So for those of you that don’t know my story, here’s a quick recap of how I came to be in New Zealand.

3 years ago I took a 4 month sabbatical from my job of 7years to go traveling. I visited 6 countries (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, New Zealand and Australia) but my time in NZ was always at the heart of the trip. I’d fallen in love with the idea of visiting as a teenager, back in the days when I wasn’t even interested in going abroad, let alone traveling.

As you might have guessed, this belief changed for me over the years so when I had the opportunity of spending 7 weeks traveling around this long dreamt about country, I took it. I was afraid after all those years and all the other beautiful places I had been, NZ wouldn’t be able to live up to my expectations.

But I needn’t have worried.

During my time here in early 2015 I fell deeper in love with the country and the laid back culture so different from home. And yet at the same time I felt more at home here than I had anywhere else, and seeing the similarities between NZ and home, I felt it’s what England may have once been. Or at least, had the potential to be.

Fast forward to my return home in May 2015. I struggled to settle back into my routine and while I had once felt I wouldn’t be able to leave home for an extended period and work abroad I had come home believing that maybe I could, if I wanted. I just wasn’t sure that I did indeed want to.

I spent the next 3 years burying myself in work and making my job into a career. While I regret none of this time, I did get to the stage of wanting more time and energy for the life I had once wanted to build for myself. So once the decision was made to change jobs, it took a- not so small- push, to decide to come back to Nz. This time for longer.

For those of you that know me well or have read my blog before, you will know that I don’t like change. Or anything new. I’m clumsy, shy and also a complete wimp when it comes to social situations.

So it should be interesting to see what the next 6 months have in-store for me. Hopefully I will survive it without too many traumatic experiences. And if I’m not broke and the end, all for the better!

Here we go.....

Sunday 28th - Tuesday 29th January 2018

London Heathrow to Auckland, New Zealand. Via Kuala Lumpar

So Sunday morning I got up and showered and did all the final checks for my paperwork and my passport. Saying goodbye to Izzie, our dog was most likely the hardest part of the day. While I will obviously miss my friends and family, leaving a beloved pet is much harder for me. I’m not sure I want to think about what that says about me!

My flight was a mid morning one and arriving almost 4 hours before departure I easily checked in and said goodbye to my dad who had given me the early morning lift to the airport. Heading through security, as always I set the detector off and went through the whole pat down routine.

Coming out the other side I soon found a deserted departure lounge and proceeded to doze here for an hour as I’d only had a couple hours sleep the night before.

Once I boarded the plane I spent most of the 12hr flight dozing, staring into space trying not to over analyse my decision to go to NZ and also shamelessly eavesdropping on the girls sat to my left. They appeared to be heading to Malaysia's as part of a uni project as did another dozen or so others dotted around the plane.

By the time I reached Kuala Lumpur I had a splitting headache from lack of sleep and of course stressing myself out! After finding my departure gate easily, I still had time to search for some tablets and luckily remembered I was ‘in' Asia. Tiger balm to the rescue!

The next leg of my flight was more of the same though I managed to rest more this time. By the time we reached Auckland we were 45mins late so it was the beginning of Tuesday morning. As I approached passport control I asked about whether I could use the epassport gates as I have a work visa. I was assured that it was fine and continued through and then again passed through the other checkpoint easily enough At this point I began to worry as IEP-who are my contacts here while on my working holiday visa- had stressed that I would need to show hard copies of both my visa and proof of funds on arrival. Otherwise face additional payments and hassle.

Knowing there wasn’t much I could do at this stage I climbed about the sky bus to head into Auckland and my hostel for the next few nights. Once I stood outside the hostel some of the smokers and drinkers helped me get the attention needed to be let in- afterall it was almost 2am by this point.

Once in the reception area I waited my turn as a couple of long term guests started chatting to me. They were nice enough and pretty amusing given that they were drunk.

Soon Cam had checked me in and I headed upstairs and let myself in as quietly as I could. Once on my top bunk I tried to switch my brain off for awhile as at least I’d made it to Nz. Flying Malayisa Air, some friends had teased that I might not even make it this far! After snapping a quick picture of the building in front of me all lit up, I dozed off.

On waking my first order of business once up and dressed was to head over the road to the IEP office. Once here I was assured that it’s normal to be waved through at the airport and not to worry about it and then I made use of the free WiFi for the next hr or so. After this I walked down to the water front and proceeded to chill out for a whole, quickly getting my arms burnt in the process.

The rest of the day was spent catching up on sleep and chilling out and chatting to one of my dormmates.

Wednesday 30th January- Thursday 1st Feburary 2018

Auckland

Wednesday morning I had an orientation meeting at the IEP office. This involved them giving is information about NZ , advice on how to travel around and the types of jobs to look for. I found it amusing that one of the things in our members pack was a flyer on culture shock. By now I was definitely displaying more than a few of the symptoms. Namely wanting to catch a plane home!

Luckily I knew -well hoped- this would pass. After all Nz wasn’t the issue so much as knowing I’d left my job and the security that came with it.

Also during the orientation meeting we filled in paperwork for our IRD number so we could start working as soon as possible and also had a representative help us open a bank account. I was slightly worried about this as I knew without having received their welcome letter and preactivting my account, I wouldn’t be picking my card up today.

Since I was leaving the city Friday morning I was worried about what issues this could cause as having IEP forward it would be risky. Luckily i had the option of checking the next day that my account was active and then popping into a local branch to pick up a card so long as I was happy for it not to be personalised.

Once the meeting was over I used the WiFi once again to look into doing Waiheke Island which a lot of people rave about. With a rough plan I headed off to walk the waterfront some more. Along the way I passed the mariner which had two cruise ships in. One of which was the very same one of done my first cruise in 10 years ago! Taking a picture of the Sea Princess I carried on walking and passed a guy that appeared familiar. A few minutes later I realised he had be sat next to me for the second leg of my journey to Nz.

Once I had wandered enough I headed back the way I had come, stopping for fish and chips at a kiosk along the waterfront. I’m not a big fan of fish but I have to admit there could have made a fan out of me.

Once back at the hostel I grabbed my bags (my first 2 nights booked through IEP were up meaning I needs to change rooms) and checked back in. Along the way I heard there were storms on the way, the tail end of a cyclone elsewhere. Suddenly my plans for tomorrow seemed to be unwise.

I had also considered going out that evening to catch a glimpse of the rare eclipse however decided not to. I was still tired but the idea of wandering out in my own with the weather already turning just didn’t appeal.

The next day with the rain pouring down I didn’t do too much. I again visited IEP to use the computers to check joblistings and my new bank account. I also had my free Nz sim to set up. By the time my account was activated it was mid afternoon so I set out for the branch I had found yesterday and was lucky enough to have it all sorted within 20minutes. Finally everything seemed reasonably sorted.

Friday 2nd- Tuesday 6th Februaury 2018

Auckland to Hahei

Friday morning meant an early start to catch my stray bus to the Coromandel. For those that don’t know, Stray is a backpackers hop on hop off bus. I used it last time I was in NZ and had some great experiences because of it but I had remained unsure about using it this time.

Last time I was trying to see as much as possible during a short period of time, while this time I would need to find work, perhaps even further off the beaten track than Stray go. But I decided even a shorter pass would do me good as I’d meet people, not something im good with doing by myself, being anti social and all Besides at least this way I needn't worry about getting around the main places I’d like to go back to or as with Hahei, somewhere neither I or they went during my last visit.

So on the way to Hahei with our driver Happy (all the drivers go by nicknames) we stopped in the quaint town of Thames. Given all the rain the last few days many of the roads we drove on had only just reopened having been under a couple feet of water.

We had an hr in Thames as a lunch and supermarket stop so I spent a little time following a walking path down along the water before heading back. The sun was shining reminding me to get some more sunscreen as the next week or so would be in beach towns. Since I have a tendency to burn before tanning I didn’t want to push things having just swapped a dreary English winter for a kiwi summer.

It had already been decided on the bus that we would do a group dinner that evening which I know from past experience are almost always worth the 10dollors each. With dinner taken care of I still had more than a few days worth of meals to get as I would be staying in Hahei longer than this bus but as always when backpacking you need to consider what will be available to you to cook with and how much you already have to carry.

With Thames now being left behind as the rain closed in, Happy told us more of the plan for the day. We would have a little over an hour to settle in to our accommodations before heading to Hot water beach. The place we're staying the next few nights is part of a campsite which takes you right to Hahei beach in about 3 minutes of walking from our backpackers section. It’s gorgeous setting for sure.

Once back on the bus a German girl from my room came and sat with me and we chatted and stuck together on arrival at the beach. You may wonder why we climbed back on the bus to go to a beach when we’re practicality staying on one.

Well Hot water beach is just that. Either side of low tide you can dig holes and find a hot water spring, anywhere from normal temperature to boiling.

We were given an hour at Hot water to have some fun and with it being later in the day many holes were already dug. As we explored many of the holes were cool but the further into the cluster we went, the warmer they got.

Following Happy we came across an abandoned hole which was crazy hot. I could dip a toe in but only for a split second and had to watch where I stood as water trickled down the beach in small rivets.

After taking some pictures I walked in the surf and made my way up the beach some. On my way back there was a family nearer the waters edge and the water coming down from that area was boiling. In fact you could see the steam coming up off of it!

Heading back to the bus at the appointed time I spoke to an older Danish lady and an English couple who were using the bus to get about. We waited quite awhile as we were a person short but eventually left. Now I think about it I don’t know if we ever did find out where that person was....?

The rest of the day was spent reading and helping prep the bbq. As you may know, I am clueless when it comes to cooking so I usually help with the clean-up instead. This time I helped briefly on an easy job and them joined a few others in ‘supervising’ the boys manning the bbq itself. To be fair we were such a big group that there were more people than jobs to do.

The bbq was good and after helping clear the dinning area I headed away looking for some solitude. Enough people for one day as far as I was concerned...have I mentioned I’m pretty anti social?!

The next morning many people got up early for the sunrise. I decided against it as I knew I had extra days here. Leisurely getting up and having breakfast I walked into town before deciding to start the hike to Cathedral cove. Like Hot water beach, the cove is one of the highlights of the area.

Soon on my way I stopped for many pictures. The coastal path has some truly amazing views and with the sun out, it made for a brilliant walk. As we had made the drive to Hahei yesterday I was reminded once again how green and remote Nz can be. Parts of the UK are similar but the forests here seem so alive and the noise... I’d forgotten how much noise there is in a Nz forest. You can be the only human about but there’s a constant loud buzz or hum of insects.

I detoured off down to the other coves along the way to Cathedral as well as going up to an extra lookout. On reaching the cover I discovered I had timed it about right. The tide was still high enough to be splashing inside the hole made in the rock here but low enough that you could walk through it. During high tide, boats often go under the rock.

I spent maybe 30minutes or so here, getting rather wet as the water crashed in while I was paddling. Once on my way back, as always the time seemed to pass quicker but such is the way with these things.

Arriving back in Hahei much earlier than I thought I chilled out awhile. Soon one of the guys, Gabe, from the group came in and started chatting to me. We had passed earlier on the hike while he was with Claudia, one of the many Germans in the group. (On a side note forgot what its like being surrounded by so many of another nationality!! Last time it was dutchies but so far this trip , their second to the Germans) Soon we finished talking about the walk and instead I helped him organise the next few weeks of his trip with Stray. He found the booking system frustrating while I generally live for this kind of thing. My German friend (whose name I never did find out!) came in and joined in a little as we debated where to hop off and what things there are to do in places.

After sorting as much as we had patience for, Gabe suggested going for a walk. Soon after it began raining heavily so instead we all started thinking about dinner instead.

The next morning I was awake early, not a surprise when sharing a 12bed dorm room. Still I’ve been sleeping amazingly well and it seems I’ve fallen back into my pattern of sleeping through most things again. Something I learnt the first time I went backpacking.

Having already decided to stay in bed until the bus left, I then made sure my bag was packed before going to the shower blocks. Having spoken to Glen the day before he had informed me that I could stay here the next few nights if I wanted. Of course I already had accommodation booked and wasn’t likely to get a refund as the other backpacker knows full well that many book with them unaware we can book the strays stop once here in person. It would mean losing my money and perhaps costing me more (though I was later told to stay quiet about staying as it’s partially their own fault for losing business not advertising correctly) but given the rain and having to be back here early morning in a few days time, I decided to stay for convince sake.

In between the rain showers I chatted to two Swedish girls who were also staying longer and read a little. As the weather cleared slightly I went for a walk to a view point above the beach. I walked all the way around town to go up the walk instead of straight across the beach. After all I’ve time to pass and I may as well see some more of the area.

Once at the top I spent some time enjoying the view. The water below was pretty fierce and watching a kayaker in amongst the waves, I really could not understand the appeal. Soon i was distracted by 3 small planes flying overhead. We had passed some kind of event a few miles outside of town the day before and I had the thought that it was car related. However these planes had come from the same direction and were now synchronized as they trailed smoke and flew loops.

Once back at the hostel I again chilled out reading. The rain was back once again. There was a new stray group arriving and I eventually found the bus driver and asked if I was able to join the group meal. He agreed but as there were about 5 extra people who’d hopped off and asked the same thing, the food didn’t go nearly as far as it should! Still I chatted to an American girl who was at the tail end of a 6 month trip. She has done a bit of everywhere! I thought I had packed a lot into 4 months before but I had nothing on her.

Later that night I headed down the beach after dark. We had been told by Happy that the Plankton washing in had been reported to be fluorescent recently and I decided this was something I needed to see. The beach was rather eerie at this time of night with just a few other groups with flashlights along the length of the beach. Presumably the were doing the same thing though some may have been fishing. I didn’t really fancy finding out in the pitch black night.

The plankton was indeed glowing in the dark and looked like the jewels on a necklace glistening on the edge as the waves rolled in. It was more than a little mesmerizing and I’m so glad I came down to see it myself.

The next morning I was a bad roommate. I had set my alarm to go see the sunrise but on waking I looked out the window and decided against it! But at least on waking later everyone was much more frustrated with the guy next to me than my little alarm. He had spent the whole night snoring and then let his alarm go off twice without switching it off quickly. Not good dorm etiquette!!

The day was mostly spent wandering, getting wet and then finally once the sun made an appearance, making a mad dash for the beach. I didn’t spend too long here as I’d told Glen I would go to the pub with the group in the early evening and it had taken until mid afternoon for the weather to improve. Still after much mental debate I made for the water.

I am not a water person. As a kid I had no problem with it jut as an adult it’s become something that makes me nervous. Sometimes being an adult sucks! Still I went in up to my waist and then at the urging of the only person near me, I did the sensible thing and dunked myself. As she had pointed out, if my feet arnt cold, I’ll be fine.

After a quick shower I went and got changed. At this point Claudia and I were discussing the pub thing and decided neither of us were really interested. Then Glen came in and did the whole guilt trip thing. So off I went, attaching myself to a couple of Brits I’d sat next to at dinner the night before and a Dutch guy. Once at the pub I went with the local Hahei beer and stuck with Happy and the Dutch guy. It turns out Happy works for half the year in NZ making money and then spends the other 5 months or so, chasing summer. His plans for this coming Nz winter are unreal.

Awhile later Julia, a German girl I’d been getting to know came and we spent some time chatting. Apparently my accent is easier to understand than some of the other brits...Hard to believe I know! Having heard there was a girl with a harry potter tattoo on her arm, Julia pointed her out for me. Now this may seem strange but the reason why everyone was so up in arms over it, is that the drivers ‘name' is Dumbledore, go figure.

Shortly after this, a friend of Julia’s sat next to me and we picked up a conversation as the Sweds and the American from the previous day had also arrived. As it turnt out I was pretty glad to have come out but made my excuses an hr or so after arriving.

Tuesday 6th February 2018

Hahei to Raglan

So this morning we were leaving pretty early to head to Raglan. Since I’d made sure to pack the night before, I had time to go and catch the sunrise. Glen had had the beach to himself the day before when I had got back to sleep but I think the colours were better today with less clouds about.

Once on the bus it was pretty quiet and we only had one stop for a morning coffee. Once in Raglan I checked with Dumbledore if I could pick my bags up after the free time as I wouldn’t be going with them to their accommodation.

Having checked I knew the bus stayed at the same place as before and it’s way outside of town. Since I planned to hop off I had already made arrangement to stay elsewhere so after spending the free hour rediscovering the place, I went to my hostel and checked in straight away. And can I just say wow. I know Raglan is the surfing mecca for Nz...and I know it’s hippy too....and I also know Nz as a whole are laid back....but my god, with whatever the guy that checked me in was smoking, I’m surprised he was upright and not crashed in one of the hammocks by reception!

Anyhow. Back to the hostel itself. I’d hmmed and hawwed over which room to book, eventually just going with the 4 bed waterfront property. Did I luck out or what? The room is huge for dorm accommodation and it’s part of an actual house. The 4 beds in the room are just that. Beds, not bunks. There’s a large window and as I would discover over the coming days, this part of the backpackers is more like a shared house than a hostel, despite 20 or so people using the area.

Once my bags were in and sorted I went to the supermarket and stocked up for the week before going for a walk. Later on Gabe and I met up as my first night here was his last having hopped off here a few days earlier. We headed down the beach just as the final rays of light disappeared and kept walking and chatting until we could Stargaze. This was one of my favourite things the last time I was on this side of the world. The stars are unreal and seeing the milky way with your own eyes? There’s nothing like it. And so we watched as that very thing appeared above our heads. We watched shooting stars, saw a satelite and a bigger brighter orange tailed shooting star. It may have taken me a week of being in NZ before getting back to the stars but it was worth the wait. And finally I’m beginning to feel the wonder and peace they once gave me long ago.

Wednesday 7th- Tuesday 13th February 2018

Raglan

As my time in Raglan began, I started with a coastal walk to the big beach 5km or so down the road. I set off following the road before going through a reserve and up onto farmland. I then ended up flat out on a bench overlooking the sea for a good hour, enjoying the sense of solitude.

I went further along the coast, debating how far I wanted to go. But as it began to persistently drizzle I headed back thinking I would go up a different footpath on my way back. After 15 mins or so my trainers and feet were soaked through and having had 20 head of cattle come running towards me as I followed the markers I decided against joining them in the field to continue my new direction. I know, I know. Some country girl I am!!

Still while I was soaked through it was still warm and by the time I got back to town it had eased up some giving me time to dry a little.

Over the coming days the weather would get worse leaving me doing shorter walks where there was a 50/50 chance of getting wet. Still I kept trying while avoiding the very thing I should have been doing while here. Water sports.

My first day here I had met 2 Sarah’s whom I would pass time chatting with. The first was my roommate for 5 nights, Sara from China. This was here third holiday to Nz in 3 yrs so I think it’s safe to say she likes it here. She would tsk at me a lot as she got ready for surfing and I would say ‘maybe tomorrow’s. At one stage we talked about maybe trying SUP or kayaking but with the weather it never happened.

The other Sarah was staying in the room opposite and was in her last week of a 4 month stay. I asked her advice about finding work and then bonded over our love of horses. Having felt uneasy and unable to settle due to this ‘culture shock’ of my own making, meeting these two and catching up with Gabe helped me relax some. And as it turned out I did try something new here. On Thursday Sarah and I did the Yoga class. When it comes to Raglan, if your not here for surfing, yoga is the other likely reason with 2 different studios in this small town.

Both Sarah and I were new to Yoga. I had done YouTube videos in the past as a friend thought they would help with my stress levels....and they did. They helped them go from high to boiling point! Still from there I had found pilates which I did like and not having done any actual classes before (wimp in social situations remember? It amazes me that I used to go to the gym regularly,what with all the healthy fit people surrounding me there!) it seemed the better choice for something new. Neither of us disliked the class, in fact at times we had to stop from laughing when we looked at each ( I’m sorry but at the end, the snoring was definitely not the teachers dog Evie!) but both Sarah and I agreed this wasn’t like what we had done before. It did make me realise that I miss Pilates though so I have since decided to try and get back into that when I can. After all I’m coming home to be a bridesmaid in August and I have a dress to fit into! Sorry guys but since quitting work....? Yeh not gonna happen!!!

On Friday I made my way into the nearest big town, Hamilton as I had an email informing me of issues with my bank in relation to getting my IRD. Luckily this was quick and easy to sort and I spent the rest of my time there walking down by the river and lake and window shopping as it gave me a break from the rain. While coming back from the river I actually had a Philippinee lady in front of me insist on my walking with her as she had an umbrella. Linda as I found out, was in the last week’s of her stay with her sister and family. She had a 9 month visa but was heading home a few weeks early. It always amazes me how open and kind complete strangers can be in a world that tells us – and often shows us- the very opposite most of the time.

On Sunday I knew there was a town market. Not at all where I thought it was but I found it easily enough. I had a look around here at all the different things. From tie dye to crystals to organic tonics and chocolate. There’s a little of everything, definitely worth a quick stop.

Moving on despite there rain, I went to walk the over side of town, coming across the wharf where the sunset boat cruises leave from. I had hoped to do one of these but it seems a waste of money if the weather’s bad.

Once back at the hostel I had to change out of my wet gear. Talking to my roommate we discussed how organic everything is here. I remember from before about all the hunting that goes on and know about lots of life style farms etc but we were still both surprised at how much is organic, vegan and or gluten free. Much more choice than back at home but both being gluten and meat eaters we find this a little weird!

The only other really nice day during my time in Raglan came on Monday. After an amazingly humid night with rain, we woke up to blue skies. I got a later start than planned now sleeping later than I originally was due to me relaxing more.

Deciding to do a similar walk to my first one I set out following the road out of town. Instead of going all the way to the reserve this time I took a right turn and followed the road down to the beach. By now it must have been in the late 20's with very little wind. I carried along and started up the bike track. My thought had been to go up from this end and complete the detour I had began before meeting the cows the previous week. But having gone up the hill and through the woods some I changed my mind. It was far too nice a day to spend in shadows. Back down the hill I went onto the beach and dropped my bag as I went into the water some. This is the first time I can say I haven’t found it cold instead just refreshingly cool. Which is how I know it really was in the late 20's

After a paddle I sat on the beach awhile before deciding to follow it all the way back into town. Along the way I stopped on finding an area all to myself. I decided to do a little Pilates on the beach as finding time when one of the other 3 people arnt in the room at the hostel isn’t as easy as you’d think.

After that there was nothing for it but to go all into the water to clean most of the sand off. At this stage I debated just going for a swim then and there but I decided against it. Having planned a walk and not a swim, I had no towel which made a quick clean up bad enough.

Back in town I lazed around on the grass reading and wandered some more. Later that evening I made the 10 minute walk back to the beach to watch the sun set. Not the best I’ve seen but plenty pretty.

Heading back I grabbed a quick meal before the house goes on lockdown at 9.30. Odd for a hostel I know. The other kitchen and lounge area are still open so long as your quiet but the house one they try to keep empty after that time as the walls are thin.

I waited awhile and then again went down the beach to see if I could Stargaze. But again while we’d had a sunny day there was still too much cloud cover to see much.

My last day in Raglan we woke up to rain again. The day would start as it meant to go on with my first order of business being to go to the chemist as I was in need of some cream for a bad burn on my lip-don’t ask!- and also go on my second trip to a small bakery Sara had told me about. It’s only open 3 times a week for a few hrs or until everything sells out. I had gotten there late the day I was first told about it with Sara having just beaten me to the choc buns. Having tried some sourdough rolls though I made the effort to get there earlier this time!

I had hoped to go to a Pilates class that morning but I woke with a headache so that was out unless it passed. I had also found out I could use the gym here without an induction but again until I was feeling better, the point was moot. Today the main things would have to be the boring things. Laundry and shopping for the next week as I would head to Waitomo (why-tomo) for a week and there’s little to nothing in way of shops. Another lazy day with highlights being ice cream and watching Blood Diamond.

Wednesday 14th February

Raglan to Waitomo

So today began with catching a Stray bus in the early morning. As luck would have it, right behind the house is the fire station which was the pickup point so I didn’t have to traipse far.

Typical if me though, I had gone out the night before and as was my habit, returned to the house, via the back deck. So long as you get in before they lock the doors, its not an issue. The problem this morning however, was that all my shoes were in my backpack...apart from the trainers on the other side of the locked door...hmmmm.

After putting on my hiking boots-the only easily accessible shoes- I made my way out through the backpackers and walked around to grab my other shoes. Walking to the pick up point i quickly changed shoes while talking to the other 3 people currently there. While we waiting for the bus, more and more people joined the group. Eventually making me wonder how many people had jumped off for us all to fit on!

We also dumped our packs down when it became obvious the bus would be late..... Right in front of the station. Probably not the best idea but given the fact that Nz seems to alert it’s volunteer fire fighters by a siren heard for miles, I figured we'd have time to get out the way if there was an emergency. What seemed like a very outdated way to communicate, has started to make sense as I’ve slowly rediscover how remote places are out here.

Anyway the bus finally arrived and our driver Rhino was not having a good day.- it would only prove to get worse for him too. After sorting out those getting off and those getting on the bus-three people less than had been waiting- we made tracks for Waitomo.

Waitomo is a rural area and the ‘town’ consists of a cafe, a couple of activity tour offices, an information centre with a small museum attached and a restaurant. Given this you may wonder why I was choosing to hop off here, especially since I had been here before.

Well it’s quite simple. I wanted to see more than I did in the couple of hours spent here three years ago.

By the time we arrived it was raining and we were late which wasn’t good because people had activities booked here at certain times. Since it was still early morning I asked Rhino if I could go with him and those not doing anything into town and hop off when picking up those doing activities later. He agreed and so we headed into town.

After checking out the information center I made my way to the cafe. Now would pass a few hours using Wi-Fi, enjoying some of the best scrambled eggs I’ve ebee had, and making awkward conversation with a Danish lady off the bus. Don’t het me wrong, she’s lovely but a lot kept getting lost in translation. What I do know is she was with a younger girl (who was currently doing a walk I’d chosen to wait and do on a dry day) and they were spending few weeks traveling around before going back to Auckland for a friend’s wedding.

Subsequently, the most interesting- and slightly worrying- part of the time spent at the cafe was when her friend called to say she was lost! Down I mention that Rhinos day would be getting worse?

Once it was time to go pick up the rest of the bus from their activities I went up to remind Rhino I’d be jumping off.

Something he had asked me to do but given how stressed he was I was pretty reluctant. It turns out that a lot of the tours had been cancelled or substituted because of the amount of rain. With many of the activities including tubing, flooded caves did not amount to a good time. And that in turn made a not great day even worse. And it wasn’t even past 2pm!

Having been asked to retrieve my stuff now so I could get off before the others got on, I spent a good 5 minutes battling to get my pack out as people clearly can’t stack bags! Finally having achieved this we made for Waitomo Adventures.

Once off the bus I quickly put on the waterproof covers and made the 5 minute walk up to my accommodation. Checking in was easy and i was only the second person in my dorm who’d arrived so I quickly picked a bed- which would not be a good choice as it turnt out. I swear it had a hole in the middle the amount I sunk into it but since i wouldn’t find this out until going to bed that night, my bed as they say, was made.

The rest of the day past with one of the workers Dave, introducing me and my roommate (another Sarah as was the next roommate to turn up!) to the orphaned animals. Snowdrop the deer, Razzi (can’t remember the full name but it was long!) the goat and the pig whose name I can’t remember. Oh and our course his terrier, Max.

Sarah and I got chatting with another girl who like Sarah was from Sweden, discussing the best way to get about the country as we were all using different modes of transport.

After awhile we ended up putting a movie on. This was after debating what to watch for about 30ninutes. Eventually Dave whose DVD collection it was, made the choice for us- The space between us. And can I just say it took me about 5 minutes to realise that one of the main characters was played by the same actor that played Sirius Black in HP. Needless to say for the rest of the movie that’s who I saw every time he was on screen....i thinking was the hand gestures with the speech in the movies opening scenes.

About half way through the movie our new friend disappeared for her 2 evening glow-worm tours. I felt pretty bad for Sarah as she only had one night here and her tour was one of the ones cancelled. Hopefully she'll see glow-worms elsewhere. Once the movie was over I went back to the dorm as I’d had a headache all day so I spent a few hours trying to sleep it off.

When this didn’t work I went out to find the new arrivals had put on The Lord of The Rings (two towers) which Dave had banned while he was working as it’s what always gets put on. Not long after I joined the group the DVD started to skip so after 3 people trying to get it to work it was given up as a lost cause. Next up was Maze Runner.

Thursday 15th - Saturday 17th February

Waitomo

So my time in Waitomo was extremely lazy.....are we beginning to see a pattern? 
My first morning there Dave asked me what my plans were. When I replied that I thought I’d go find a walk he offered to give me a lift to the start of the Ruakuri bushwalk. 10 minutes later I was in the car along with a few others who were getting lifts into town to catch buses, happily fussing Max who reminds me of our old dog Lucky who also used to balance on the backseat in cars.

Having dropped off the others we continued couple of miles down the road while chatting football. Dave used to drive coaches in Europe as well as travel coaches for supporters to football games. He himself is a Brighton supporter but soon I was distracted from this as he told me of ways to sneak alcohol into the security tightened venues. The most memorable was the freezing of alcohol into ice cubes ( let me know how you go if you try this!) and the other time he sneaked alcohol in a bag attached to a supposedly ill and wheelchair bound supporter-who just happened to be his girlfriend!

Of course the best bit of the lift was getting locked in his car. Repeatedly. I’ve no idea how I managed it but every time he unlocked the kid locks, I managed to engage them again.... Yep. An adult, I am not . Shocker I know.

To begin with I did the short 30minute loop walk which takes you around and over the river and gives you a chance to go through a small tunnel and into a cave. It was a nice enough walk and I even managed to see a few glow-worms while I was at it.

Coming back to the carpark I began on the Waitomo walkway. The first 50ft or so were a little dicey as it was extremely slippery with clay type mud everywhere. Having picked my way through here, I continued on enjoying the sunshine and the green rolling hills of this area. With Dave having warned me on crossing the farmland that if I ignore the animals ‘most’ of them would ignore me back, I was envisioning another stampede like the one in Raglan. However it seems that most were grazing elsewhere while I enjoyed this walk, briefly shaking my head at the guy that way running it. And passed me twice.

Once I made it back to Waitomo adventures I decide to go in. After all, its past time I do something new and scary. Shortly after, my 100m abseil as part of the 4hr Lost World tour was booked and the medical form filled out.

Doing my best not to think about it I decided to go and do the walk at the back of the office that Dave had mentioned the day before. Its a short 45min return walk but it gives you great views of the valley on reaching the top.

Once back down I returned hot and sweaty to my dorm room and met my new roommate. Sarah. Nope not kidding. Sarah is over for a holiday cramming in a couple of weeks in New Zealand before doing Australia and heading home to Western Canada. Having begun chatting you can imagine that talking travel, this conversation went on awhile!

Later on Sarah would mention going to a restraunt outside of town for dinner. It’s one that’s pointed out on check in and as far as meals go, a cheap price for a backpacker with a free shuttle to and from included.

Getting picked up a little later we joined another 3 people from our hostel. One lad from Sydney, one lad from Germany (and at this stage most Germans pretty much apologises on meeting you because they're everywhere!) and a girl from Paris.

Something I’ve always been amazed at is how many people finish school and just take off traveling. Of course I’m the oldest by far in this group, then Sarah and the bother other girl who are both early/mid twenties. But both these guys are only 18 and traveling alone! I really can’t fathom it.
We had a good time chatting, discussing our travel plans and weirdly enough house prices and the different terms we use to describe house shares.

Pretty soon we all started looking at our phones as we had free WiFi but then the others decided we should just head back if that was the case. Sarah and I had thought to stay for the free movie that night but there didn’t seem to be anything going on so we joined the others. Having trailed behind the group slightly we were surprised to turn the corner and find the girl playing the piano. I for one thought they had put music on. As she finished up the song she was playing, another customer came through and commented on how nice it was and so we got her to play again. As we left she mentioned she wasn’t very good, too many mistakes as she’s mostly self taught.

Yeh, to someone that wouldn’t even know where to start when it comes to music, I think she’s plenty talented.

The next day I started off by doing some Pilates by the swimming pool. An odd choice perhaps but you try finding somewhere private and away from both travellers and campers that’s also relatively flat. I did as much as I could remember before sunbathing for a little while. I didn’t last long though as it was so hot with the sun shining down. Still. A great problem to have after all the rain!

A little before 1pm I was back at Waitomo adventures waiting to begin- you guessed it- my next adventure. In the end it was a group of 8 of us and two guides. We piled into the van and made the journey to the site we'd be exploring. I kept to myself (I know. Massive surprise) but listened as the Kiwi in our group Carlos, talked to the North Carolina couple. The rest of our group consisted of 4 Chinese, 3 girls and one guy. They mostly kept to themselves as two of them didn’t speak English and the others had to translate everything .

Once out of the van we were geared up into coveralls which had us sweating from the get go and then followed the wellies, hat and harness. The guys G and Kieran did their safety checks and then we followed Kieran to practice clipping ourselves on and off the safety lines. The most important things being not to touch anything metal and never double unclip. You’d think this was easy but it takes some getting used to.

Once that part was done we found ourselves by a platform and as Carlos and I were paired together we led the others out in single file.

For anyone whose ever wondered how high 100m is- It’s flipping high! To see 10 ropes just dangling down into an avatar type world, complete with mist? Yeh I was freaking out, in my head at least. It turns out Carlos was getting a little nervous too so at least there was that.

The next ten minutes were passed going over the safety information one last time and then Carlos was getting clipped onto his rope and being directed to face the platform and reach back to sit on the metal pole about a foot out from the platforms edge. Next up was me! To be fair this went much more smoothly than I imagined but then once our group of four English speakers were situated, G instructed us to slide off the pole. Urgh, Yeh. That was worse than looking down at the ropes disappearing!

So after a picture of us dangling, G joined us. He’s a nice guy but Kieran is much more relaxed so I think he chose to come with our group because of the frustrations of the language barrier in the other!

Soon we all had the hang of repelling down ,which again was easier than I thought it would be. We were to go as a group staying a little below G in case of problems. Looking around we had incredible view of his open cave which is filled with greenery. No wonder it’s called the lost world tour!

After a bit the ropes began to get slippery which made it more difficult to control and the harness was digging in under my ribs pretty badly. I was also swinging around a lot more than all but one other person, though I couldn’t figure out why.

It was about this this this time that Carlos said we must be about half way and I’ve got to admit I began to have had enough. I wasn’t feeling good and the ground seemed a long way away.

Of course this is where the trouble really began. Carlos is a very good looking guy. With long hair. Which got stuck in the ropes! So now I’m not feeling great and having to try and stay out the way as G pushes past me to then use his penknife to cut off the hair that’s trapped.

Now I’d like to point out that I did all this while appearing calm and managed the rest of the descent if a little jerkily. But on reaching the ground I totally had to sit down as I was so dizzy. Oh fun times to be me.

To say I wasn’t happy with myself was an understatement. Luckily by the time Kieran finished his talk with the rest of the group a few minutes later, I was feeling well enough to tag along at the back as we continued.

I'll admit at this stage I was feeling pretty embarrassed and sorry for myself. Luckily after walking up a bit of an incline we reached the cave we would be going through and the fun- for me at least- began.

Normally on this tour they walk along the valley floor to the ladder we need to climb to get out of the cave. However with all the floods this wasn’t possible as there was now water a couple feet deep, covering this path. Instead we scrambled all through the cave, sometimes using our harness to clip on and others free handing. Strangely enough, in some of the places I would have thought we should be clipped on we weren’t and vice versa!

At one point we stopped for water and chocolate as we took turns climbing a massive rock to have our picture taken. From here we could also see the ‘windows' which looked like something from Jurassic world. Small holes letting the light in, all covered in green vegetation. While here we were also told of the first people we discovered this cave and never made it to the waterfall that they could hear further into the cave.

I really enjoyed this part of the tour and was glad for the flooding extending it but we did eventually reach the area we would look at glow worms. This part was pretty cool and then came the 30m ladder climb.

Now as we had turned around, i was now leading the group but wishing I wasnt.
Still once I was up (thank you god!!) I chatted with Kieran some who as it turns out is in his last stint of a whv (working holiday visa) as he originates from Alaska. Once more of our group came up the conversation continued on until I suddenly was made to feel much better. While I hate up and probably took a few minutes to make the ascent, apparently the longest it’s taken someone is 45minutes! On the other side of that apparently a client once did it in less than a minute!

When I saw G appear I was pretty confused. We only had 2 of the Chinese up. And to be honest I’m not sure how they got out because we continued on with Kieran yelling at me when to stop and when to continue. We had another couple of ladders which were more horizontal than vertical. Do we walk them or climb them? Turns out I did a little of both!

Not long after we were back out of the cave and the group was all together as we talked and joked. And then for the journey back to town.

On getting back to Juno hall where I’m staying I went to sit on the wrap around deck and found the girl who had checked me in. We spent about an hour chatting away and she reminded me of how exciting it is that I can go where I want and where I want right now. I may have spent too much time recently worrying about what I walked away from, but this is the type of person that can motivate you with just a few words.

My last day in Waitomo (I changed my booking as a week is a little long when you don’t have a car) consisted of walking into town, doing the viewpoint walk again, Pilates by the pool and watching the next Maze runner movie.