Okay...I lied....it hasn't been a week. But it has been the longest gap since I updated so far, and I've got sooooo much to say so if you're short on time or patience I suggest you leave now!! There's no two ways about it - New Zealand is amazing. We've only been here 5 days and I already love it. I'm going to have to go right back to Auckland and start from the beginning so bear with me..... Two days in Auckland is just not enough, especially when you're more than a little jet lagged on the first day and haven't quite got the energy! Wandering around the city at daybreak was amazing though, I'm going to start recommending it as a way to see places. You get to see it coming to life, and Auckland is a busy city so there's a lot to see! We spent the rest of the morning shopping (its been a while!) as we were all needing to replace a few bits and bobs. We did give in to a quick power nap in the afternoon, but managed to drag ourselves back out of bed fairly late on to go up the Sky Tower - I think it was my Dad who told me you should go up a tower at dusk to see the sights in the day and at night, so thats what we decided we should do. And it was definitely a good idea, we had a lovely day and we could see for miles. And you would need to really, Auckland is the 4th largest urban sprawl in the world and the city goes on to the horizon in pretty much every direction! Its my kind of city, nice green spaces and surrounded by water. We saw loads of sail boats - now we know why Auckland is known as the city of sails! It also looked lovely lit up at night, looking at the lights on the other side of the bay and all the way back to the hills. Definitely a trip to recommend. We managed to make it down to Viaduct Harbour for one quick celebratory drink after that, but that was pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back, and we had to head home to dinner and bed after that! On the Thursday we went on a free guided tour of the city with Stray, the company we had chosen for our bus tour of the North Island. We were hopeful - if the tour was good, hopefully so would the bus be! And it was, Worm the guide and George the driver really knew their stuff, and were very entertaining. It was nice to be driven around to all the best places, and be told all about them as you go. After that tour, we were definitely looking forward to the bus!! We went to a market in the late afternoon, and we had been planning to go out for a drink with Liv, a new friend from the hostel, but we got chatting and that was it, time ran away from us and it was time for bed as we had an early start for the bus the next day! So, the next day (Friday) began the Stray Bus. It was late to pick us up, and we were beginning to have a bit of a panic, but there was no need! Noddy the driver turned up with a 22 seater orange bus that was already bursting at the seams, and we set off. By the time we reached our first stop (Mount Eden, a viewpoint for Auckland) we were already beginning to chat to people and it seemed like things were going to go well! We'd had beautiful weather in Auckland up to this point, and it was now that we got the first hint of rain, but we refused to let it dampen our spirits! Unfortuately, it did dampen other things. The stop at Hot Water Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula had to be cancelled, as stormy weather had washed away most of the beach, and we were not going to be able to dig holes in the sand and sit in puddles of hot sea! This was a bit of a shame, and they then cancelled the sea kayaking trip that was on offer at our first night stop, Hahei, so we were getting a bit worried! But the advantage to these bus drivers is that they're used to bad weather, so they always have an alternative up their sleeve. Noddy took us to a very local winery - nothing like the Concha y Toro in Santiago but very enjoyable all the same! The guy that ran it was as mad as a hatter...we did wonder if it was isolation sickness! When we got back to Hahei, we decided to go for a walk along the beach to Cathedral Cove, apparently even prettier than the beach we were on. And it was very nice, but it was a real trek to get there! Once again, I had worn totally inappropriate footwear - flip flops (or jandals as they're known over here) - for a march through the hills and down dales! It was very hard work, and took us 2 hours to do the round trip, but it was really good. The views at the Cove and on the walk were spectacular. More importantly, after that we felt we'd really earned the absolute feast that Noddy cooked up for us as the traditional first night BBQ on the Stray Bus!! The next day we set off for Raglan, on the West Coast (Hahei is on the East). The main activity at Raglan is surfing, but that wasn't high on any of our lists so we decided to give it a miss. Instead, I went on a bush walk with a few of the other girls from the bus. This time I came prepared though, and wore my proper shoes!! Glad I did too - it was more of a bush climb at points and was really hard work once again! Worth it though - great views and at least by doing a bush walk in NZ, I don't have to do it when I get to Australia, where the bush is full of evil creatures that can kill you! And all the walking made me again feel like I'd really earned that evening's feast, cooked up for us by the hostel's chef. It was absolutely delicious, and by that point I was starving! Definitely not going to be getting any skinnier over here either....... On Sunday we set off from Raglan for Rotorua, the heart of the Maori culture tourism industry. On the way we made a stop at Waitomo, where we finally took part in our first activity! The three of us went "tumu-tumu-tOObing" otherwise known as black water rafting, but should really be called caving! Now before you question why I might want to be caving, you should know that the reason Waitomo Caves are famous is for their glow worms. The trip basically involved us getting into wetsuits (such a good look!) and putting our safety into the hands of two surfer dudes to whom everything is "sweet as"! We then went down a tiny little hole into the caves, where we walked, clambered, swam and floated on inner tubes through a maze of caves and canyons in which the glow worms live. At a couple of points the guides had us turn off all our headlamps and just sit back and stare up at the ceiling, or the night sky as it actually looks! The glow worms were amazing, although once they had been described to us as "carnivourous maggots with shiny s**t" they possibly weren't so cute! The trip was fantastic, despite occasional cold moments, and crawling through pitch black tunnels we all really really enjoyed it. I even managed to keep my head when told to look up at the "weta".....no joke, these spiders were the size of my hand. But they didn't move, and I wasn't forced to go anywhere near them, so I survived! Dad, I think you'll agree that is progress...... From Waitomo we went to Rotorua, where Stray arranges for us to go to a Maori pighunters hall for a cultural evening, including a hangi, a traditional Maori feed. The whole thing was fantastic, and so interesting. Linton, the guy that ran the evening, had all the girls up to learn a poi dance (we were really good), and then all the men to learn the haka (women aren't allowed to do it). The food was good, and we even got to see a little show explaining one of the traditional stories of the Maori culture. The guys that ran it were so good, they were really interesting and obviously enjoyed telling us about it all. Best of all, it was just us there, so it felt like we were really getting to know the real Maori culture, not just seeing the tourist show. Fabulous. And finally, I've made it to today! This morning (Monday) we went with Debs and Gill from the bus to Whakarewarewa, a thermal village just outside of Rotorua. This is a real village where Maori live, and they open it up to visitors during the day. They have hot pools, boiling mud and geysers, and they use them all for cooking, bathing, washing, and just about anything else you might think of. Apart from the sulphur smell, it was a great tour, really interesting, although I did suffer from a crazy desire just to dip a toe in one of the pools just to see how hot it was!! (Don't worry, I wouldn't really - our guide told us one was at 170 degrees celsius!). The tour is finished up with a Maori concert which was amazing. They sang, and the women showed us what the poi dance is supposed to look like!! (It involves swinging what look like bulbs of garlic on the end of a string - when done right it is incredibly graceful!). The men did the haka, complete with the scary faces they pull to intimidate their enemies - bulgy eyes and sticking out their tongues - it worked on us! They were really tuneful, and very expressive. There was even some audience participation.....in a non-scary way! I hadn't been too sure about the Thermal Village at the start, but it was amazing!! From Rotorua we have come over to Lake Taupo, stopping at Kerosene Creek, a hot spring you can swim in; Waiotapu boiling mud pools and Huka Falls, which are a brilliant shade of turquoise. We made a lot of stops because the weather has taken a pretty serious turn for the worse - we are getting the tail end of a cyclone, and we're getting a lot of rain! Unfortuately, this means that activities are being cancelled left, right and centre. The Tongariro Crossing, which we had scheduled for tomorrow, is cancelled for the forseeable future due to unpredictable winds. And, believe it or not, today Nicola and I were actually planning to do a Skydive (assuming we didn't wimp out half way there...) and that was cancelled by the time we arrived at Taupo. There's a chance of it being rescheduled, but not a high one! All we can hope is that this weather doesn't last and that all the things we have planned for the rest of our time in New Zealand can go ahead! So that is our time in NZ so far.....believe it or not, this is me trying to be brief! I could go on forever about the amazing scenery we are driving through every day, and just how lovely it is over here, but I'm running out of time! Its already taken me ages to write this! But I'll try and keep my paper diary going as well at the moment, so I can always tell you the rest in person when I get back.........