New Zealand May 2005 – The Diary

May 8-  
 
Arrived in Auckland, and got the bus to the hostel, weather doesn’t look too great hope this rain doesn’t continue. The hostel’s nice quite big and clean with friendly staff, nobody else in my room, which I’ve come to be used to after my time in Fiji, and I guess that will all change soon. Phoned the kiwi experience to check all is ok for my pick up tomorrow, sounded nice and I’m gonna be collected at half eight tomorrow morning. Spent time on the net reading about the next three weeks touring the country, all the activities sound amazing! Made some notes on some of the things I think I’ll do, even though I’ll probably change my mind when it comes to deciding. Went out for a couple of hours to look round a few shops got a film developed. Found my sanctuary in Starbucks, so had a sandwich and read my book for a while, hopefully wont have time for that in the next few weeks. Went on the net again before turning in, need to get some rest before my next big adventure  :)

May 9-

WOW! What a day! Got picked up by the Big Green Bus and Hokie the driver (cool guy) around 8:30. Stopped off at a few other hostels picking people up, then at the Kiwi Experience Office for paperwork then started on our way. Drove up to Mt Eden or Makaurau, its a dormant volcano with absolutely amazing views. Driving through some fantastic country, left the motorway behind us. Keep thinking of LOTR’s and its scenery shots, never dreamed it would be this beautiful in real life. Got details of the first activity – Sea Kayaking at Hahei Beach. [url]www.hahei-newzealand.co.nz[/url] Sitting at the front of the bus as don’t want to get travel sick so I was the first to sign the clip board for this activity, didn’t realise at the time that I would be the first and last! So got dropped off at the beach, had to get a towel and cossy out my pack with all the bus looking out at me. Hokie assured me that the organisers would arange my transport back to the hostel afterwards, so being brave †;) I went and got changed and walked down the beach. Just to help the nerves there was nobody there but didn’t have to wait too long before a guide came along with about five more people and some kayaks. Given a safety talk and some nice looking gear to wear (little did I know this would be the first of many silly outfits that I would wear in the next few weeks). And we set off, such a beautiful afternoon, the sea wasn’t too choppy and we saw some immense cliffs, and loads of birds. Stopped off at this secluded cove and had hot chocolate, before heading back under a setting sun. Quickly got changed with achey arms and had a lift back in a taxi. It was dark by the time I got to the hostel in the village of Whitianga, everyone had already left for the pub so there was just the manager to meet me and show me to my bunkbed. Had a shower and changed and made my way through the village to the pub where I found to my relief the rest of the bus. Got something to eat and a glass of wine and settled in for a natter with some of the others. Everyone seems so layed back and chatty, we all walked back to the hostel later, so tired.

May 10-

Big day today (and not only because I met Ellen, Chris and Tim). Had to leave early but it was worth the cold to see the morning mist over the water. Apparently I was talking in my sleep last night along with a guy called Dean who was in our room, ah well when you share with others what can you do! Its gotta be better than us snoring though right?
Anyway set off again and stopped off in Hobbiton, just for a quick photo by the sign, no time to explore, but then this isn’t the real Hobbiton there are just holes in the ground left now. Made it to Rotorua the smelly capital of NZ! It’s famous for it really – the smell is due to the sulphur which smells like rotten eggs.
Lots of activities to choose from but thought I’d give Luging a try, racing around in a go-cart type contraption down concrete tracks, its definitely more fun than it sounds! Well, loads of the boys went with only a dutch girl called Ellen and me! So we were considered as brave being the only girls. Had a good laugh together and met Chris and Tim too – and our friendship started here!
Hokie went luging with us as well so afterwards we went back to the hostel for the rest of the bus, to go to Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve. So cultural – interesting but fun. Got to see some Maori wood carvings, bubbling mud pools, steaming geysers and even a kiwi bird!
Then we were split males and females and taken by a guide; we were taught some traditional dancing with what I can only describe as balls on string. While the guys were taught the Haka – †no offensive to our boys but they weren’t quite as scary as these guys [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8DX_8-uXUk[/url]. It was great fun and really brought us all closer, as lets face it, it was pretty embarrasing!
In the evening we all went to Tamaki, where one of the guys was selected as our leader and had to stand his ground against a Maori warrior, then we looked round a pre-european Maori village, saw how the traditional dancing should have been done and had a Hangi meal, which is a feast cooked in an earthen oven. It was really tasty and gave us more of a chance to get to know each other.

May 11-

My 22nd Birthday!

Spoke to Mum and Dad this morning, they sang Happy Birthday, and I opened the card that Mum put in my pack. Set off from Rotorua to Waitomo, leaving some of the people behind, pretty sure we’ll see them again though.
Ellen told Hokie it was my birthday so he told the whole bus and so they sang Happy Birthday too. We then stopped off and went for a walk before getting to Waitomo, decided to be brave and go for the Black Abyss Black water rafting trip.
Only 3 of us from the bus went on this one, it was the most amazing 5 hours. First we had to put on wetsuits, shorts, booties and helmets – so flattering! Then we were given a quick lesson in how to abseil, its been a while since the mountain in zim! As the first guide went down into the caves the second could see how nervous I was, so he made me go first. It was a straight vertical 30m abseil, where half way down it got really narrow and I had to squeeze through. But once I’d got to the bottom I felt fantastic, the caves were amazing. Once the others were all down we squeezed through another gap in the rocks and then one of our guides left us again. The second attached me to a harness and pushed me off into nothingness, I flew through the air into the pitch black so scary but thrilling! Then bang I stopped and a light came on and there was the first guide. That was the flying fox! The others followed and we all sat down for a drink, sitting on the floor of the cave cliff, dangling our feet over the side. Our next step was literally that – a step/jump off the cliff – holding a large rubber ring underneath us, jumping into darkness and hitting the water below with a bang. Wow!
Then we lay back and floated down the underwater rivers in our rubber rings, linking our feet under each others arms the guides pulled us as one. We turned off the torches on our helmets and stared up at the glow worms, I’ve never seen anything like it, so beautiful. We stopped for a while to have a drink and some marshmallow chocolate fish. The guides sang me Happy Birthday and poured warm orange squash down the back of my wetsuit and painted my cheeks with mud from the caves. What a laugh! We then started our slow ascent, squeezing through gaps in the cave and climbing up waterfalls. Then after the third or fourth we climbed out into what I thought was another huge cave, but it wasn’t glow worms above it was stars. Couldn’t believe we were up and out and it was evening, the hours had flown by!
We walked back to the van and drove to the head office where we showered and changed, had some soup and warmed up. We were then taken back to the hostel and met up with Ellen. I hoped to get some food but the restaurant near by was closed so we ended up in the bar. Where I met Chris and some others, ended up quite drunk on wine, think it was the empty stomach and adrenaline from such a terrific day. Hands down best Birthday ever!

May 12-

The SkyDive!