In New Zealand

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So i'm currently in New Zealand. I enjoyed my last couple of days in Sydney, chilling out and taking in the sights. On my last night i went out to the Rocks, a chilled area near the harbour bridge, and tried Kangaroo for the first time, which was quite nice, a little like steak but with a different aftertaste. I also had a few last aussie beers, which i regretted when i had to get my flight the next day after 3 hours sleep. Managed too book a play i wanted to see at the opera house too when i'm back in australia, so i have something in oz to look forward to after New Zealand.

I arrived in Auckland and got a shuttle to my b&b. I'd booked this hostel back home and luckily i'd had the good sense to book myself a room to myself. So, for the first time in a month i had my own room instead of a 4-8 bed dorm. To make matters better, i was upgraded from a single room to a large one with a kingsize bed and a tv. Was so nice to spread my stuff out and not getting woken up in the morning when everyone else gets up.

That evening i met up with a friend from the UK who's recently moved back to Auckland. She took me to some bars and we went somewhere that served cocktails in teapots and then to a cowboy bar where hats aren't obligatory but, we thought, highly necassary. We grew quite attached to the hats and took them on with us to the other bars we went to. We decided that it might be a good idea to see if we'd be let into the Hilton wearing them. We assumed they wouldn't let us but the plan backfired and they did, so then we were just feeling silly sitting with a bunch of posh people and us in comedy hats. Luckily last orders had gone (at least that's what they told us) so we moved on to some other bars where hats were highly welcomed.

Booked into the magic bus, which takes you all round New Zealand in a big group as it's quite hard to get around here.

After Auckland i started the magic bus tour and went on to Whitainaga. We stopped on the way for a long coastal walk and to chill out by the beaches and then on to a wine tasting tour. In the evening we went to a hot springs spa where we spent hours in the different pools and caves there. We stayed there until late and it was so peaceful swimming under the stars.

The next day we moved on to waitomo. They have huge caves there with glowworms in them where we did black water rafting. This is basically tubing (travelling in a big rubber inner tube along a river) in the dark in a cave. It was really good fun, with slides and loads of bends. We saw loads of glowworms but there were also loads of big nasty spiders and grasshoppery things and also eels in the river. Was a really good feeling to climb out of the cave at the end and see daylight and get to the pub! The hostel here was really nice, it had a trampoline and pool in the garden and was surrounded by fields of animals.

The next day we explored waitomo a bit and saw the angora rabbit shearing, which you don't see every day and then moved on to Rotorua. In the evening we went to a Maori culture show with Maori people in traditional costume doing dances and songs and telling us about the culture. We also enjoyed a hangi meal, which is a traditional maori way of cooking food underground with hot stones.

So far i've had a really great time in New Zealand. It seems there is loads to do and the South island is supposed to be even better than the north. I'm travelling today to Wellington and then will head to the South island in a few days.

Hope everyone's good back home. Miss you all.

x x x

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