Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th February

So arriving at Bangkok airport it didn't take me long to get stressed out. After 5 weeks of chilling out, my go to response is now reset to getting emotional rather than angry. Good in some ways as it means I'm completely relaxed- but bad as it also means that when the somewhat clueless lady checking me in, goes and tells me ive not got the correct paperwork for my flight, I struggle not to get upset.

About 25minutes later after having had someone else step in and eventually realise their mistake, my bag was checked and I made my way through security.

The next 12hours or so were fairly routine except for our flight being delayed by a half hour or so. Our pilot said not to worry as we'd easily make the time up. He lied.

By the time we landed in Sydney my next flights gate was opening and I was stuck onboard for another 20 minutes while we taxied in and disembarked.

Then followed a rather hasty exit through passport control (my first time scanning my own epassport too) and then a mad dash through the airport. I wasn't alone as I ran. There was a young couple who were making the same connection as me. Knowing this helped me to stay calm as we all doubted we'd make it before the gate closed but at least we weren't alone in it.

Luckily for us our connecting flight had also been late arriving, so they were still cleaning it when we arrived. After everything, we then had a 30minute wait which made the connection time what it originally should have been- if only we'd known that before our mad dash!

Anyway this means my only experience of Sydney airport was what I saw as I ran through it..and there not so clean toilets. One thing I did find rather interesting - and maybe slightly worrying too- was watching a plane take off as it was raining and there was lots of surface water on the concourse. From a distance it actually resembled a car going through a ford, with the water parting to the sides.

Once onboard and approaching Auckland, I saw the coastline with little islands and inlets directly beneath us and mountains and hills in the distance. Up until now I would have said that the best scenery ive seen from a flight has been with my friend Annie as we passed over the Greek Islands. But Auckland is simply stunning from the air and definitely deserves top stop.

By the time we landed I was feeling pretty tired. Apart from a 40min doze on my first flight, I had been up for 26+ hrs (34hrs by the end of the day) so when I found myself stood at the baggage claim after all the bags were gone and no sign of mine, I figured it was going to be an even longer night.

It turns out that no one who had made the same connection as me (Bangkok-Sydney-Auckland) had there luggage. Supposedly it had made it as far as Sydney but hadn't made the connection time. I'm not sure if I believe this. After all, both flights were late so if anything they would have had an extra few minutes to transfer the bags than usual. Plus my check in at Bangkok hadn't filled me with confidence. Either way there was nothing I could do and at least I wasn't on my honeymoon as the young couple i'd made the connection with, were!

Since there was nothing I could do I made my way out of the airport and bought a ticket for the airbus which would drop me nearby my hostel. As it happened another couple who had also lost their baggage, got on the same bus with me.

I'd been seeing them on and off all day, since arriving at Bangkok airport. I was also 99% sure they were on one of the many buses with Line and I sunday at Erawan falls! This was confirmed when we got off the airbus together and joked that once again we were going the same way! Again im amazed at how small the world really can be!

Parting ways with them when we reached Nomads, I checked in and explained about my luggage situation. The girl checking me in was wonderful and told me to use there phone whenever I wanted to chase it up.

The rest of the evening was passed sorting through the little I had with me, trying unsuccessfully to get my call answered by the airline, trying to sort my NZ finances out (not easy without wifi lasting more than a couple of minutes -thank you dad for sorting that end of things!) and getting something to eat for the night and the next morning.

I did also spend about an hour walking around my little area and down to Queens wharf, the Viaduct Harbour and on to visit the famous Race Village. Or what will be the Race Village in just another couple of days! Its already an amazingly cool place, I can only imagine what the atmosphere will be like come the 27th.

I have to say Auckland surprised me. I was expecting to enjoy it as much as I do any big city - which is to say, I may like to visit it for a day and that would be enough to last me a year :). As it turns out though, just from the little I have seen, it may well challenge Rome and Oslo for the top spot on my favourite city list. It probably did help that I saw the sun go down over the harbour though.

In the area I'm staying there are a lot of big brand names stores, posh restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels etc. And while the centre of downtown Auckland is easily walkable, it feels extremely spacious and chilled out despite the towering buildings. I love it!

With only 2 full days here spilt up later in my trip I can't wait to see what else there is to explore. I'd really love to get out to the islands and I had already been toying with visiting Mt Eden, before I arrived. I will have to wait and see!

Back at my 8bed dorm I asked the room at large if any of the girls had a UK converter I could borrow for my phone. Thank god i'd put my charger into my hand luggage last minute!

Thursday 26th February

After a very restless night resulting in roughly 5hrs sleep, I slipped out of my room as quietly as I could and showered using my rented towel. Having finished that and eaten a cereal bar I picked the rest of my stuff up and went downstairs to check out and call the airline.

This time they answered and were able to trace my bag for me. It was 'still' in Sydney but scheduled to be put on a flight arriving after midday. I was told that assuming it did arrive, they would call me later in the afternoon to see where to send it. At this point I'm not holding my breath.

Thanking the girl at reception I walked down to the Stray office where I was to be picked up for my tour.

Stray is a hop on/ hop off backpackers bus which I'm using to explore as much of NZ as possible. I used a similar type of tour in Canada a few years ago and enjoyed it, though I know Stray is a much bigger operation than Moose was. We have a driver who acts as our guide and shows us some sights and gives us information on the places we pass through. He also books optional activities for us and guarantees our first nights hostel accommodation in each place. That said you can get off and stay for as long as you'd like, at any point. I'd already planned my stops before I left home, but I'm still able to change them if I'd like to later on.

At 5.20 there were maybe a dozen or so people waiting to catch one of two buses leaving that morning. One of the girls started talking to me and I soon caught on that she was the Irish girl who i'd shared my dorm with the night before. Shes just spent a month in Australia and has just over 3 weeks here in NZ before a couple briefs stops to visit family on her way home. Her name is Gariona. Again I've no idea on the spelling or even the pronunciation and I've heard her say it at least 3 more times!

Meeting our driver Heemi, we all piled on the bus (a coach really) and headed to the main Stray office, picking more people up along the way. Once at the office we had the way system explained to us so there would be no misunderstandings later on.

On the move again I can see why people say that NZ resembles the UK. The vegetation, greenery and landscape is similar to that at home- though there are far more palm type trees here. It even has the feel of being home.

But while it may seem similar on the surface it also differs in a way that's difficult to explain but as a Brit, is also rather obvious to me. The terrain itself is much different with rolling hills and mountains, dormant volcanoes and sandy coasts that go for miles. And while it may feel like home, I've never seen a city like Auckland or a town like todays destination, Raglan, at home. I guess the closest we have to this area is Cornwall but unlike the UK, everything I've seemed so far seems unspoilt in comparison. From the city to the farmland to the beaches, unspoilt, is the only word I can think of to explain the difference between here and home.

We arrived at Raglan a little after midday having only made two stops. One for coffee this morning and another at Bridal Veil falls. Bridal veil was a pretty amazing waterfall with a huge drop off. We walked down to the bottom and got some great pictures before making the climb back up to the bus. Well after SEA it wasn't a 'climb' but it was a few hundred steps! And here i'd been feeling cold with the temps only being roughly 22/23c :)

In Raglan we had time to pick up some groceries and get some lunch. After picking up a few bits including a second hand top, I walked down to the gorgeous teal coloured water and ate a pasty. Soon I had to get back to the bus to carry on to our hostel which is well outside the town.

Checking in, im sharing with a brit couple, Francis and Matthew. We didn't have long before Heemi would drive people back to the beach for a few hours. Despite not having a towel or change of clothes, I joined them as I wanted to see more of these famous beaches.

If your unfamiliar with Raglan then you should know that it's the center of the NZ surfing community and is known the world over for the major surf competitions held here. Brand names you might know like quicksilver and ripcurl are big sponsors of such events with it being a place pro surfers come from all over the world to experience.

We were given 2 1/2 hours to enjoy the beach and I immediately set off down towards the rocks. Unsociable I hear you say? Maybe. But without any beach stuff or even another outfit for tomorrow, my options were pretty limited by sand and water.

I found a nice spot down by the rocks and enjoyed some sun and the scenery awhile (not realising until bed that evening how burnt my legs were). Then I headed back up the beach, eventually walking back up to the top of the cliffs so I could get some pictures looking down and across the bay.

Back at the hostel I made my way into the reception and called the airline again. I'd given them more than enough time to clear my bag if it had indeed arrived and if not then I would need to get on them. Not an idea I relish but I don't want to have to buy new stuff which is going to cost, just to dump it when my stuff does -fingers crossed- arrive! Of course unlike the helpful lady this morning, this guy seemed clueless making it a real possibility of not seeing my bag for a few more days.

Distracting myself I spent some time talking to Francis before taking a quick shower and going to help with the group BBQ. Of course by help I mean try not to get in the way as this setup -making salads- isn't really something I do a lot :)

After dinner we walked up to Inspiration point for the sunset. Of course we hadn't been told that it sets BEHIND a big hill! But still we saw some nice colours and cloud formations above the water and soon the stars were out too.

After another cider I called it quits. 6hrs sleep in the last 50 just isn't enough for me.

Friday 27th February

So i'm not going to lie. Waking up today I still felt overly emotional and missed my friends a lot. Everyone on the stray bus seems really nice but it's hard to get to know people with so many different languages and people. Plus despite sleeping for a good 7 hours I felt more tired than ever. The week catching up to me I guess.

As I went to get breakfast it began to drizzle and it was steadily raining by the time we left 30minutes later. Unfortunately the buses windows weren't much good to look out at this point but then I did end up dozing off so at least I wasn't missing too much. 

An hour into our journey to Waitomo the windows had cleared and I was awake. This area is farmland with plenty of rolling hills and again a familiarity to the UK is clearly present.

After dropping off those doing the more adventurous tour of the caves the rest of us then got taken to Spellbound, the company we would be doing our more relaxing tour with. Luckily the sun had made an appearance and the rain had stopped- for now at least.

The next 3 hours would be filled with us driving down a more remote track and onto part of an old farm. The property was sold a few years ago so the owner could retire but a stipulation was that this company could have access to the caves. Because of this a portion of our ticket price actually goes to his retirement fund which I think is pretty cool as he could have allowed the new owners to do whatever they wanted with the caves. Instead he made sure the area would be respected and preserved for future generations.

So once we arrived we walked down into the first of the two caves we would be visiting. It was a very pretty cave and we got to see some glow worms as well as some bones from the native Moa (similar to an emu), which the Maori hunted to extinction 600years ago. Having done a lot of caves recently I probably didn't find it as impressive as the others did. Though this one was small enough to be a proper cave, to my mind anyway :)

Back outside we sat down and had some tea and cookies in amongst the rocky hills. Scuba, the guy leading our tour, came and sat with me awhile. He was trying to give me career advice! He's a really cool guy with his own story of going back to school when he was a little older than I am so he could pursue a career he's passionate about. Its clearly worked out well for him and on another day I would have enjoyed discussing options with him. But today my mind felt like mush!

Moving on to the next cave we got given hats with headlights on and proceeded inside. Stopped with our lights off a little later, Scuba gave us some information on the Glowworms we could see as our eyes began to adjust to the darkness.

Glowworms have a life span of about 12months. Upon hatching without anyone to provide them with food, they turn and eat their siblings. They then begin to produce these web type strings that dangle down and catch their food. They then reel them in and eat them. After about 9 months they begin the process of mating and after having produced offspring they then die around about 3 weeks later.

Moving on we climbed into a raft and proceeded to to go up and down this space of maybe 50metres in length. No lights, just us quietly sat taking in the ceiling sparkling the green colour of glowworms.

More than a couple of us agreed that with the colour it almost looks like someone has strung christmas lights up. If you ignore the slightly green colour though, this particular area just seems black as night with the glowworms being the stars. Lots and lots of twinkling stars.  Its was magical. 

After this we walked 10mintues up the hill to meet the van. This part of NZ reminds me of old english TV programmes based in the country. Nothing but sheep, rocks and hills. Maybe with the odd shelter thrown in!

Back at the Spellbound office, we had a few minutes until we had to leave to collect the others. Having had a voicemail left in the morning when I was out of cell service, I tried calling quantas back but for whatever reason my phone just isn't wanting to make calls. I spoke to Hemmi and he was kind enough to call them on his phone. Unfortunately there was no answer. 

We continued trying while we waited for the rest of the group at the next stop. After about 20minutes I gave up, asking Hemmi if I could try again later. As it happens I got a phone call later on while on the bus. It was pretty difficult to understand as I think I was speaking to the Quantas Sydney department (i'd sent an email there the night before after the email i'd been given was invalid!) but I was definitely told they would get my bag to meet me tomorrow in Rotorua. If not, i'll be going shopping!

Tonight we would be staying with the Maori and having a culture experience. This was a new place that Hemmi hadn't been to before and we were all surprised -and not too happy- to find that we were staying just on the edge of Rotorua. This is fine but Stray had informed people that we would be a half hour out of town in the middle of nowhere(Hence not trying to get my bags to me tonight!).

Arriving at the Maori place we were greeted by Peawee who explained how we would now go and greet his brother. This involved the ladies going first (as they do in most everything Maori) and entering the meeting house. We were to stand until everyone was present and then sit as a 'family'. Peawees brother then spoke in Maori, welcoming us to his home. 

Following this the ladies again lead the way in formal greetings. This involved us lining up to shake the hand and perform the Hongi with everyone. And I mean everyone on the bus! The Haki is the official greetings between Maori people and involves saying 'kia ora' and then touching noses twice. 

I dare you to just try this with a friend. Seriously if I thought the turks and french kissing cheeks was intimate, it's got nothing on doing this with 30 people you barley know! It was so funny but so disturbing at the same time.

The rest of the evening was passed chilling out, eating a roast dinner and making up our beds- we would all be staying in the meeting house together, again as a family. Later in the evening we were shown some traditional dances and a short Haka (war dance). We then got split up by gender and taught our own!

This was a lot harder than it looked! As women we had to use a Poy, which is a soft ball on a string and swing it around in certain ways at certain times. It was very difficult and I'm glad I'm not the only one in the group lacking the coordination needed for this! Needless to say that when we performed it for the guys we were all in fits of laughter afterwards. That said, watching them then perform their Haka, we decided the women had the easier task. Their's was pretty involved and a lot more serious than ours was.

Saturday 28th February

This morning I woke up after a surprisingly good sleep and cleared my bedding away. Then I enjoyed the french toast and cereal, Peawee had organised.

I spent a little time talking to Julia, a German girl who's 5months into an 18month trip and an Austrian girl who's at the end of an 7month one. And I thought 4 months was a long time!

On leaving the Maori's we headed into Rotorua. I stayed on the bus while everyone else got dropped off as Heemi was going to take me to see if my luggage had arrived. It hadn't.

I spent the next 2hrs enjoying the wifi before I could check in. As soon as I'd done that I rented a towel and enjoyed a shower. After unsuccessfully trying to get a hold of the airline again, I went to explore the town.

I stopped and got something to snack on as I wandered the various streets. I stopped in any shops that looked as though they may be useful if my bag doesn't turn up and got some essentials along the way. Most importantly some more sunscreen!

Its funny, after 30+ temps in SEA where it's very humid, im now back to cooler mornings and evening but boiling hot days! I really don't know which I prefer. Probably this as there is at least a let up and your not constantly melting.

Eventually making my way onto Ranolf street I crossed the road and made my way into Kuirau Park. This would be my first glimpse of the thermal pools dotted throughout Rotorua.

There was a bigger one with amazing blue colours, smaller mud pools and also clear mirror image pools which were almost completely covered with the rising steam. The smell of sulphur -and rotten eggs- is especially strong, but by the end of the day I would be pretty accustomed to it!

Leaving the park I found my way to Ohinemutu, a lakeside Maoria settlement which made for such a picture perfect view from above. On reaching the village itself I admired the carvings and walked down to the cemetery which is a pristine white. I was actually there while a wedding party was having pictures taken and couldn't help but admire the place they had chosen. With the sun shining and the beautiful blue water behind, it was the ideal setting.

Moving on I decided to make my way back through town to the hostel. This attempt was semi successful as I did get distracted by a pipers meet/competition going on further down the lake! A brilliant summers day with water and music. And I also ran into Julia on my way back so we spent a few minutes chatting.

Back at the hostel I tried calling the airline again before rushing back out just to buy something to wear tomorrow. If it hasn't arrived by monday I'll go shopping properly, not a hardship here in Rotorua :)

After picking up something to eat I went back to the hostel for a few hours as I needed to charge my phone. Looking at my Stray booklet my German roommate began talking to me. Shes on her last day of a 7 month adventure in NZ, leaving tomorrow for just 1 month in Oz. She gave me a few tips on where to go and what to do while I'm here- its always handy having that insider information!

We spent an hour or so talking before she went to make dinner and I left to see the city at night. I walked back down to the Lakefront again, coming back through the 'eat streat' that was now lit up in the dark. There was a restaurant with a psychedelic dance floor and the whole 'street' was packed.

Its so odd though as it's still really quiet as you walk the streets. Rotorua IS a city but it just 'feels' like a town. I admit when we passed through it yesterday I was unsure about spending so much time here but I'm now so happy I am. I really do feel at home! As much as I love some of the places I've visited I've never truly felt I could make a permanent move before now. It will be interesting to see if I feel this way for the majority of my time in NZ.

Back at the hostel once more I met my other 2 roommates properly. Again I got involved talking travel with the German girls, while the Chinese roommate spent most of her time with her friends in the other dorm rooms.

Sunday 1st March

So today I had yet another headache but I think this was more to do with a very restless nights sleep. I don't think any of us slept well in our dorm room.

Having gotten up and showered I went to bother the poor girl at reception again about calling the airline. Shes been great about it all and it turns out that after my second stop in Rotorua next weekend, she'll be hoping back onto the same Stray bus as me!

Anyway, luck was on our side today and while we got no explanation on why my bag hadn't arrived yet, at least we got through to an actual person. Again it's meant to be here today but I'm fully expecting to have to go shopping before I leave tuesday!

So this morning I was pretty excited (and nervous) as I was meeting an old school friend of mine whom I hadn't seen in 12years! Anna is a Kiwi and along with her family spent a few years living near me while we were in our teens. As soon as she was able, she came back home with her sister and while we've talked a few times over the years it's been pretty sporadic.

It was really fantastic catching up on what we've each been upto and comparing travel ventures. With her and her husband only having moved here 4 months ago, it seems like maybe it was meant to be. Or maybe it was just a coincidence but I like the former idea better :)

After a coffee and a few errands we parted ways and I went back to the hostel to look some things up. With a free day tomorrow and another next weekend I needed to make some decisions on what to do, when.

I had been toying with the idea of going up on the gondola this afternoon but looking at the bus timetables it suddenly occurred to me that it's sunday and buses will stop early. So my next thought was maybe I could walk back but apparently it's too far.

So instead I got my Hobbiton tour booked (Yeh, I know, geeky or what? :) )for the following morning, leaving me the evening free to go up the gondola. After that I walked down to the rather grand looking Museum. Very english looking I must say but extremely pretty with the mowed lawns and brightly coloured flowers.

I then walked down to the lakefront again, this time laying on a bench for an hour or so enjoying the sun, listening to my music and watching float planes land on the lake and even helicopters on the tiny jetty. Oh and updating this blog :)

As I walked back through town I got another starbucks and did some more browsing, stopping to get some more postcards. I find there a great way thing to buy if you just can't get the angle or light right when taking your own pictures.

Arriving back at the hostel I was in for a surprise- my bag had arrived! The girl at reception found my expression so funny because I was so disbelieving when she told me. I truely had given up on it! The rest of the evening I just chilled out. I know, boring but ive yet to shake the headache that's been there all day long.

Monday 2nd March

So today I woke up, still with the headache and having had very little sleep again. Knowing I had to be up early today I had sorted as much of my stuff as possible last night. Organising my clothes (so exciting to HAVE them!) toiletries and breakfast so that I could just grab them and leave as quietly as the squeaky door would allow. I have to admit I was only really worried about waking the one roommate up as the other girl had been pretty inconsiderate in the half day she'd been with us!

Taking some more tablets, i resolved to get some over the counter migraine pills before leaving Rotorua. I really will have to sort this out on returning home. Having showered I made my way to the kitchen which at 6.45am was deserted. Yay! I hate being in there when other people are. Kitchens arnt my favourite place anyway so I usually feel quite out of place trying to make meals with a half dozen people doing the same thing at the same time!

I messaged friends while I ate breakfast. While wifi might be trickier here in NZ with it often costing and being patchy, it is much easier dealing with the 13hr time difference than the 7hr one I had while in SEA. If it's morning or evening here then I'm good to message people. Especially with this particular hostel having free wifi. Get up, message, go to bed message. Simples :)

Anyway, once i'd finished brekkie and cleared up, I went back to my room and grabbed my bag so I could go over the road and wait for my Hobbiton tour pickup. The Lord of the Rings is my favourite movie trilogy so of course visiting part of the set is something I had to do.

My driver Randy (Randolf on arriving at Hobbiton, where he becomes a wizard, in his own mind at least) was very friendly and spent the hour drive from Rotorua to Matamata giving us lots of information about the films and Nz itself. Making quirky jokes all the way.

I admit I did doze off for probably half the drive but when I was awake I learnt he's a pretty colourful guy with a really interesting perspective on imagination vs reality.

He made sure to repeat a half dozen times that the LOTRS is fantasy, not reality, leading me to believe that the lines do get blurred for some visitors more often than I want to know about! But he also said how Hobbiton is somewhere we can let our imaginations have free reign and become whoever or whatever we want. Something that as adults we rarely do and sometimes are incapable of.

I wish I could remember more details on what he said as it really is the type of thinking that I love to debate. Oh well. I remember enough to know he had me asking questions, that's never a bad thing.

On arriving at Hobbiton we stopped at the gift shop and cafe for 15mins. I grabbed a chai latte and browsed the shop. They have some really cool merchandise but it's all rather out of my budget. Still, it's interesting to see the different memorabilia.

Back on the bus we picked up our guide and headed down to the film site. Its on Alexander Sheep Farm, taking up just 12acres out of 1,250! The land here is pretty dry with all the sheep grazing but as you head down it you can see this green little oasis in the distance, complete with the bridge! We would learn that Hobbiton gets watered 3 times a day to keep the vibrancy we see today.

During our tour we walked around various hobbit houses, some of which made the films and others that didn't. We saw the road 'Gandalf' had first come down, meeting 'Frodo' and the houses that made up Bagend. I spent some time taking pictures with another girl Mana, who was also doing the tour alone. And again I saw a couple from my Waitomo cave tour, once again in my tour group!

Also on the other side of the LOTRS valley was a small set from the last of the hobbits film. Our guide was telling us how pleased they were that it had made it into the final film as so many of the carefully constructed set pieces hadn't. Having seen the movie just a week before I came away I racked my brain to remember what the final scene was as she told us this is where it featured. Eventually I remembered that it was from the scene where Bilbo returned home to his things being auctioned off.

We were told lots of little anecdotes like the fact that when 'Gandalf' first visited Bagend in the fellowship, Ian Mckellen actually did hit his head on entering the house. It wasn't scripted but was kept in as it had the desired effect of showing him to be that much larger than the hobbits; after having made the pond in the Shire, real life frogs moved in and became so vocal they disrupted filming. Peter Jackson had to stop filming and ordered half of the crew to wade in and catch them (they were later released onto a neighbouring farm); to get a realistic atmosphere in the birthday party scene, the actors were given a 1%alcohol drink so they would get a little buzzed while still being able to perform; during Bilbos speech at his party, the fake cake caught fire and took a half dozen people stamping on it to put out- they didn't have a fire extinguisher to hand! Still Ian Holm pulled the scene off despite the chaos surrounding him; in the Return of the King when Sam returns home to his family the little girl who runs out to him is Sean Astin's real life daughter. And the baby is the women's real life child.

To show how minute the details are that go into these film sets we were also given some examples of times things had to be changed. Often with the crew going to amazing lengths to reproduce the images painted in the books. For example the 'Plum' trees from the book were impossible to find in NZ, being either too big or too small. So instead pear trees were bought in and there fruit and leaves were stripped before they were recreated as plum trees by art students. The same thing happened with the tree behind Bagend as the colour didn't suit the image the producers had in mind so he had them hand painted! Its crazy to think that they worry about such small details but then maybe that's why it was such a worldwide success?

After visiting the hobbit houses we were lead across to the green dragon pub which was specially made for the visitors to have actual meals and drinks in. I had the 5%apple cider which was delicious and on leaving I bought a biscuit which was huge.

Back on the bus I stayed awake and listened to Randy talk. He's such an amazing guy, with clear lines between what's real and what's not but he is more than happy to dive into his imagination and share his thoughts. I could see him writing fantasy books for kids- he's that good at storytelling.

On top of that Randy really knows not only the LOTR filming locations inside out but NZ itself. Because of him I now know of the rock that moves in Rotorua Lake. And about the eruption that took place in Tongariro National park a few years ago while people were still hiking the mountain next to it! Of course Randy said it was because of a dragon which he has to go tame (I think he mixed his movies a little here!) so he can get the gold it sits on, and then he can afford to marry in Hobbiton. You can imagine a whole hour with this line of thought was right up my street!

Getting dropped off at my hostel once more I went in to change shoes before heading to the isite to see about the Skyline gondola.

I arrived via the local bus at the bottom of the gondola just before 3pm and proceeded to make my way up- after a 5 minute chat with the kid checking my combo pass. He was most pleased that I was loving NZ and the words 'see we're just as good as Australia' may have been uttered. Little sister complex maybe?

At the top of the gondola I immediately saw the Skyswing with its 3 seats that they strap you into. Its then pulled upwards leaving you facing the ground, the sky to your back. Your given a signal upon reaching the drop zone and it's up to you to pull the cord that will let you drop at up to 120km/hr!

As you may have guessed from my explanation, my combo ticket included one swing and two luge rides! But first I wanted to do some walking so I set off and did the 3 little tracks available. I then explored the Jelly bean shop before sitting in the sun for abit.

I admit I had a brief moment of wishing I was doing these activities with friends but as soon as I got going on that first luge I forgot to care! Sat pretty much on the ground, in complete control over how fast you go around the corners, I loved it! I had planned to save my second Luge ride but ended up doing it straight after my first.

Having used both my rides up I contemplated getting a drink and relaxing a bit but I thought I probably shouldn't until after my swing, so off I toddled. Getting strapped in I talked with the lady in charge of it and soon I was off. From the ground it doesn't look as though your hoisted that high but as you become parallel with the ground and are still being pulled higher, you soon change your mind. Once I got the signal that I was good to go I began to give myself a brief pep talk- then gave up and can clearly remember saying ' I should just do it then'. So I did!

I shrieked a little at the release and again when I swung up the other side. But it was such a rush! How I get that from this and not a 15,000ft skydive I don't know, but that's the truth of it. I think it's to do with feeling as though your plummeting whereas with skydiving you don't. The same goes with Paragliding. It was the tricks that gave me the adrenaline rush I crave.

Back with my feet firmly on the ground I decided to get something to eat - chips to be precise. I know, so healthy. After eating this huge portion I made my way back down the gondola and proceeded to walk back to town. Yep, despite what I'd been told I figured I could walk it. It was about 5 or 6km I think, so not too much and after the last 6 weeks it felt good to be doing some walking.

Tuesday 3rd March

So this morning I had a layin and even got a decent sleep in. With no headache I reluctantly got up and went to shower before having some breakfast. After this I began packing up, ready for the next part of my Stray trip- exploring the East coast of the North Island.

I had some time to kill after checking out so I went for a wander and got a starbucks. Back at the hostel I charged my phone up and waited for the bus. Aled a welsh guy who had jumped on my last bus as we approached Rotorua, had also stayed at Crash Palace, and now I found out he was also jumping back on today.

Once the bus arrived ( a minivan with a trailer this time) I found myself sat with Edwin the guy we had left in Raglan and Vanessa, one of the German girls who had jumped off at the same time as me.

The afternoon passed with us travelling through rolling hills and farm land. Huge forests passed on either side of the road and we saw the coast a couple of different times.

We made 3 different stops. The first by the beach to look at a couple of Maori carvings; another in the forest where we walked down to a bridge crossing a river. And finally we walked alongside the beach on reaching Gisborne.

Something I've noticed at every place we've stopped since leaving Auckland, is how loud the insects are. It doesn't matter if your by the beach or the forest- If there's any type of vegetation, then you hear them. Even growing up in the forest, there unlike anything I've ever heard. It really does stop me in my tracks at times and today was no different.

Our accommodation for the evening was a proper house which had been made into usable housing for Stray passengers. After dumping our bags and groceries, we walked across the road to the beach and had a group dinner by a fire. At this point I spent most of the evening talking to Kate, an Irish girl who also works in retail. Yep you can imagine how we bonded!

During the evening Jase joined us. He's a Maori tattooist amongst other things. I have to say this sounded almost serendipitous since I had be contemplating a tattoo! But alas, the cost, aftercare and lack of time make it infeasible. For now at least!

Despite it being quite early still (10.30pm) Kate and I called it a night and soon we were back at the house. The two German women then wanted help with a bug in their room. As you can imagine I went with Kate for moral support only! Though we never did manage to catch it- I was glad I wasn't in that room overnight :)

Back in our own dorm we spent some time talking to another Brit girl, Bromun, before the rest of the dorm came back. Eventually going to sleep about an hour or so after returning to the house.

Wednesday 4th February

Gisborne is on the east coast of NZ's north island, making it one of the first places in the world to see the sun each day. So this morning a group of us made it down to the beach just as it was getting light and spent the next hour watching the different colours play across the sky as the sun slowly rose above the sea.

Afterwards some people went back to bed, others showered. I got my breakfast and my kindle and passed the next hour curled up on the couch. At 8am we all started to pack up ready for the day ahead. It began with a guy, Lindsey, taking us into town where 8 of us went wine tasting. This area is well know for its chardonnay wines and with our winemaker Ryan leading the way, we proceeded to try 5 white wines and 2 reds!

One of the girls was halfway drunk before our 4th bottle which I was actually really glad of. I didn't want to be the only one feeling the effects of the alcohol and I was already having to tip a small amount in the spit bucket each time to prevent from getting drunk myself! And the guy on the bus from Waitamo (I still haven't caught his name despite a fair few conversations!) was right in saying that we would all be happy when we got back on the bus. At least half of us were laughing and joking thanks to the little buzz we had going on .. at 11.15 in the morning!

Anyway it was a fun hour learning about the different classes in wine contests. You can get a maximum of 20points- 3 from the visual aspect, 7 from the smell and the rest from the taste. If you get above 17 points then you get a bronze rating, over 18 is silver and over 19 is gold standard. You can have multiple placings but if you want to know who has the best of wines then it will be the person given the actual trophy.

Also something I found interesting was the dryness rating. I always associated this with taste which I guess it is in a way. But really it's to do with the amount of sugar in the wines. A dry wine will have no additional sugar whereas the further down the scale you go, the sweeter they will be.

My favourite white wines in order were, the 5th, 4th, 1st, 3rd and the 2nd one was the one I liked the least.

I used to like red wines when I was a teen but these days I will always go for a rose or white before a red. That said I really enjoyed both of the ones we tried and it was nice to have the change from what the area is known for and see/taste what else they can produce here.

Back at the house some of us had a quick turn around as we were going to do something crazy at half past 11.

Well, I consider it crazy and had put my name down for the very fact that it scared me- it had been too long since i'd been put out of my comfort zone.

What were we doing you ask? We were going to feed the wild stingrays!!

Of course yesterday when I put my name on the sheet indicating that I wanted to do this, I was thinking of those that are about a foot and a half long that I had seen in aquariums as a kid. It wasn't until Jase was talking last night and telling us that he's one of only 2 people who can lead the feedings here in Gisborne and NZ itself is one of only 3 places in the world that you can do this, that I started to panic!

And that was before he told us that while the small eagle rays may be a foot and a half long, the others are ALOT bigger. Gulp. To add insult to injury, Kate then remembered that Steve Irwin was killed by stingrays- funnily enough the same kind as the ones we would feed. Cant you tell how very comforting this was? :)

So here we were, a group of 7 Stray passengers and 3 others, getting kitted up for the moment of truth. We had socks and welly waders provided for us and then we were given a 5.5ft bamboo stick. Down on the beach Sean - the other person in NZ who can lead these tours- positioned us with our shoulders touching and bamboo sticks in front of our feet to make a barricade of sorts. He then proceeded to outline the danger areas on each of the rays we would encounter. Not to mention warning us of the rather vicious King Fish which would also be in the water with us.

I think both Kate and I would have happily backed out after this safety briefing if it wouldn't have made us look like idiots. As it was we agreed to stay as close together as possible, to make sure there were no gaps for the stingrays to push through.

Having carefully waded out into deeper water we were amazed at the size of the King Fish, even more so when we were told they were babies! I'm not kidding you, the smallest we saw were probably about 8inchs wide and 1 1/2ft long! They were huge! But then the rays hadn't arrived yet so what did I know!

This may sound over the top but you wouldn't believe the size of these things. Or maybe your less ignorant than I was and you do know how big rays get?

Either way it was an extremely scary experience.

I had Aled on the righthand side of me and he was confident from the get go. He was leaning down and stroking these things 'safe areas', as soon as they came looking for food. He wasn't worried at all, as Kate and I huddled closer together, hoping the stingrays would stay far, far away!

Not surprisingly we didn't get our wish and we soon learnt why we needed the sticks and the barricade. Having been told before we got in the water that rays could easily push us over, we didn't doubt it on seeing the size of them. But if we needed further proof, they managed to knock Sean into the water!

Admittedly it was the first time in years that it had happened to him but with some of the bigger rays I had to use both hands to keep my stick in front of me and not over balance. The stingrays will also try and climb up you and take anything they can reach that might be food- a lot like elephants do in that sense- so it really was a perilous position we were in.

The first round of feeding was done before I even got up the courage to touch one. In fact, I fed them before I ever stroked them. I was stood hip height in the water surrounded by giant stingrays and huge fish and thought to myself that if I didn't do at least that much, I would always regret it. So managing to catch the bait one handed -no small feat for me as you all know- I transferred it to my left hand while keeping a tight grip on my stick with my better right hand.

When the next ray came around I stuck my hand under it and soon felt it's slippery rubber type texture before it vacuumed the food away. When Aled next fed a ray I got brave and touched it properly. Such a strange feeling but soon I was feeling more confident and fed another while continuing to pet them as they came down the line.

By now the smaller eagle rays had arrived and while I did feed one, I didn't dare touch them. While the big ones have the power to push you over, at least their 'safe' spots are a bigger area to try to touch!

Eagle rays do have a big lip bit on the bottom of their head though which they apparently like to have scratched. I did attempt this but got scratch/bit myself, by a King Fish as they charged in and caught my wrist. That makes 4 out of all of us. Kate got bit after I convinced her to stroke one of the rays with me (Sorry Kate, but at least it wasn't the ray that got you!) and Aled as he was feeding them. Further down the line Vanessa also got bit. Luckily none were too bad, mostly just scrapes rather than bites, though Kate's did bleed some.

Awhile after we ran out of food, the rays slowly moved away and we turned and began to carefully make our way back to the shore. Once there we stripped off our waders and grabbed our packs before walking back across to the house.

We were meant to be leaving immediately but it took awhile to get everything sorted so it was about 1pm when we finally did leave, saying goodbye to Jason's little girl as we went (its his home town). In the van we settled in and immediately the back seats and Kate just in front of us were laughing as Vanessa and Edwin carried on joking about.

Edwin 'I went out with a German girl'...(Vanessa is german)...'it didn't work out'

Vanessa 'What. It didn't work out because she was german?!'

Edwin 'Nooo. It didn't work out because she cheated on me'

You probably would have needed to hear Edwins inflictions to understand how funny this was as he tried to wind Vanessa up. Completely dead panned and then just coming up with the unexpected like that.

Anyway moving on.

We continued down the coast, stopping at Tokomaru Bay where Edwin and the Bromun, pier jumped. On their next go they were joined by Vanessa and then lastly by Audrey( the girl who almost got drunk at the wine tasting).

Another comical moment happened as Kate and I waited for Vanessa and Edwin to change out of their togs. Edwin had put his baseball cap on the pier and a gust of wind carried it into the water underneath. I half jokingly asked if he was going back in for it and he decided that he would! Seeing him climb up the rickety ladder dripping wet wearing his baseball hat was a pretty amusing sight.

Back on the bus we headed on but it wasn't long before Audrey realised she had forgotten her phone. I have to say I'm really enjoying the group im with and our driver Jason seems like an alright dude, but I've yet to be won over by Stray itself. This is disappointing given the research I put into choosing them.

So when Jason then kicked off about Audrey phone and how he didn't want to go back for it, I got a little pissed off. Yes we had driven maybe 15mins down the road and it would impact our day, but here's the thing- The accommodation we were heading for is another of Strays special stops so being a little late wouldn't make a difference; it was a weekday so the grocery store we were meant to stop at would not be closing early; no one on the bus objected to our going back as while we're travelling our phones are our prized possession and the one thing we really don't want to do without. And most importantly, on leaving the damn pier Jason had suggested a coffee stop that no one was interested in. That's a minimum of 20minutes right there!

I do like Jason and get where he's coming from. I understand that he was also trying to make a point by going on about it. But he went way too far and I think if he doesn't want the whole crew to turn on him, then he had better chill out a little.

Anyway having successfully collected Audrey's phone, we continued on. Just outside of where we were heading the rolling hills turned into mountains and we stopped at Tikitiki Chrurch. Its a pretty little place with Maori carvings inside of it.

Once at our accommodation we split up into groups of four as we were staying in small units on a campervan park. Kate and I went in one room while the 2 Germans ladies took the front of the unit. After a few minutes settling in we walked the 15mintues down to the beach with some of the others.

Once here I waded in up to my knees and started walking, leaving Kate and Aled together watching the others as they either swam or in Jason and Edwins case, surfed. After walking five minutes or so I figured I was far enough away that I could get away with a short run without people noticing. It may have only been 10minutes but it felt really good to exercising.

Jason had asked us to build up the wood pile for a fire on the beach tonight but we couldn't see the circle he'd told us was there. As we left the beach though Kate saw it just off to the side so along with Aled we picked up a load of driftwood before heading back to the camp.

Jason was meant to be starting the BBQ soon so we sat outside our units talking awhile. When 30minutes had passed with no sign of them, Kate and I headed inside. We then passed a good hour talking girl talk.. ie guys :) We didn't even notice when people did start preparing the BBQ so we arrived late and didn't really contribute. I didn't feel too bad though as we had gotten the wood for the fire earlier.

After the BBQ some of us headed down to the beach. Honestly I would have liked to sleep but it felt like such a wasted opportunity so I walked down with the Bromun and her German friend Stephen.

Since everyone had forgotten to bring any paper it took a good 4 attempts and half an hour for us to get a good fire going. On the bright side it was pretty funny as everyone had different opinions on the best way to do it, only agreeing on a tepee method being the best to use- not the grid one Jason had told us about.

After everyone had gotten a turn or three trying to get the fire going and we had finally succeeded, we sat down and began taking turns roasting marshmallows. It was my first time doing this. Come on people, stop shaking your head at me. It's not like we get much great BBQ weather back home to do this!

A little after 10.30 a couple of us decided to head back. It was already much later than I'd planned on returning and gone 11pm when I sneaked in, trying semi successfully, not to wake my roommates.

Thursday 5th March

This morning I woke about 5am as someone was trying to call me. I've no idea who as I don't recognise the number and im not answering unless I know it's a call I want.

I did manage to go back to sleep briefly but it was quite restless. Finally I shut my alarm off at 6.30 and just enjoyed layin in bed in the quiet awhile. I have to say these roommates are quite good for that!

Getting up a little before 7am we showered, had breakfast and then cleared up our stuff again. We headed off without the trailer to drive up the coast a ways to the East Cape Lighthouse. Here we got out and walked the 800 or so steps up to it- have I mentioned I hate going uphill?

Once at the top we took a while to enjoy the views over the coastline and the remote farmland surrounding it. There was also a little Island off the shore which made for a nice picture with the sun shining from behind it.

Back on the bus we carried on to the Te-Waha-O-Rerekohu tree. Supposedly the biggest tree of its kind. I admit I think the only ones I've seen to rival it would be those entwined with the temples at Angkor Wat.

Our next stop of the day- there were quite a few- was a beach where we spent an hour. We had the options of swimming, bodyboarding or hiking up to the top of the rather steep hill to see the view. I was tempted to do the latter as it's a beautiful coastline. Alas, my other shoes were packed in the trailer and I was not attempting it in flipflops!

Instead I hung around with Aled and Kate. Literally as we found a tree swing! Then Aled and I went separate ways over the rocks but I soon joined him when he motioned me over. He'd found two crabs which he then decided to touch.

Usually I would stay well clear of anything like this but nope, I went ahead and stroked it. It was after this that it started to get a little anxious and shied away from Aled a little. Commenting that the other one seemed rather calm, we started to question if it was still alive. Urgh no, it wasn't.

Right about then Vanessa and one of the German ladies joined us. Just in time as Aled had now decided he wanted to pick it up! At this point I did move away a little. In the interest of getting better pictures of course. Not because I was afraid of him dropping it on my feet :)

I spent the rest of our time at the beach chatting with Kate and Miriam (a Swiss girl I've enjoyed some chats with). In the end we walked back up the beach and with Vanessa joining us we split into pairs talking before I realised that we were the 4 girls in the group that were perhaps interested in getting tattoos while in NZ. We spent a good 10minutes discussing our thoughts on this before getting waved back onto the bus.

Our second to last stop was just a quick one in case anyone wanted something else to eat. It was in a pretty little harbour though and it was the first time in a couple of days that we had seen the sun! While it had been fairly warm (during the day at least) it had also been cloudy during the whole east bro tour. We'd even had a little rain that morning so the sun was a welcome addition.

Back in the van once again we all ended up in a discussion about the EU which then lead to discussing Monarchs. Britain's and the Netherlands to be precise. Luckily before it could get too crazy we arrived at the Macadamia nut cafe.

Technically we were here to try the ice cream but they had a lot of different nut products along with coffees so i'm going with calling them a cafe. While here I did try an ice cream i've never heard of before. Apparently it's made of a fruit called Feijoa, which is often known as the Pineapple/ Guava one. I quite liked the taste of it, myself.

What I liked even more was being able to buy some wifi so I could send a message to my accommodation in Rotorua and add an extra night to my stay. Stray are meant to guarantee me a bed elsewhere but I liked Crash Palace and Stray don't really seem to hold up to there end of the bargain anyway!

Our accommodation for the night was quite a unique set up. Its another big dorm place run by Che (real name Paul)who we greeted in the traditional Maori way. Despite the fact that later on we would become unsure if he's even a Kiwi let alone a Maori!

At the moment there's 5 people staying and working there. Well I say working but to be honest I'm not sure there's much for all of them to do. It's a lovely setting though with a garden leading to tiled steps down to the beach, and a hot tub along the way.

After sorting our beds out we headed down to the garden for a welcome meeting. This was actually quite fun as they sang a Maori greeting and then we had to introduce ourselves and tell everyone our claim to fame. The best one being Audrey's 'I leave phones everywhere'.

Following this we all had to join in singing their own version of Hotel California. And then Edwin was given a ukulel and proceeded to play 'Better together' by Jack Johnson that we all knew but couldn't remember the words to! We did well at humming along and singing the chorus though!

The last part of our welcome was a game. As you can imagine this had me groaning especially when I realised it involved throwing a string with a golf ball attached to either end of it. If you know me, then you know that my hand and eye coordination is not the best. I don't think people understood that I was genuinely concerned about hitting someone.

The aim of the game was to throw the string at a small railing and try to have it hit it, so that it would then swing around and tie itself on. As luck would have it, not only did I not knock anyone out, but I was one of only 3 who managed to achieve the aim! To say I was pleased -and shocked- was an understatement.

Of course my pleasure didn't last long when I realised there was a rematch between me, Edwin and Aled who had also tied themselves on. Can I just forfeit please? Nope, apparently not. Alls well that ends well though. I may not have hit the rail again but it was close and nobody was injured so all in all I quite enjoyed myself.

After this I stuck with Aled and Kate and a little later on Audrey as they waited to go on their fishing trip. We started off chilling in the dorm before walking down to the beach. Here we waited and waited some more. As we did we debated how they would get out to the boat that was anchored out past the rocks. We even joked about them having to swim out before Che arrived and did exactly that!

I waited until they were all aboard and on there way before taking myself- and their shoes- back to the dorm. At this point I was regretting not having signed up for the fishing trip but pretty soon I would be glad I didn't as I don't think I could have stood watching the fish being beaten with a baseball bat to kill them!

I spent some time in the dorm trying to decide if I wanted to make my own way down to Taupo on monday via the public bus. A lot of people are doing this as we only briefly stop there to do an activity and it's meant to be pretty good place to stop. Plus no one was overly impressed with the last culture stop so skipping the next one to spend the night elsewhere seems like a pretty good plan.

Still unsure a little later, I grabbed my kindle and headphones and made my way down to the now deserted beach. Here I spent maybe an hour laid out on a log listening to music. Only heading back in when it got a little chilly.

I was skipping the fish dinner and just snacking tonight so I took an apple and returned to the garden to sit with some of the others. People came and went but I stayed to watch the sunset. I'm sure it would have been lovely if it wasn't so cloudy. As it was, we only saw a few bits of colour through the gaps in the clouds.

When everyone went inside to eat their meal- or drink if they were making their own thing- I once again walked back to our dorm and passed some time snacking and listening to music. After a while I figured I'd look completely unsociable if I stayed there any longer so I made my way out and joined a group discussing the Maori land situation. I stayed long enough to have a beer and then followed Kate back to the dorm to have a bit more of a one on one chat. Soon the Londoner staying at the house joined us and we chatted until the others slowly trickled in to go to sleep.

It wasn't the end of the shenanigans yet though as we teased Edwin for having slightly higher sides to his bed, similar to guard rails. He replied that it was to stop him and Aled crawling into bed together as it could make the rest of us uncomfortable. Of course Aled was out of the room at this point so when he walked back in and we all began laughing again, he knew something was up.

Once he was clued in he played along saying he was just teasing Edwin with his playboy duvet covers. At this point we were all laughing and mostly in bed and the conversation eventually turned to the weird creatures Edwin and Inga would/have eaten, such as fried grasshoppers. I'm not sure how it then made the leap to fried Mars bars but it did with Audrey not understanding what they are.

Queue Edwin 'There Mars bars. That are deep fried'. She knows what Mars bars are but not what deep frying them is so Edwin then switched to Dutch to tell her the exact same thing. We were in hysterics as clearly it was the explanation and not the language that Audrey was having problems with!

Following that Audrey and Inga were the only ones still up and were making some noise prompting Edwin to then ask them what they were doing. Now it was their turn to play the 'getting it on card' which then had Edwin making pretty hilarious if dirty jokes. Between Vanessa, Kate and me, I don't think anyone could have been sleeping as we were laughing so hard!

Friday 6th March
This morning we all got up and had breakfast early, ready for our 7.30am departure. We only made the two stops on our way back to Rotorua. One coffee break and one beach stop which was just to take a group picture. The weather was bad today so nobody was complaining.
We all made sure to swap some details before reaching the city so we could keep in contact with whom we wanted. As half the group hopped off at Crash Palace it wasn't quite the end yet.
But still I was quite sorry to see this group split at all as I've had a great time with them and I think it'll be a hard group to beat- there's some real characters mixed in there. But who knows. My path had already crossed with half of the group before we got on the East Bro bus, so with another 5 weeks left, I may well see a few of them again.
In Rotorua I waited to check in, feeling quite at home as I had stayed here before. Once in my room I had planned to head out after doing some online research. However I made the mistake of sitting down and the next thing I know it was 40 minutes later. I didn't feel too bad though as it was still raining outside.
I did go out long enough to make plans for tomorrow and get something to eat- not to mention another chai latte from starbucks. After this I went grocery shopping, getting enough food to see me through the next few days.
Back at the hostel I chilled out a while before going down for a free BBQ. Every night at Crash Palace they have different things going on but this has got to be the best. I mean free food for backpackers is always going to be a winner! The only problem was, there wasn't enough cutlery to go around.
Having escaped to the upstairs dining room I ate my food in relative peace before heading back down with a cup of tea. I ran into Aled and Stefan and spent a few minutes speaking to them. I think everyone's heading on tomorrow. Though I'm unsure about Bjorn as we didn't talk about it when we ran into each other. I'm pretty sure he wasn't stopping at all originally so I expect he'll be leaving too.
After finishing my cuppa I headed back upstairs and spent some time in the dorm before bouncing around the common areas so I wouldn't disturb any of my roommates as they tried to sleep.