to the tongariro national park the weather was beautiful. Had to do a guided walk which was $55 which was annoying. If u have a car or can hitchhike there from the hostel then I dont see why u cant do it for free as there are no park fees or anything. There were around 19 of us hiking. The walk was 19km in total. We climbed up the main track and walked around the bottom of mount doom, then climbed up the tongariro range. Stopping for lunch overlooking the emerald lakes. We then climbed up to the summit of mount tongariro (1900m) but as we got up to the top the cloud closed in and the view was completely blocked. Decending we went down a scree slope, running down it. And then the rest was a pretty gradual walk. Lot of the girls started flagging and the we had to stop every 20mins or so and wait for them to catch up. Overall the hike took 6hrs, but really I feel I could have done it in 4 as it wasnt that difficult at all and probably could have climbed mount doom also. Although an hour after getting back to the hostel the cloud completely closed in and blackened and looked like there were some serious showers there. The hostel was like a mountain lodge. I had a room with 4 single beds, 2 on ground floor and two on a mezzanine level. We also had an ensuite. In the evening just chilled out with the danish couple and a played cards with a dutch girl. It was a pretty early night, 11pm. I was in a room with two really annoying people, one english and one german. But they didnt bother me too much as I didnt see them.
tues 30th: didnt fancy staying any longer in the NP as there wasnt much to do there and I had already chilled out in taupo. So I was going to catch the bus or hitch hike. Fortunately the bus had a couple of spaces free so I jumped on. The bus drove straight to wellington with no good stops on the way. Saw ciara and dorothy in my hostel. Shared a room with 3 dutch girls I met on the crossing. Had a walk around the town in the afternoon and in the evening had a free meal with the hostel, but I supersized it for $4 and it was still smaller than a normal microwave meal. So then had to make a couple of sandwiches. In the night played cards with ciara and caught up. We went back to the bar (where we had food) and just as I sat in the booth someone called my name. I turned around and it was ross phillips. Had a chat with him for a while and he went to change and get ready to go out. I played cards with ciara. I then met ross and we went to the welsh dragon bar for a pint. We signed our names in the guest book.
wed 1st dec: walked up mount victoria. A mountain that takes like 20mins to climb and offers fantastic views overlooking wellington, both parts (a big mountain seperates the city). Went back to hostel and had food and again bumped into ciara. We went to the museum together and then chilled out on the green grass at the harbour front. Moved to base hostel as it was a lot cheaper and had dorm rooms available. Went down to the bar in the evening and met naomi and her friends. Played some drinking games with them. Went out into town and then back. Drank quite a lot as it was only $4 pints. Got dancing lessons off a chilean girl (altho was having difficulty moving my body in sync due to alcohol intake) but she was surprised by how much of a good kisser. I told her dont judge a book by its cover but she had no idea what I was on about. Went to bed at 3:30
thurs 2nd: got out of bed at 11 and had breakfast/ brunch and met naomi and her friends. Nobody had anything planned so we walked through the city to the cable car and went up to the botanical garden and chilled in the kids park and then down the bottom on some greenery. In the evening chilled out in the room by myself, sorting photos and journal. It was really relaxing as I was looking out down onto the city, with the window open blowing in nice fresh air and a bar near by had a cheese night so they were playing all the great 80's and 90's music. Went down to see naomi when she had come back from the cinema and said goodbye. Had an earlyish night as I needed to be up by 6.
friday: was up early as had to be at the pier at 7 to catch the bluebridge ferry over to picton in the south island. The ferry was hour and a half late. The crossing was 3hrs and very calm, $46. The views leaving the north island and entering the south island were of high rolling hills / mountains with the south being more magnificent. Just entering the queen charlotte sound I saw a seal. Got a free shuttle from the port into the centre. Around a 4 minute journey. Checked into the villa. A nice hostel converted from a house. After grabbing some food went for a walk around the town. In the evening after shopping I made some friends with 2 northampton girls and 3 english boys who had moved to auckland and were here on holiday. We played a game of jack slaps. Similar to snap but each person counts (ace to king) and if the card is the same as the number they call then everyone snaps, or if its a jack. We played this till 11:30 then went to seumus', an irish bar and the place open at this time (it was a friday as well). Place shut at 1 so went to bed.
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