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Published: November 28th 2009
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So, after leaving Paihia (sadly) we returned to Auckland (thankfully only for one night) to begin our kiwi bus tour. For those who aren't familiar with the bus, basically (depending on what tour you buy) it takes you around, stops off in diffeent places, shows you some seriously random stuff and arranges activities etc. for you. Has a massive reputation for being a party bus but essentially its just an epic experience.
So left Auckland on the Monday morning to head to Mercury Bay. Stopped en route in a place called Hot water beach where you dig holes into the sand and to reach the boiling hot water underneath and you just chill out in your little homemade hot tub on the beach (well in theory, in places the water is boiling and just burns everyone) then onto Coromandel and we all swam in this amazing cove with ridiculousy clear water and generally just chilled out. Ended the day in Mercury bay, staying in a tiny hostel that seemed more like someone's home. Fortunatley (given me and Yvo's combined inability to cook) we made friends with 2 guys called Tom and Rob who cooked epic dinner for us all....and this
then happened pretty much every night. Met some cool people on the bus, and after a while 8 of us (including me and Yvo) hung around together alot. Together with Tom and Rob there was Ollie and Sam (all british, although Rob is also a fellow welsh) and Laura and Anne (although we called her Bob) who were from Denmark.
Anyway, after leaving Mercury bay we headed to Rotorua....reknowned for its thermal springs (and the smell of sulphur...) we decided to take 2 days there just to chill out for a bit. When we first arrived a load of us decided to go luging. Basically an epic downhill go carting track that goes bloody fast but is awesome fun. Then that night we went to a Maori culture show. They have recreated a maori village and they put on performances and afterwards you have a hangi (I think thats what its called at least) basically its an enormous feast which is cooked underground on hot rocks. Can't remember the last time i ate so well! Essentially, I now want to be a maori as they have the greatest culture in the world. Ended up turning into a rather messy
Taupo
Erin, Bob, Laura, Yvo,Me night after that, as we returned to the hostel bar, then about 6 of us made friends with a maori man who took us to another very obscure bar in the middle of Rotorua. Brilliant random fun which resulted in an horrendous hangover the next day! Next day was mostly amusing given that the boys all decided to spend the day mountain biking, and all the girls went to the thermal spa..... Lots of very hot pools makes for good hangover recorvery!
So left Rotorua in the morning to head to Waitomo, but on the way we stopped in sheep world (no, im not kidding) They put on shows of sheep, and sheep shearing and herding. VERY surreal, a little ironic, predominatly just strange but very funny. That evening then all 8 of us went black water rafting in Waitomo. Seriously, the best thing I've ever done in my whole life. You arrive and get given wet suits then practise how to abseil. At this point you get stuck in your harness and you abseil about 30m down a tiny shaft into the underground cave system. Walk along to a ledge then you all turn off your head torches
The summit
Tom, Me and Rob and one by one you take a zip line to a ledge below (the whole cave systems are full of glow worms, so it almost seems like your on some kind of disney ride) At this point they sit you all on a ledge overlooking the river that flows through the cave system and give you a cup of tea and a flapkack to warm you up (freezzzinnngg down there!) Then, when your nice and relaxed they give you an inflatable rubber ring and tell you to jump off this (I'd say approxiamtley 5-7meter ledge) into the water. Which is about 10o. Which obviously we did (theres eels in the water aswell by the way) Then, when you've all recovered from the initial shock and got over the fact that you have obviously lost your mind you sit in the rings and pull yourself throught he cave system. Lights off again watching the glow worms and inbetween being freeezing its seriouisly the most incredible thing you've ever seen. Then things start to get a bit more mental and you dive off more ledges, walk under a waterfall (which a few people fell out of) and attempted to avoid the eel
South Crater
When the views improved a bit... which they guide said bit him 2 days ago. Then, to get out of the cave system you climbed up a waterfall! 5 hours, pretty hard work but absolutly mind blowing.
Next day then we headed to Taupo. Stopped in the Haku falls on the way which is really impressive then checked into our hostel and another incredibly messy night ensued. Was meant to to the Tongariro crossing the next day but because of weather conditions we couldn't so spent the afternoon adventuring (and therefore getting lost as i was by myself) for about 8 hours. Found another thermal park and a hot water stream runs through it and joins the river. Walked around lake Taupo (which is actually a crater from a Volcanoe and is larger than Syngapore) good views, good day.
Then the next day me Rob and Tom got up at 5am to do the Tongariro crossing. (Google it, seriously) Its a 19.6km trek along a national part and crater fields etc. Except little did i know we were taking a side route which involved walking the trek and climbing mount Doom (it has a real name,Ngauruhoe, but its the one that frodo climbs in lord
of the rings so everyone now refers to it as mount doom) Its a 2287m ascent with no real path and winds that force you to stop and hold onto rocks because they blow you sideways. Rob nearly got killed because rocks are constantly falling and a boulder just missed his head. Very proud I did it, especially since towards the end even the guys were getting freaked out by how dangerous it was. Only frustrating thing was that we reached the top and the weather was so bad we couldnt see a thing...infact the wind was so strong you couldn't even stand up on the summit. Sucked alot but there we go. Basically everyone just fell down the mountain as you had to climb down the scree path, so it was almost like trying to ski on rocks.
Next day I was completly bruised to gell and exhausted but we all headed to the next place called River Valley. Stayed in a tiny lodge in a valley (very well named...you had to walk down to it as the bus couldn't get there) found a pulley bridge thing which you sat on, pulled yourself into the middle of the river and dived in (again, seriously cold) Really relaxing though, only decided to stay for 1 day but would have been nice to return just for a chill out.
Then finally we left River Vally and headed to Wellington, our final destination. Has been seriously relaxed since we arrived (its also known as the windy city so basically you get blown around everywhere) Some incredible museum (its the culture capital for a reason) Didn't intend to search for a job so soon but wandered into the welsh pub (reknowned as being th eonly welsh pub in the southern hemisphere) and, long story short i got a job!! Am seriosuly lucky, sharing a room with people who have years of bar experience and have been looking for a ages with no luck. So tonight is my first shift, and hopefully next week we'll be aquiring a flat!
I think thats pretty much it, had an amazing time on kiwi experience so spending the next few months making money so we can do it on the south island too!
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