Long day of travelling, left Taupo early and got on the road, nice straight roads for once so managed to have a sleep on the coach! Stopped off at the Tongariro National Park and did a 4 mile hike to a waterfall and views over Mount Doom (Lord of the Rings was filmed here!). Very good for the hangover, even went for a dip in the waterfall which was freezing! The area was amazing, felt like I was in Planet of the Apes it was so barren! Back on the coach and ano...

Bit of a boring one yesterday so didn't bother to blog! It involved a lot of travelling and a lot of walking! Did go out in the evening though as there was a rubgy match on between two NZ teams and we all know how the New Zealanders get with their rugby! We even sat in an Irish pub to watch it, i suppose no matter how fara away you go, you are bound to always find an Irish pub! Sat with our bus driver as well (Buz) so we got free drinks all night. The bar manag...

After a lot of driving in the morning, after the sheep show, we arrived in a small village called Waitomo. A lot of people went off black water rafting but sitting in a rubber ring in the dark for 3 hours didnt really do it for me so I went with Heidi and Martina to the walking exhibition through the limestone caves. Fantastic tour and really amazing caves with all of the stalactites and stalagmites. I think the best part had to be the glow worms though! We al...

Left Mercury Bay early to gget on the road, stopped off at the Karangahake Scenic Reserve, and went on a walk all through the old mining caves which was quiet nice except for the rain! Arrived in Roturua in the evening and went to a traditional Maori feast. I wouldn't even know how to describe it so have a look at the photos on facebook! Amazing evening and I finally got to try some NZ lamb which was all good. The following morning we went to a 'sheep show' t...

Set off again on the Kiwi bus early in the morning, thankfully with a different croud of people as I was getting a bit sick of the Germans! Headed into Waitinga and sat and had lunch with a group of girls that are also travelling on their own which is nice. Stopped off at Hot Water beach, which is basically as is sounds. As the tide goes out, everyone hoards to the beach with their shovel and digs holes in the sand and boiling hot water comes up! Got some bri...