Hello New Zealand!!

We caught a bus from the airport and headed to check in at our new hostel in Auckland! It took an hour or so to get there and once we dumped our bags we headed for a burger fuel which we had been advised to try!!
Mine was insane stacked up with chicken bacon cheese avocado salad and sauces it went down a treat! Eds a fajita style again yummy, we were stuffed and headed to find wifi to let everyone know back home we had arrived safe and sound. We made friends with our roomies Amber and Graeme and more or less fell asleep!!

I woke up for a run on the 26th of April and after Ed and I made our way too the supermarket for food supplies. We had our breaky and made plans to explore the city with our roomies! We walked around the harbour and then trekked up mount Eden an extinct volcano which was fun and brilliant 360 views of the city. There was a zip wire on the way down which we played on before heading back to cook together. I had chatted with Amber all day and she had asked to come along on the kiwi experience with us. So on the way back we headed to get her bus pass booked! After eating we showered and got ready and headed out for drinks which was fun and we were able to enjoy cocktails for cheap yum yum! We had a really good night and headed to bed late after the club!!

The next day was rather lazy we woke up late, ate and I caught up with my diary writing and skyped a friend back home. We finally decided to explore a bit more around the shops. There were exciting people in the streets dancing and rapping which we enjoyed watching!! Again we grabbed things to cook together and after relaxed and watched a film. Amber and I had a girly night while the boys went out to watch a big Liverpool game!! We fell asleep fairly early in preparation to start the kiwi experience tomorrow.

The 28th was the start of our kiwi adventure, we awoke early and headed to our pick up. We made our first journey to hot water beach. The ride on the bus made me feel a little sick but we arrived and got our bikinis on and headed straight down to the beach!

It was amazing we took shovels from the hostel and dug deep holes for us to bathe in. Some parts of the sand were extremely hot it burnt your feet and bum. But we found the perfect spot where we lay and soaked in the hot hot pools for an hour or so. We headed back changed and met our bus driver for an optional scheduled walk. We headed to Cathedral cove where we had a lovely walk along the coast it was beautiful! We saw a beautiful rainbow and took some beautiful scenic shots before heading home to eat and get to know others on our bus! It's all very exciting. Amber and I did some washing and we all headed to bed.

The next day was another early wake up and we hopped on the bus to reach Waitomo!! We had a morning walk half way where we walked over swing bridges through gorges and through old mining tunnels it was lovely.

Amber and I got our own room at the next hostel which was apparently haunted. I wasn't too thrilled to stay the night. In the afternoon we paid to do the black water rafting activity we were excited. When we arrived we were given wet suits, jackets, boots and helmets!! We had to find a tube that fit our buns and headed to find the tiny entrance to the caves!!

It was more terrifying than I expected! It was pitch black and the roofs of the caves were filled with glow worms. We had to jump off waterfalls backwards in our tubes and wade through strong currents as the rainfall in the last few days had been high. It was almost too high to do the activity . I ended up enjoying the rafting and Ed did thoroughly but we were very wet and cold!!

After we showered and were given soup and a bagel to warm us up!! It was extremely cold and we headed back to the hostel to have a proper shower and relax! We again all bonded and a few of us stayed in mine and Ambers room to get to know one another till late. We spoke to a worker at the hostel that warned us of the noises they occasionally hear. (Whistling down the corridors) The main hotel building used to have a family within it but sadly were massacred and they haunt the grounds till this day. We went to bed scared and had to make toilet trips together in the night haha!!

I don't think I had realised how different the weather would be to what we were used to and I was really struggling with the cold.