Kellyr2809

We arrived in smelly Rotorua - aka Sulphur City. Pete went off to the hobbiton tour and us girls just sat around gossiping like normal. once Pete was back we got the coach to the Tamaki tours - a tour which shows and tells you all about the Maori culture. When we got there we had to elect someone to be tribe leader and his job was to greet the tribe leader in the Maori village. As we went in the Maoris performed a haka to intimidate all the tribe leaders which was quite funny as soome of them were absolutely crapping themselves. The Maoris were making some very strange facial expressions during the dance I thought I was going to burst out laughing which apparently is a complete no no and very insulting as they ... read more

We left Auckland for the beginning of our trip southwards. We made a few little stop offs along the way and eventually got to Coromandel for hot water beach at around 1:30pm. Once there we grabbed a spade and headed straight to the beach to dig our own little pool of hot water to sit in. Unfortunately when we got therwere tide was already in pretty far so we started digging but every time we got close to making a pool the tide kept coming in to the pool and making it cold. Eventually a man who had been there a while offered us his pool and we all jumped in as quick as possible to get a feeling of the hot water From under the sand. We sat there for a while burning our bum ... read more

After being in Auckland for a few days we wanted to begin doing some more adventurous activities. I've always wanted to dive in with sharks but not inside a cage so when I saw the diving possibilities at Kelly Tarltons Aquarium it sounded amazing. We got to the aquarium and was put in our wet suits straight away and taken into the training pool to do our skills. Although we've done three dives already, we don't have our open water certificate so are still counted as beginners and had to go through our discover scuba again - we really should have just done the course!!! Once in the tank we had to jump over the viewing tunnel and across to the feeding zone. Once there we knelt on the bottom of the tank with 24 sharks ... read more

Don Det, one of the islands in the Four Thousand Islands. We arrived by bus from Pakse to the main land of 4,000 islands and took a boat across the Mekong river to Don Det. As soon as we arrived to water buffalo swimming in the river and sunbathing on the beach next to people I knew I was going to like this place. we met a fellow traveller on the bus ride down, Cassie, and together went in search for some cheap accommodation, not difficult given Don Det is quite small and its just one pathway that leads all way round the island. We found some little riverside bungalows which were dirt cheap (£3 per night) so me and Pete decided this was the place. We went for an explore of the island on foot ... read more

We arrived by bus to the bottom of the rice terraces ready for a long and steep walk up the terraces to our hostel with all our bags, Pete was especially looking forward to this considering the number of shots (including dirty tequilla's) he had drank the night before. I wasn't looking forward to it although was secretly enjoying the fact Pete had to face this with a hangover. Once off the bus some local women came straight up and took our bags to carry them up the rice terraces for us. We felt a bit guilty as our backpacks are really heavy and we struggle carrying them, let alone a women half my size, although not guilty enough to turn their offer down, he he. We walked behind them as they strode ahead with our ... read more