New Zealand's North Island

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3rd October-So I was up bright and early at 6am to leave for the airport and found two girls in reception that were going too so we all shared a cab. We had breakfast at the airport and I found some new havianahs....obviously they're not like my old ones but there you go. Again they were playing the movie blended which I paid a tenner for to watch on iTunes....typical! I caught a shuttle bus from Auckland airport to my hostel and it was raining when we got there.....it's just like being in Wales! I checked in, chucked my stuff in my room and stuck some warmer clothes on before heading out to explore. First of all I had to walk around what felt like the whole city to find the kiwi experience shop so I could book myself on the bus for tomorrow. When I finally found it and sorted out my buses for the next few days I then had to find my way to the post office and send a box of stuff home to free up space in my backpack. Apparently if you state that the value of your box is under £35 you don't get charged the border tax....so obviously I did that 😊 On my way back to the hostel I had a look for some new Ray Bans and there were some on sale for just £60 but I just wasn't feeling it as they weren't polarised like mine 😞 I then took myself off for a coffee to contemplate it before purchasing some more lush products (in tins this time so they doth melt) and getting beautiful shellac done on my fingernails 😊 I decided to stop for dinner in a near by pub and got entered into a few raffles by the staff and got a Stereophonics song sung to me because I'm Welsh lol! I finished the evening off by watching Topgun at the local university's old movie night.

4th October-Happy Birthday to my bestie Kaz.....I tried to make a moonpig card of the two of us but it wouldn't load the photo so I had to just send a normal one....I sorry! Today I left the hostel at 7am to catch my first kiwi bus up to the bay of islands 😊 It took us about four hours and we stopped along the way for breakfast and a bathroom break in Whangarei which is home to the world famous Poor Knights Island dive spot. We then got to Paihia where I'll be for two nights at around half twelve. The hostel is really nice and we have our own kitchen and bathroom. Only £12.50 a night! I cooked my noodles for lunch and started map planning for he rest of the North Island. A couple of us then went for a wander up the beach and a look around the shops. I saw a go pro in one of the shops and am tempted but think I need to understand how they work and compare models before I get one. For dinner we paid a fiver for BBQ and a beer....bargain! Then we played the card game spoons which is good fun and I won woop!

5th October-This morning we headed down to the pier to catch a ferry to do the hole in the rock cruise. We were hoping to be able to swim with dolphins if we saw them but unfortunately we only saw one bottle nose dolphin all by himself and he wasn't willing to play 😞 When we got to the hole in the rock we were able to sail through it as thankfully the sea wasn't too rough. It was bloody freezing though! On the way back we stopped at Urupuckapucka Island and went for a little stroll up the hill. There are 144 islands up in the bay and I reckon I could see about thirty. We then stopped off at Russell Island on the way back and saw new Zealand's oldest church before sailing back to Paihia. After lunch the girls in my room went for a four hour hike to some waterfalls, but I was like sod that and watched Downton Abbey instead 😊 After a couple of hours of TV, photo uploading and road trip planning with Matt (he's a friend of a girl called a Sunny that I met in the USA who's taking me around for a few days) I headed to the kitchen to make my tuna pasta mmm! You can't beat a pack of pasta for a quid! I also phoned the kiwi office to book myself back on the bus when I've finished my road trip and its fucking full! I'm fuming! So this means I'll have to make a whole new bunch of friends. Matt said he's booked our accommodation from mon to thurs and a cave and black water rafting trip bless him! I didn't have the heart to tell him I hate caves but I'm sure it'll be fun...they're supposed to be some of the best. I skyped my pops and sis before bed and the end of my internet voucher....the nephews were fighting with each other...boys will be boys!

6th October-So today was another early start of 6am to pack up my bags and check out before my Cape Reinga trip. This trip was amazing! Our first stop was at the Puketi Kauri forest where we did a spot of tree hugging! Honestly when you've seen one big tree, you've seen them all! After a short stop to pick up something for lunch we stopped at the famous lighthouse which is at the tip of New Zealand and looks out to the point where the Pacific meets the Tasman sea. We then had lunch at Tapotupoto bay where I dipped my toes in the Pacific Ocean. Our next stop was the bit we'd all been waiting for! Sand dunes woo hoo! After we'd climbed the monstrous hill I was obviously last to go and said to our guide 'ah I can't do it, I'm too scared!' As this time we had boogie boards and had to go down on our bellies. So he held the board for me so I could start off slow. My toes got a pedicure as I dug those little buggers in! As I was getting ready for my second go a girl from another group fell off her board and wasn't moving so I jumped on my board and flew down. By the time I got there she was sat up and just a bit shocked with a possible broken finger. She had two first aiders there and you know what those know it alls are like so I left them to it and headed up for my last go down the dunes. Damn I wish I had my go pro already!

Once we'd all boarded the bus we headed down 90 mile beach over the sand and through the edge of the sea. It's not actually 90 miles long, it's 55 but apparently the story is that people years ago thought it would take them a day to walk thirty miles and because it took them three days to walk the beach they came to the conclusion that it was 90 miles long. We made a donut in the sand and then all jumped off the bus to dip our toes in the Tasman sea. So today I've been in both the Pacific and Tasman waters....pretty cool! Shortly after we continued down the beach we saw a car stuck in the sand so our driver towed it out for them which I'm sure they were very grateful for. There are even signs here saying 'danger, increase speed' lol! Our next stop was at the Ancient Kauri Kingdom where they had a tree with a staircase carved out of it....now that's talent! I bought myself a little wooden kiwi bird as my souvenir from New Zealand. The wood is 45,000 years old. Our final stop was at a fish and chip bar on the way home.....the packets were huge but very deceiving as the portion was small. I'm still hungry but I think that's because I'm fat so my stomach is bigger. I usually find that when I start dieting I'm starving for the first three weeks :/ When we got back to the hostel Matt was waiting for me so I grabbed my bags and we headed to our little guest house with an ocean view for the night. We took a little drive around the outskirts of Paihia but there's not much about. He seems very nice. There are a couple of girls who I stayed with in the hostel that are on the bus who I really like but there are also a couple I can't quite gel with so am feeling a little left out, which makes me miss home and my besties.

7th October-This morning we popped to Matt's Aunt and Uncle's house for a coffee and to say thank you for letting us stay in their guest house for free before setting off back to Auckland. We stopped in a local shopping centre so I could pick up a go pro...woop woop! Just gotta learn how to use he bloody thing now :/ Along the way Matt organised for us to stop by his friend's house who had a horse and she let me have a little ride down the road on him. He'd been out of work for a while so it was just a walk. I caught my belly on the saddle getting off so now have a nice little bruise....the joys of being a chub! We then stopped by the Air Force saddle club (Matt drives trucks for the Air Force) and one of his friends let me have a go on her horse 😊 I only did walk and trot as he was nearly seventeen hands which I'm not used to and was only six years old so was a bit fresh. There's loads of countryside in New Zealand. It's very hilly and they have lots of sheep...bit like home really. We got to Auckland about six and Matt surprised me with a night at the Grand Hotel in sky city bless him. We chucked our stuff into the room with a city view and then headed up the sky tower for dinner....it was a round restaurant and moved really slowly so you got a 360 degree view in just over an hour. I paid for dinner as a thank you as I hate people paying for stuff for me. I bought some funny badges in the gift shop and a block thing of the human body and its systems...I thought it would be handy for work see.

8th October-I got myself out of bed early this morning to make use of the 25m pool and did thirty lengths....go me! Some dude got in half way through though and starting swimming like a bomb had gone off in the water and was splashing me! So I continued to give him evils until he got out. We set off for hot water beach around nine and Matt even brought a spade with him bless! By the time we got there it was lunch time so we had snapper fish and chips mmm! I also tried what I call New Zealand's version of coke called L&P. The cafe had a gorgeous old chocolate lab hanging around working the tables for food lol! I kind of wished I'd brought my bikini with me as the water is boiling! I spent ages trying to dig for hot water and finally hit a spot but couldn't stand in it because I kept burning my toes. We then went to have a look at Cathedral Cove and decided to do the 45 minute walk down to it. My god on the way back up I was puffing! I'm so unfit....the inca trail has made no difference! I still feel like I'm gonna die whenever I exercise. We then made our way to Waitomo and after settling into our guest house which is super cute, went out for a pizza. I've discovered that Wentworth is back on so stayed up late watching episodes.

9th October-This morning we had a lush breakfast which involved a bit of veggiemite mmm! We then headed off for our black water rafting trip which I have to admit I was really not looking forward to :/ I'm not a fan of caves and hate wet suits! So after I'd squeezed myself into a very unattractive wet suit we all boarded the bus and we had to choose our rings and do a trial jumping backwards into the river...this the point I chose to highlight the fact that this was not my idea! It was kind of cool inside the caves because you could see the glowworms on the ceiling. Apparently they're maggots who's poop light up....weird! Something to do with chemicals. There was a section in the cave when we had to lean right back and the ceiling was right by our face....it brought back my bad caving memories. One of the guides was like 'so what does your partner do?' and I defensively said 'he's not my partner!' Maybe a little bit ott but it bugs me when people think you're going out and your not. When we'd finished we got given bagels and soup...yum!

We chilled for a bit in the afternoon before heading to the glowworm caves. These were pretty cool. We weren't allowed to take photos because the flashes frighten them away and make them turns their lights out. There's always gotta be one that doesn't listen and take photos. Our guide was not impressed and said so! I've managed to get myself back on the bus tomorrow morning which I'm chuffed about! 😊 We finished off the day by going to the kiwi bird house. It had others birds their too and some cute ducks. The kiwis are bigger than I thought they'd be but soooo cute! Some of the friends I made in the bay of islands arrived in Waitomo today so after dinner me and Matt went to meet them for some drinks. They were the girls I really liked too...the others have stayed behind. I've spent an absolute fortune this week because I gave Matt some money as I felt bad for him paying for everything. But realistically I would have stayed in hostels all week, not had dinner up the sky tower and not gone caving...but there we go.

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