North Island, New Zealand

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Hi all, arrived in Aukland at about 2am NZ time and after queueing at check in for about 30 minutes we were directed to our room only to find some european guy dozing in the bed!!! Worked out OK though as the next room they put us in was en-suite!

A lot of our time in Aukland was dedicated to searching for some suitable footwear for the walking we are intending to do on the North Island, specifically the Tongariro crossing which is 17k hike which takes you between 2 active volcanos (including Mount Ngarahoe which is Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings). Don't think the flip flops we have been wearing till now will quite cut it!!

We did find time to have a trip up the Sky Tower which was only just around the corner from our hostel and takes you up approx 220m so you get great views of Aukland and all the water surrounding it, we also returned in the evening to see the view at night with a couple of beers naturally.

Next stop was Rotorua which is known as the geothermal capital of NZ owing to the earths crust being very thin and all the volcanic activity in the past. It also means that the whole place smells of sulphur (imagine very rotten eggs) but you do get a bit used to it.

On our first night we went to a Mauri village for a show of traditional Maori dancing and feast. They cook the food underground and call it a 'hangi', was definately a good feed. The show itself was quite funny as some of the dancing is pretty comical but you can't smile or laugh as they take it as disrespect of their culture.

Unfortunately on our first full day the weather was miserable but the rain did stop long enough for us to enjoy a spa of alkaline water heated by the earth. And mercifully on our last day the rain stayed away enough for us to visit Wai-O-Tapu thermal wonderland and Waimangu volcanic valley.

Wai-O-Tapu contains all kinds of amazing sights caused by geo themal activity such as bubbling mud pools and the Lady Knox geyser. This is a natural geyser which would erupt anyway every 24-72 hours but just so everyone can witness it happening they induce it using an eco-friendly version of baking powder at 10.15am everyday. The rest of the park is a walking track that takes you round lots of other steaming craters, multi-coloured boiling lakes and spurting vents.

Waimangu is a longer greener walking trail through an actual volcanic valley created by an eruption as recent as 1886 so more craters, hot springs, amazing colours but in a more natural setting. All in all a great day and very grateful it wasn't ruined by the weather!

After 3 nights here we were onto Taupo pronounced Toe-Paw. Today was also Andrews birthday so I surprised him with bacon sandwiches baloons and a carrot cake with candles. So easy to please Andrew with his favourite foods. Taupo is only a short drive from Rotorua so we set off late morning and arrived a couple of hours later. Before we went to our hostel the bus took us to the Huka falls on the Waitako river. The falls have enough water pouring over them to fill an olympic pool in 5 seconds so pretty spectacular. One of the activity options here was the jet boat which speeds right up to the falls for the best view so we decided to do it. This was so funny as they take you on 360 degree spins and only centimeters from trees and other objects in the water. We were drenched by the end but that just added to the fun of it!! We really wanted to do a Skydive today with it being Andrews birthday but the weather just wasnt good enough and you really need it to be at least a bit sunny to really enjoy it. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and then went out for a curry and a few drinks to celebrate. We booked our Skydive for the next day which was predicted for good weather.

The next morning we were both excited as the sun was out and it was Skydive time. We were fitted out with our jump suits and harness gear and oxygen masks which we needed due to the altitude at 15000ft. The lady went through the camera options with us and Andrew decided to get the video of him freefalling for one of his birthday presents. I decided to only get my exit photo as id done a Skydive 3 years ago and got all the video of me falling plus they really do shoot the price of the whole thing up that way. There were around 5 of us jumping altogether so we all got into the little plane with our tandem masters. The others were jumping at 12000ft so we saw them go first which was pretty scary. 20 mins later we finally made it to our height and Fran was the first out follwed by Andrew. Its the most amazing experience you can have. The views over Lake Taupo make it even more incredible, they say that on a clear day you can see both coasts of the North Island but when your falling at 200kph you don't think to look around to check!!

That was supposed to be it for the adrenalin fuelled fun in Taupo, as Andrew was planning to save his bungy jump for Queenstown (and fran had already done bungy on her last trip to NZ), but we decided to walk up to Taupo bungy just to have a nosey and watch some people jump. Once we got there the scenery was so good and there was an option of a bungy swing (or cliffhanger as they call it) which we could do at the same time so we started wondering if we should get it all done at once! It wasn't until late afternoon that we all of a sudden decided to go back up and go for it.

We did the joint cliffhanger first which has you in a sitting position dangling 44m above the river before the whip out the plug and you freefall for a bit before swinging back and forth near the cliffs. As if Fran wasn't reeling enough from the adrenalin I had picked this moment to ask if she would do me the honour of marrying me. Her first reply was "are you joking?" but then I managed to convince her I was serious and she said yes and then we were hoisted back up to the ledge. So between the swing and the engagement we were buzzing like the preverbial bumble bee when we were back on firm ground!!

Because Andrew had commited to doing his bungy here too he had a bit of a job composing himself and feel ready to do it. He kept expecting some fear before but it was only excitement and had no problem falling off the edge. They had the rope at the longest safe length so that he was dunked waist deep into the river! Just as thrilling as a skydive but in a very different way because its over quicker but your so near the ground (47m) you feel much stronger gravity. Once they caught me in the boat at the bottom they asked if I wanted to go again and I couldn't resist but thought I should try someting different so decided to fall backwards. Unfortunately on the second one I forgot I would be hitting water at didn't put my arms out and have a couple of bruises on my eyes to show for it! In the evening we went out for a nice meal on the lake front to celebrate our engagement which was the perfect end to a perfect day!

The next morning we got back on the Magic bus to head for a place called National park, so called because it is just a little village sandwiched between 2 national parks. On the way we stopped at a place called Waitomo famous for its underground caves full of glow-worms. They run some tubing adventures which involve riding through the caves in a rubber ring, but we were feeling a bit too worse for wear following the previous nights champagne to have a go at that, so we settled for a walking tour with a boatride. However for some reason they don't allow you to take pictures so youll have to take our word for it that it was quite a unique sight!

The second day we had planned to do the Tongariro crossing which we mentioned earlier. We set off at 7.30am fully prepared for a hard hike. Soon into the walk the rain started to come down and it was already very misty so there was very little visibility. We seem to talk about the weather alot on this blog but the activities are very weather dependant. We carried on nevertheless determined to complete it however we were about 6k in and the wind also picked up so it was becoming more unpleasant and knowing we had another 12k to go and 500m to climb up we decided to turn back. The main reason for the walk was for the views but since we couldnt see anything it seemed pointless to carry on. We headed back and called the bus to come and get us by which point we were seriously freezing. Once the bus arrived the rest of our group also turned up having also turned back cos of the weather so we felt much better at that point. We had ourselves a very long shower back at the hostel and spent the rest of the afternoon watching DVD's in the warmth. We were now glad to be travelling to wellington the next day so I could find my engagement ring.

As soon as we headed out of the national park the sun started to come out and has pretty much stayed that way since. Yippeee!! We arrived in Wellington late afternoon and headed stright out to some jewellers to start looking knowing we didnt have much time to ponder over the decision. Turns out we have probably saved a good amount since the rings are cheaper out here and we also saved 15% on the tax. Other than that we did what people always do in a city and wander around looking at things. We, or should I say I settled on the ring the next day. The down side is we have to collect it from the airport when we fly to LA due to the tax laws, i.e. they need to know we are definately leaving the country before we get the tax off.

Over all we have loved New Zealand so far and its already much better than Australia. Sorry oz but you're just not as good!!!

Were onto the South Island so will update you in a couple of weeks.

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