Kia Ora!

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Goooooood morning everybody and Kia Ora (maori for hows it going). Well the boys made it safe and sound to New Zealand following the treacherous night and morning of flights across Australia and the Tasman Sea, and what a difference the Sea makes. Not only does the accent change (tennis now sounds like dinnis, minutes now sounds like mainutes etc.) but the temperature (colder) and landscape (greener) does as well. Arriving in Auckland the boys instantly noticed the change. Auckland is a bit of a funny one because there are 4 million people in the whole of new zealand, and about a quarter of that all live in Auckland. Expecting to spend only a couple nights in Auckland, the boys changed their minds quickly after discovering that the Big Day Out was planned for the 16th of January. The Big Day Out is the largest summer festival going here in Oceania, but it works a bit differently than in Canada or Europe. Starting out in Auckland, it is a one day festival that goes from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth with the exact same acts. The boys certainly were not disappointed as it seemed the whole of New Zealand had made it out to the festival. Highlights include Lupe Fiasco, Arctic Monkeys, The Ting Tings and a drum and bass/rock band named Pendulum getting the crowd going like the boys have never seen before (we've got video to prove it, we're just trying to figure out the easiest way to put it online. The real highlight however was the star of the night, our man from the 'Peg, Neil Young. Gyrating on stage on what looked like a replaced hip, Neil definitely closed the show the right way. Anyways the next day the boys caught a bus and headed to the amazing Waitomo Caves.

If you've watched the Planet Earth documentary series, you might know what Waitomo is all about. Basically there is a bunch of ancient caves made from old underground rivers that run for miles and miles and miles. The unique thing about the caves though is that inside them live the famous glow worms. Not really knowing what to expect, the boys headed down, and unsurprisingly were amazed by them. Not only do the glowworms glow a bright blue (they look like christmas lights) but the boys were able to take a 10 minute boat ride down one of the underground rivers that was full of the glowworms. Anyways, there's not much else in Waitomo so the boys made there way to the big stink that is Rotorua. Rotorua is a city that is basically built on a volcanic plain. Although it's a nice town, sulphur seeps up from the ground and there are pits all over the town. Rotorua isn't that exciting. But at least they finally managed to talk hockey with someone other than themselves after meeting Anders the Swede from Norrkopping. And Dave beat Jord in golf again, Kunas 3 - Johnson 1 on the tour golf score. Fact of the day, did you know that New Zealand has more golf courses per head than any country on earth? Cheap cheap cheap golf. Anyways after being bored to death in Rotorua by the big stink, the boys caught the bus for the beautiful Lake Taupo.

Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand, it's massive. Not only is the lake amazing, but there are also a few sights around the lake as well. Due to the lakes size, the boys rented mountain bikes and went on the incredibly long, bumpy and extended ride to the Huka Falls (amazing) and the Aratiatia Rapids (almost as amazing). Anyways, Dave put some pictures up on facebook, and we're still trying to figure out the best way to put our videos up. Love and miss you all. Peace, we're outta here.

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