We woke up and began to leave Waitomo on the bus. Bodz our very friendly bus driver took us for another morning walk where we visited the cave where we emerged from black water rafting yesterday afternoon. We had a walk around the rainforest seeing the different caves and then hopped back on the bus to leave for Rotorua.

On the way we dropped a lot of people from the bus at Matamata otherwise known as Hobbiton where the lord of the rings is filmed. I took a look in the gift shop which had a cloak for $900. Lord of the Rings isn't something Ed and I have ever watched or had an interest in so we said goodbyes and headed on to check into our new hostel.

We had a wander around the town and walked down to the lake with a few friends, there was the worlds largest inflatable slide which a few went on haha!! We explored different geothermal spots around the town, the air had an eggy smell to it which after a while you got used too.

We headed back and wrapped up warm as we are all going to a Maori Hangi festival experience tonight- hangi meaning feast. All 50 of us boarded the bus with the most entertaining of drivers. He could speak 62 different languages and confidently use accents, It was amazing. He was an ex all blacks rugby player and very big! As a group on the way we had to nominate and decide a chief who will greet the tribe and if he likes him were allowed in. Our youngest member of the kiwi experience- Broc was chosen! He did really well and we were accepted into the Maori village.

It was a freezing cold night but there were plenty of fires to keep us warm. We were shown around different camps by different Maoris and were taught how they used to keep fit, tattoo, make clothing, perform and construct houses. They taught us the haka and we joined in! We were also taught that the term tattoo originates from the Maori, as captain cook questioned them about their body markings and they replied Tattooo!!

After the demonstrations and enlightenment on their culture, we were then led to where they cook their food under ground- otherwise known as a Hangi feast. We then watched a performance which was extremely entertaining and enjoyable!! After we were led to a dining room where there were tables full to the rim of meats, fish, veg, potatoes, bread and GRAVY!! We dug in, it was incredible and as expected we were all stuffed, we ate far too much!!

We were transported back to the hostel by the funny driver and we all sang national anthems all the way back. We had to do our best scary tribal faces which was entertaining to say the least. We also drove around the only roundabout I actually spotted in New Zealand 10 times haha.

When we got back as a group we headed out to the hostel bar. A few of the boys had zorb fights (these are massive clear balls that you crawl in and bounce off one another). Ed won the zorb fighting, Yey and had free drinks!! It was a good night we all got merry and went to bed late!!

The next day our bus we had got to know so well left as we had decided to stay an extra day in Rotorua. Amber also stayed and we got dressed ate together and went for a walk around the city and down to the beautiful lake before visiting the different thermal areas. The closer you get to these areas the eggier the air gets. We visited the mud pools which were awesome so strange! We saw Rotorua's tree covered in a large knitted jumper which is cool and unfortunately had to catch up on washing!! After we had dinner and made our way to the night market which was filled with delicious hand made treats and we were lucky enough to try some for free yum yum!

A few of us once we got back jumped into the hostels very own hot pool which is heated by the earth it was lovely and our skin was very wrinkly after being in there for some time. We dried off, got into our PJs and watched films till late!! We met a hair dresser in the hostel and decided it would be fun to shave Ed's head haha!! Don't worry it turned out well!!

The next morning we boarded our next bus which was half as full as the one we had left and everyone was extremely rowdy and not as social as the friends we had made before. This made Amber, Ed and I sad!!

We made our way to Taupo after we had a morning stop at a thermal park in the area. It was filled with mud pools, geysers, hot rocks and springs. We were shown to a geyser that every hour releases a significant amount of water it was incredible to watch! We were guided around and shown again Maori rituals and played some games with sticks that they use to perform with and sang traditional songs. We enjoyed a boiled egg on the hot rocks that we cooked ourself in the hot pool. It was so quick to cook!! The park also had a kiwi bird sanctuary, the birds are very rare to see in the wild as they are nocturnal so we got to see 2 of the ins angered birds hop around.

On our way to Taupo we stopped at Huka falls to take in the incredible views! It was stunning!! I said bye to Amber as she departed to do her skydive, sad I can't watch and a little envious I wasn't doing it with her but I want to do it on my birthday in Kaiteriteri!!

We made it into Taupo and checked in. We then went for a wander around the town, to collect groceries and meet up with our old bus which was lovely. We ventured down to the largest lake in New Zealand and gazed at the majestic views of the mountains in front of us! New Zealand really is something special and continues to amaze Ed and I with its postcard views.

We watched as people tried to put a hole in one on a platoon in the lake, if they succeed they win $10,000. Safe to say it was a tough challenge! Amber returned in the late afternoon feeling very happy with herself :) I was so pleased for her and she told me how great the experience was which made me even more excited!!

After being reunited with our initial bus we had dinner and all got ready to head out. We all drank in one hostel room which normally sleeps 8 and there were almost 30 of us!! We had an excellent night and didn't stay out too late due to having signed up to do New Zealand's best walk tomorrow!!

We were awake at 4:15am and had to be ready for 5am for our bus to take us to the Tongario crossings starting point.. This took an hour to arrive. It was extremely cold but we had essentials in our backpacks to make the 19km walk as pleasent as possible.

It was a tough walk we set off at 7am and climbed up to the foot of mount doom!! The conditions were too bad to actually climb mount doom which we were obviously sad and disappointed about. The weather turned and it was extremely cold, windy and we were lucky enough to be amongst the snow. The trek took us until 3pm and by the end we were tired and had very sore feet!! During the walk we enjoyed lunch by two stunning sulphur lakes. As we started to decline it was difficult and ended up being easier to sit on my bum and slide down. We played in the snow and witnessed an active volcano. All in all it was a lovely day!!

We got back to the hostel after a much needed nap on the coach and our friends that didn't do the climb cooked us spaghetti bolognese it was delicious!! Our friend Pete is a professional chef so it was amazingly good! We finished the evening in the TV room enjoying movies, cups of tea and catching up. A few of our friends stayed an extra night so we can all be together again on the bus.

The next morning was of course an early start to leave for River Valley. The roads here are windy not straight and it's inevitable that we all felt a little sick. We stopped off half way at a small town that celebrates a gumboot festival (Wellington boot) on my birthday. We went to the field and attempted welly throwing! It was harder than it looked and of course Ed won the competition and was rewarded with a kiwi experience T-shirt!

There was another stop for lunch where we walked around more hot pools and our new bus driver Wazza cooked us lunch. I'm still funny with meat and as he cooked it in a Hangi (underground oven) I opted out. It didn't look too healthy!! We were trying to save money so when we arrived at the new hostel we decided to play volleyball instead of white water rafting or horse trekking. A few jumped in the freezing cold river, I couldn't think of anything worse it's very cold here!! We had a few drinks together after dinner and played games in the bar. Everyone is worried about spending a lot so we didn't drink too much and there was a roast on offer which looked amazing but we have decided to cook one as a family in the next hostel with an oven. We were staying in what the hostel call an orgy room where 32 beds are attached we stayed up talking and unexpectedly we had a good nights sleep.

The next day we took a group walk along the river which after we found was pretty dangerous. Ed lent on on a dead tree and nearly fell 20 metres down a cliff to the shallow river, thankfully 2 of the girls caught him!! We checked out of the hostel after playing a few card games and trekked up a steep hill to get back on the coach which was a sign of how unfit we are!!

We set off for Wellington. The journey today was going to be another long one. We stopped off a few times for the toilet and food! We arrived late so all made our way to dominoes which is so cheap out here ($4.99 pizzas!!) too good to say no haha!! As we will be in the middle of no where for my birthday we decided to celebrate it tonight! It was a great night as we met the rest of our friends from our original bus again and had drinks altogether before heading out. I was brought shot after shot and ended up being put to bed at 11pm!! Everyone had a great night haha but unfortunately I don't remember a thing!

I awoke at 2pm the next day feeling very hungover. Ed went with everyone to explore the capital city but unfortunately I had to opt out and sleep it off! Lots of people came to visit and keep me company and finally at 6pm I decided to emerge from my room and we all went out for a curry. I hadn't eaten all day and was a little worried how food would sit. Well I was correct and sadly my curry went to waste. We finished the evening watching telly and got some much needed sleep.

On the 7th we had an extremely early start and waved off Amber as she isn't coming to the South Island with us :( I was very sad to say bye but lucky for her she's off to Fiji when she gets back to Auckland. We set off for the ferry as a family. Two of our friends had gone out last night and had partied a bit too hard and missed the ferry, oopsy!! The ferry was 3 hours long but we entertained ourselves altogether. Goodbye North island we shall be back but onwards and upwards we are very excited for the South!!