Hello again for the last time from New Zealand - the land of Kiwis (the birds, fruit and people!) and of many sheep and beautiful scenery which I will miss so much! I have been doing loads since I last updated as that was some time ago now! Have been waiting to use the cheap internet in Auckland as I was in a beautiful tiny place by the sea for ages with the cheapest internet $6 an hour and it's $2 here much better! ($6 is like 2.50 quid!) I last wrote my postcard from Rotorua and that night I went to a Mauri concert with Sarah and Emer and 2 Irish girls from my hostel. There were 4 coach loads in all going there from Rotorua so I didn't feel like a complete tourist at all - especially when we arrived we had a photo taken of everyone on our coach (I didn't know those people!) and then tried selling it to us later in a booklet all about the night and about the Mauri culture for a bargain price of $40! I think not! The night was great fun, we first watched a greeting display involving very scary looking Mauri warriors chanting and dancing and sticking out their tongues. Each of our coahes had a volunteered chief which had to greet the head chief before we could enter their 'village'. We were told we had to be serious and not laugh at the display otherwise they would get very offended - I heard that someone did in fact laugh and poke his tongue out back at the warriors once and he got his nose broken!!!!!!! After that we walked round a mock up Mauri village with little houses and fires in front with either men or women singing and/or dancing or doing these things called 'Poi' which are like little pom poms they fling about! That was cool, then we went into the concert where they were all singing and dancing and this guy told us stories about the Mauris, it was a bit cheesy and tacky in a way, but enjoyed it. Then we had an almighty feast which was all you can eat so I took advantage of the fact and dished myself a whole plateful and then had 3 puddings - there were 3 different types I didn't want to discriminate against the puddings!!! Felt a bit sick actually and couldn't really move when I got back to the hostel - oops! If the evening was cheesy and touristy enough, out bus driver (who was completely bonkers) started calling out countries and those from that country on the bus had to think of an appropriate song to sing to represent their country so me and the other English sung 'Swing low sweet chariot'. The next day was a well early start as we got a bus over to a place called Waitomo which was 2 hours away. Sarah and Emer didn't have enough money to do the exciting stuff I did but they we on the bus so we chatted a lot it was cool. Me and some of the others on the bus went to the Waitomo caves to go black water rafting. We got wetsuits and white rubber boots on and got a bus over to the cave entrance. First we had to practice going backwards down a waterfall by wedging our bum in a black rubber tube and jumping off a platform into a freezing cold river backwards - that woke me up! We then went into the cave which was very dark, wet and cold, and we all sat round and had to say our name, which country we are from and our favourit electrical appliance?!?! Then we were told what to do, then the guy said who wants to go first - no-one volunteered so he said to me - "your lights' not working" so I put my hand up to adjust it and he said "thanks for volunteering" - how gullable am I?! I had to wander through these dark caves first it was quite scary, and there was fast water and rocks under my feet but I didn't fall yay! The first bit where we sat in the tube was very scary - had to lean right back as the cave roof was about 20cm away!! The rest of the adventure involved some rapids and some high waterfalls that we had to jump off backwards down - very scary! Went through some of the caves with no light on because there were thousands of glow worms on the cave roof - they were beautiful it looked like loads of stars - so amazing. When we got out of the caves we floated for quite a while down a river it was really nice. Was relieved to get out of the wetsuit and jump in the hot shower then have hot soup and bagels - all part of the package! We the grabbed a lift up to the museum where we had to catch the bus, but we had loads of time and a free museum pass so went in there which was cool - learnt all about glow worms and other creatures of the caves (Other's weren't so enthusiastic). Absolutely exhausted in the bus on the way back so had a sleep. Sarah came over to my hostel and we made dinner together and chatted for ages - she is really nice and will be living in Melbourne at the same time as me so we are going to look for a flat together! Later on we met Emer in the Lava bar at her hostel but I was too knackered to make any effort to look presentable and to be too sociable! Nice last night together though, very glad of bed and massive lie in the next day. Planned to walk up to this thermal village place up the road after lunch then I started talking to a girl from Sweden in my room called Marlin and she wanted to do the same so we went up there in her car which was handy! We got on really well - she is volnuteering and living with host families in different places in New Zealand sounds like fun - she's promoting overseas programmes in schools. Walked round the thermal village, it was very much like the one in Taupo (the terraces) but there was loads of boilling mud pools which was cool and a really cool geiyser (see pic in last postcard from Rotorua). There was a nocturnal kiwi house too so I got to see a kiwi bird here yay! They are so funny, they don't look like birds at all they are massive - more like mammals! There was a Mauri display and meeting house too, as well as a whole boiling river! We drove over to a buried village (buried years ago by a volcanic eruption) but it was closed so we went to a park and swung on a massive swing by a really nice lake. Made some food together then went just down the road to the polynesian spa which was 4 different naturally hot pools with slightly stinky water that's meant to be very good for your skin. Was quite nice but not really worth the money as I had been in the free natural one in Taupo! The next day we went white water rafting - it was a very special river as it's normally blocked by a dam so you can't raft down it (it's usually a trickle of a stream) but we happened to want to go rafting on one of the 26 days of the year that they open the dam just for rafters and kayakers, so we could't turn down the opportunity, especially as it was only $5 more than the one in Rotorua and they picked us up and drove us out there (about 50 miles) and gave us lunch! The instructors were a little bonkers - very hyper and didn't stop saying 'Sweet as' and 'Far out' and 'Awesome' all day - oh my god! We were rafting with another girl from out hostel from Canada - she was really cool. We went to a field to get wetsuits on which was fine as the weather was grand (you can tell I have been around lots of Irish people!). Had to carry the raft down the river then we got lots of intsructions which I was worried I would get muddled up especially when seeing big rapids coming towards me! But I didn't forget, or fall out of the boat, but for some reason had a mental blockage with our instructor Scoot yelling "stop" - I just carried on paddling, my mind never registered it which caused great amusement all day! It wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be considering it was a grade 5 river (the scariest!) but there were some big waterfalls and big rapids with bigs rocks in! It was so fun though, and got very wet but it wasn't really cold, just refreshing! At one point we stopped just after these big waterfalls and rapids and had to precariously climb up a rockface with a rope - very hard wrok especially with slippery wetsuit booties on! We watched loads of other rafters and kayakers go down them which was cool, as we had just done it too! The mad kayakers were capsizing but didn't seem to worry - I would! Then to get down (the thought of getting down the roak was scaring me!) we had to run and jump off the rock ledge about 5m to the river below which was cold! Then were hauled into the boat to continue our rafting adventure! It was so much fun I could have done it all day. Had to carry the raft out of the river on our heads! Then had a fab lunch sat on the raft in a field. We were joined by 3 more rafting instructors on the way home which encouraged our intructors to do even more 'sweet as'......etc. which did my head in! Was happily on the net looing up stuff when the fire alarm went off which wasn't for an actual fire but I was quite shocked at the speed everyone vacated the hostel - people then kept going in and out! Went in the hostel spa after that then had dinner and got ready for a foam party at the Lava bar as it was Labour weekend here (bank holiday). Was so much fun, apart from getting sore eyes and black feet for 3 days afterwards from my shoes! All worth it. After going to bed at 4am it was a struggle to get up at 7.30 ish to catch the bus. Waited, and waited and waited, but it didn't come after half an hour, so I phoned up kiwi experience who informed me there were no buses running out of Rotorua on a Monday, to which I asked why they confirmed me on it in the first place to which they apologised realising they had made a huge mistake and they ended up paying for me to get a public bus to Auckland about 4 hours later, but still arriving at much the same time. The reason being that it went a more direct route and I missed out on climbing up a volcano so I will be complaining (they have been a bit useless with timetables and stuff too). Checked in at the hostel which was enormous and a tad clinical - only stayed there as they had a deal where you got a free night if you had paid for 4 and I knew I would be staying at one of the same caompany in Paihia. Chatted to some people in my room and didn't do much that night apart from go for a chinese meal on my own where I embarressed myself by eating appallingly with chopsticks! The next day after a major lie in I caught a bus to a place called 'One Tree Hill' which is an old volcano and used to be a Mauri fort as it has views for miles in all directions and steep hills and craters which they lived in and farmed in. Now it's a green park sort of place complete with free roaming sheep and chickens - very random! Enjoyed the walk up there in the very warm sunshine and the views from the top were amazing! You could see the sea on both side of the city (the Tasman and the Pacific) and all the volcanic islands and lots of buildings of course. Walked back down and caught the bus back to the city centre then caught a boat over to Devonport - Auckland is so big and spread out that its' quicker to get a boat to some places! Was a quiet little place, I strolled along the seafront and then sat on a beach and read, and had my first paddle in the Pacific ocean! Got the ferry back and had dinner and not a lot after! Next day had to catch the bus at 7.15am (how bonkers!) to go up to Paihia right up north. There was only girls on the bus so the cheeky driver made some remarks here and there, and entertained us all the way up on the 4 hour bus journey, whilst being very informative! Leant more about cows then I thought possible, which was impressive as I already no way too much about cows for your average person! He was very funny anyway. The countryside and views of the sea were beautiful all the way up, it's so unspoilt in the far north and very uninhabited. There were even mangrove swamps/forests too which was fab! Got straight off the bus onto a boat to swim with dolphins which unfortunately we didn't get to do as the pod we found had juveniles with them and you aren't allowed to as it stops them from feeding them and they need to do that a lot apparantly! It took ages to find the pod, and we all had to look the whole time as they could be anywhere. Other people got bored very quickly but I was loving it as it was such a nice day and looking at the islands in the bay (this place is called Bay of Islands surprisingly!) and the gorgeous clear turquoise sea was very relaxing. Was very excited when we found them, as there were quite a lot and we got very close to them. We could take it in turns to lie down on the front of the boat which was very close to the water, and the dolphins swan right underneath - so close you could nearly touch them but we weren't allowed. When they weren't swimming right beneath us they were contstantly leaping from the waves just in front of us it was so magical. The lady on the boat was talking to them like they were babies and they all had names she and others had given them - she was mad! Thought it was amazing that she could recognise the dolphins by looking at their fin markings. They were so beautiful I wished we could have swum with them but seeing them so close was brillant enough. We saw the young dolphins too they were so cute - they leapt out of the water at the same time as their mums. We moored up at a place that looked like paradise - the sea was brilliantly clear and we all had a free hot drinks voucher which was lovely. Didn't do much that night as had a bad cold by this point. Chatted to some nice ladies from Canada in my room before bed. (When I'm not doing much I'm usually faffing with sorting out my stuff, writing my hadn written journal and reading my excellent book which I finished whilst in Paihia!) Oh just remembered I definitely went in the spa as it was really nice in this hostel. There was a pool but it was only a bit bigger than the spa so I think I would have got dizzy swimming in it plus my cold was getting worse! Had and awful nights sleep due to my cold, but I had to get up really early again as I got a bus up to Cape Reinga, the very furthest north. Our bus driver was so cool, he told us loads about the natural history, Mauris, European settlers and tons more! Was very entertaining too. There were loads of historical places and brillant views on the way and the fairly long journey was made extremely enjoyable by his enthusiasm! We stopped at a Kauri forest where the trees grow so massive - they are the worlds second tallest trees after the redwoods. The ones we saw were only young but still massive - most are gone now as the European settlers completelly devastated them to use on ships and things. Was a really cool forest with massize ferns and swamps too - it's much more tropical and exotic up here I loved it! We then continued to a bakery which was a very good stop! Then we went on to 90 mile beach which was sooooooooooo long but very fun as we drove all the way along it on the sand in the big coach (it's 4x4 though!) We stopped to dig up shellfish - there were hundreds of them just under the surface of the sand - I tried one but couldn't taste it much because of my cold, but it was chewy and a bit salty! Then we carried on and we stopped again to look at some wild horses in the sand dunes - the landscape was very wild and unspolit. Next we stopped at a rusty car with no roof that had been trapped years ago by quicksand - it had been under sand for ages but because of a recent storm the sand dunes had been eroded 10m back and uncovered the car - was well mad. Then we stopped because there was a tiny shark that was still alive that had been beached but we couldn't save it as it was all bloody and nearly dead, was a bit sad. We then carried on the end of the beach, where we turned off the only way you can down a stream with quick sand - if we had stopped the bus would have started sinking immediately - scary eh? Was very exciting and the views of the towering sand dune mountains on one side and very exotic trees and plants on the other side was awesome. We pulled over and the bus was parked on non-quicksandy ground, and grabbed a body board and went up onto a sand dune to hear our sand boarding instructions and demo which was very entertaining but a bit scary as if you do it wrong it can be very hazardous! We walked up the ridge of the sand dune to the top, which looked a long way down. Our bus driver hang on to our legs as we led down on the board, then let go as we sped down the dune! It was so much fun, I did it again twice - thought I would have loads of go's but it was hard work climbing the dune and my usual energy wasn't there as my cold was draining it all! After that we drove on to this beautiful beach which you would think would be secluded and empty considering no-one lives up here, but it was busy with about 3 other tour buses doing exactly the same thing - we saw them all day in each stop! Most people had lunch but we had the opportunity to go body boarding so I couldn't turn that down! Ran into the sea which wasn't as cold as I thought it would be and me and a few others caught some waves! Was excellent fun, but hard work as the waves were very powerful but only about the same height as in Cornwall. Only had 5 minutes for lunch as was in there so long but I didn't really care! Hopped back on the bus and up to Cape Reinga which was a beautiful spot where the Tasman and Pacific oceans meet and where Mauri people believe their spirits go when they die. Was gutted I didn't have my camera as I ran out of film but got some fab postcards later on. On the way back we stopped at a Kauri workshop where they dig up ancient Kauri trees as they found them preserved in a field like the way peat preserves things - they were buried thousands of years ago by a volcanic eruption! The trees they make things out of were 45,000 years old! You could walk up a staircase made out of one tree - the only one in the world! Was feeling cold and rough by this point and just wanted to get back! Our next stop was for fish and chips which our driver pre-ordered so they were ready when we got there which was fab! Wasn't long after that till we got back, and I felt very exhausted so relaxed and warmed up in the hot spa - bliss! The next day I was meant to be going on an overnight cruise (not as expensive as it sounds!) where you stay on a boat, fish for your dinner, go night kayaking, snorkelling, swimming and walking on an island but I didn't feel up to it so was relieved to find out it was cancelled anyway and I booked on for the next night. So after watching a film I checked into a different hostel next door which had a spa also and was nicer and quieter (no bar) but $4 cheaper! It was 2pm but I really felt fluey so went to sleep for 5 hours - much needed! Checked out in the morning but had to check back in again when I found out the overnight cruise had been cancelled again as not enough people again! Again, I was still feeling a bit lacking in energy so not too bothered, so booked onto a day sailing for the next day where you pretty much do the same but just for the day and you learn to sail if you want. I walked up to the Waitangi treaty grounds in afternoon where a very important contract was signed between the British and the Mauris to hand over the country to the British in exchange for protection of their land and people. Was quite interesting but not actually much to see as such, mainly video and displays - don't know what I was expecting really - should have thought about that one! Was a gorgeous day though and it was by the sea as was the walk to get there so I didn't mind. Went for a bush walk afterwards as the sign and bit on video I saw showed that it included a board walk over mangrove swamps which looked fun but I gave up after about 1km though as a couple I spoke to coming the other way said it was another 2k m to get there and I had to walk back to the hostel which was about 3km anyway and I was't feeling my usual energetic self so went back - enjoyed the walk anyway though. Had the usual kind of evening - still can't work out what I am actually managing to do to fill my evenings! I had to check out the next day as returning to Auckland after my sailing trip, but by the time I was ready to walk down to the jetty it was raining and I walked down in full waterproofs and cancelled it getting a full refund luckily, as it was still running as 4 crazy people still wanted to do it! I almost kicked myself on the way back as it looked like it was starting to clear but it didn't - all day long, so was very glad I didn't go would not have been fun at all! So read my book and finished it - fab! If you havent read the Da vinci code, you must read it, it seems complicated but if I can understand it anyone can!!!!! Then watched American Beauty as never seen it - not a great film, not sure why all the oscars! Then played cards for about 2 hours with guy getting the Stray bus at the same time I was getting my bus (different company, same thing). We stopped on the way back for Thai food which we could choose from a menu going round the bus and our driver rang up and ordered it - how genius!! Was great to see Auckland at night - as we approached it looked a bit like it does in the pic but without the orange sky due to the rain and it being well after sunset! Waved farewell to the kiwi bus as won't be going on one again! Checked in at a different much cheaper and cheerfuller hostel - much better! Met some people in my room then went to bed. The sun was shining the next day and it was hot yay! So decided to get a ferry to Waiheke island, 35 minutes away on the ferry. Was a nice ferry ride, and was such a clear day that you could still see Aucklands buildings (particularly the sky tower - the tall pointy building in the pic) when the boat arrived. I had a leaflet showing walking tracks so walked along a beach, up a hill and down a hill to a magnificent deserted beach where I had lunch and sunbathed and read my new rather odd book (got it free from book exchange in hostel). Was thinking of going in the sea but it looked a bit rocky and had lots of still alive limpets and shellfish on so I didn't want to squash them so I didn't. A girl appeared - another Canadian! She had walked from the next beach along which I was going to go to anyway and said it was gorgeous and sandy not rocky so after a chat with her I walked to the next beach only about a mile away. It was fab - not many people and ice cream not far away and the sand was white and the sea clear and blue. Had a nice swim, wasn't cold at all, it was liek our sea at the end of summer. After a bit more sunbathing walked back to the ferry feeling very chilled out. Made myself an amazing thai green curry (bought the sauce, but still!) whcih I have more of for tonight's tea - yippie! Got ready to go out as was meant to be meeting up for a few drinks with Andy, one of the crew I met in Wellington as he is working here. I emailed him the time and place and checked my mail that morning to which I had none from him so thought maybe he just didn't think it was necessary to reply and would meet me anyway. I was still getting ready when I was meant to be meeting him so borrowed nice German girls phone to say 'be there in 10 mins' by text, hoping that he would reply one way or another so I knew if he was actually there or not! But he didn't reply so I went down the bar and he wasn't there and I was 20 mins late so pretty sure he either didnt get my email or had sent me one during the day daying he couldn't meet up which turned out to be the case, and he sent a message to the German girls phone too. I tried to persuade others to go out in the room but they have no money and as I don't yet have the courage to go out on my own and tag along with strangers once there I stayed in and had a nice chat with a guy from Argentina and the German girl (I'm no good at foreign names that's why I havent written them!) Had a lie in this morning and have done souvenir shopping as it's my last day :( and done washing and packing and done this (has taken nearly 3 hours!!!!!) and read my book on the roof top terrace which is rather nice! Going to have my Thai curry in a mo. Tomorrow at 4.15pm its goodbye New Zealand and hello Australia!!! Exciting but sad too. Will update after I have been to Tasmania - I fly out to Tassie on 5th November and return to Melbourne on 14th so the next entry is going to be ridiculously long unless I find somewhere cheap to do it Tas but that is doubtful as there are hardly any big towns. I am very excited about driving round exploring the place on my own - yippie!!!!!