It's official: Rotorua is awesome

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I'm honestly not sure if this place could get even more awesome. It's like the perfect storm of good things has happened: good food, good fun, good people.







Last night I stopped by a Thai restaurant on a whim (this place is full of small international food restaurants off the main street, the Thai place had their windows open so the delicious smells leaked out) and sat down at a small table by myself outside. Within about 5 minutes a Chinese girl came to sit at the other table, and since she was alone I invited her over to my table to eat together. It was great! Grace works in Nanjing at a private school for Australian students, they cycle over for 5-week periods, and since she was on holiday she was traveling New Zealand for a fe weeks. We chatted about various things over dinner, then got some ice cream from a local parlour afterwards (I convinced her to get the hokey pokey flavor).







After that I went back to the backpackers to get ready for bed, only to be wrapped up in conversation with three of my roommates!!! That's never happened in a backpackers before! Two of them were the Australian girls I had met before, Maddie and Charlotte,and the third was a girl from the UK who is working in Brisbon, Australia right now. It was great fun talking to them, and so nice after not really connecting with anyone in Wellington. Even the blaring bass dance music from the Lava Bar next door couldn't make me less happy. :D Top, night.







So I woke up late this morning, having not slept well the night before, and after chatting with Maddie and Charlotte as to what they were doing today I did something impulsive:







I decided to go bungee jumping with them.







So we took the bus over to the farm with the "agroventures" (like a mini theme park with extreme attractions tucked away on some farmland), I bought my ticket (they'd bought theirs the day before) and we went to the waiting section. Most of the people were riding the swing, but there was one guy who jumped before us. Charlotte and Maddie were a little nervous, and I was really excited. New Zealand adventure for the win! Random big decisions are the best!







Charlotte went first, mostly because Maddie and I volunteered her, then Maddie, then I. All three of us jumped well and didn't need a push, Charlotte was so scared she didn't really scream and Maddie screamed only a little. I like heights, so I looked down at the edge and definitely had the thought "Wow, that's high. Why am I jumping? I'm going to fall!" But I went ahead and jumped anyway.







I screamed like there was no tomorrow. A huge, gut-wrenching, they're-killing-me kind of scream. It was AWESOME. And then I burst out laughing and laughed the rest of the time. I also wiggled around a lot, because I could. It was so, so, so much fun. Though my eyes felt like they were going to burst from the pressure of my blood in my head. Totally worth it.







After at we came back, went to Burger King for the wifi (my iPad wouldn't connect there), which is where I learned about coffee in New Zealand. There is some amazing coffee lingo that you need to know here. If you order a "coffee", they'll give you a cappuccino or something like that. If you want a plain cuppa joe you need to order a "long black." A shot of espresso? A "short black." A "flat white" is like a latte, I think. Mochas and cappuccinos exist and I assume mean the same thing. But I tell you I was sure surprised when my "regular coffee" came with foam.



After that we did a bit of shopping, and now I've bought a bit of wifi from the library to update le'blog. Tomorrow it's another long bus ride to Paihia, up in Bay of Islands, which ought to be really sweet. Can't wait!

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