More North Island fun

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After Taupo it was time to move to Rotorua and we stayed in the best hostel yet - Treks is brand new and no bunk beds!! Rotorua is often called Rotten Rua due to the smell of sulphur (rotten eggs) from all of the geysers surrounding and in the town. It is also the cultural capital of the island and we took in some traditional Maori concerts with dancing and great food which is cooked underground on hot stones.

We also took a day trip to Waitomo for caving - a 5 hour trip called the Black Abyss which involved a 35m abseil into a small black hole, zip line in the pitch black, jumping from ledges into freezing cold water, tubing in the dark whilst watching the gloworms and then climbing up waterfalls. It was great fun and probably the strangest place i will ever have morning tea and biscuits!

My next adventure was a white water rafting trip which was free because i won it in Melbourne a few months ago. It's grade 5 rapids so more fierce than the rapids in Tully, Australia. The scariest point was a 7m waterfall which is the highest one in Australasia or the world or something like that.

After a crazy night out in Auckland and a horrendous hangover it was a trip to the winterless north. the bay of islands.

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