Taupo, Waitomo, Auckland - Farewell NZ and Jonjo

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Here it is guys, the final instalment of my adventures in NZ. After my birthday celebrations, we woke up slightly bleary-eyed and said our goodbyes to Rotorua. We then took the short journey to Taupo, which lies on the northeastern corner of Lake Taupo, NZ's largest lake at 606 sq km. The main purpose of our time here was to let Mike and Jonny experience the joy of skydiving. Unfortunately the Gods had other ideas, and our time there was very cloudy and very very wet! Even indoor rock climbing at the Sports Centre was a write-off due to some tool taking a day off or something. In my time here I did manage to take a walk alongside the Waikato River, whilst Mike and Jonny took a limo ride to a cancelled skydive! On my walk I got to view several bungy jumpers who had also braved the elements; it certainly gave me a taste for the planned Auckland jump!

The weather was now becoming a decisive factor in many of our plans; we decided against heading to Tongariro National Park as we'd been hearing that guided walks were being cancelled left, right, and even centre. Instead we went to Waitomo. The name comes from the Maori words 'wai' (water) and 'tomo' (hole or shaft). As you may have guessed, this gives us a clue as to what the area's like: lots of holes and water. To be more precise, the area is choca-block with underground cave systems and streams - over 300 have been mapped. Whilst here we wanted to do a spot of blackwater rafting, where you float on an inner tube down a subterranean river flowing through the cave. Only one company was operating, as all the others had problems with seriously high water levels due to the downpours of the past week or so (there's been some major flooding all over NZ). We all looked very sharp, kitted out in our wet suits and helmets with headlamps. Oh yeah, plus wellies! Once in the caves, we made our way slowly into the deeper waters where it was time to switch off our lights and get dragged downstream in the tubing version of a conga line. It was then that we got to look up and see the glow worms on the cave roof; they emit a bright light to draw in various moths and insects for food, who get confused and think they're heading towards the night sky before WHAMMY! they're entagled in the glow worms trap. All in all it was a fun-filled, if bloomin freezin, adventure. The mug of soup at the end was most welcome!

Next stop on the NZ express was Hamilton, which I don't really have much to say about. It was quite a quiet city, and a little bit on the dull side of things. I won't be joining the tourist board there me thinks. Although I would do for Hobbiton! It was here on some farm land that Peter Jackson filmed the scenes for the home of Frodo, Bilbo et al. It was chosen for the fact that its landscape of rolling hills also included a lone tree stood next to a lake, just as described in the films. This is in fact the only site in NZ where there remains a set from the LOTR films. We took a guided tour of the privately-owned farmland, seeing many a hobbit hole and the party tree which still had a few ribbons hanging from it! I could bore you guys with some more nerdy LOTR stuff, but I won't.

From Hobbiton it was on to Auckland, our very last stop in NZ - aaaw! We got there pretty late in the day, so just rolled straight up to Base backpackers on Queen St and had some fun finding a parking space (our options being limited by police cars everywhere and unscrupuolous bouncers saving a spot for their mates!) We were in time, however, for the hostel bar's pool competition. Killer Pool was the name of the game, and with about 20 people taking part it took a fair while before the wheat was separated from the chaff, and I was facing Jonjo in the final! Got my revenge for the previous defeat, and won a dicounted bungy jump for me and a friend in the process. Well that's handy, 'cos I was already thinking of doing one! So Jonny and I would be bungy jumping on Sunday - done deal.

The next day, after saying goodbye to our rented car, we took another of our usual tours trying to scope out the place. Unlike the other cities we've visited in NZ, this really did have a big city feel to it; you notice it as soon as you approach, in fact, as there were actually queues of traffic - unheard of elsewhere it seems! Besides this, there's the tall skylines, epitomised by the Sky Tower (the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere), and a much greater diversity of cultures than seen elsewhere in the North Island. Not much else to report from the day. Oh yeah, we entered the pool competition again. This time it was a tournament. And Jonny beat me in the final! We're wiping the floor with everyone here. He won a free bungy this time, so now all 3 of us could go along.

The next day it was time for the big event - the jump that i'd been saving/putting off 'til the end of my time in NZ. Waiting around at the harbour, the nerves started to jangle as I thought about the prospect of throwing myself off the harbour bridge. It's alright with a tandem skydive, you've got someone else chucking you off the plane! But as we got picked up on shuttled to the bungy site, the nerves strangely dissappated and it became more a case of 'go with the flow' (and i'm not meaning an overwhelming desire to go to the toilet!). Although when I started to see videos showing the panic on people's faces as they prepared to jump, the nerves returned with force. It was on with the harnesses, and time to walk along the bridge; by now I wasn't noticing the cold, I was in the zone! (the zone of bricking it, probably). We got to the pod from which we would jump, and it didn't look quite like it was prepared for peeps to bungy from. That is until the door of the pod lifted up, and as the water below came into view 'The Final Countdown" was blasting through the air.

My turn came after Jonny; he'd gone for a dip in the water so I opted to do the same. However withn such factors as me being less of a chuffer by 3kg, and the difference in jump technique, I was unable to reach the water. Pretty good job since I forgot all the tips on technique for approaching the river below! As I jumped I was surprised that the rush I felt was actually quite similar to that of the skydive, just that much shorter and more disorientating. On the 3rd bounce up I pulled a cord to get me sitting back upright and admiring the views of Auckland - not that I remember them!!

So, bungy done then. Time to celebrate with a bit of a pool competition. Ended up winning again as well! The prize? One free bungy jump! Given that i'd already had my bungy quota for Auckland, I decided to give the prize to the runner-up. Except that was Mike. So I'd give it to the guy who finished 3rd instead, except that was Jonny. So in the end I gave it away to the dude who finished 4th in our game of Killer. He wasn't even that good, and didn't seem very grateful, but I still hope he had fun!

With our time in NZ almost at an end, we 'put the wheel out' and went out for a nice evening meal to reminisce over our 6 months on the road as a three. It seemed fitting that we should end with Thai cuisine, being what we started out on that humid evening of February 8th. I never remember the food being this pricey though? Or getting asked for ID when trying to order a beer? I'd like to end with another personal goodbye to Jonjo (these never get any easier!)

Jonny, if I could write a few words . . . I'd be a better travelblogger! Had an awesome time travelling with you, sir. There have been far too many highlights to mention them all, but i'd have to say some of our funniest and most enjoyable moments have been trekking in Chiang Mai, sailing the Whitsundays and bombing it round Fraser Island. I hope I take with me your spirit of adventure, but maybe not your lack of personal hygiene...el banterios! Enjoy your South American adventure, and see you in the New Year I guess for a Sheffield reunion. Bono Estente (I'm pretty sure that means, 'good luck with the rest of your adventures, my strawberry-blonde friend') x

And it's goodbye to New Zealand. My words don't do it justice to how wicked a place this is. Although it weren't that sunny! Time to work on that sunburn again, as me and Mike head to Fiji x

PS. more pics to follow x

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