Well...soz its taken a bit of time but its hard finding decent internet access out here in the sticks.

The first few days in Auckland where ok and i was bloody delighted to finally get out here, albeit to more rain. Met some great people at the hostel in Auckland, most of whom are on the 'Kiwi Experience' now. But i keep meeting up with people from Bournemouth. There's 5 of them on bus.....daft! But Auckland's just a slightly warmer and cleaner London and i couldn't wait to leave and begin the journey south. I went to the art galley and the Maori museum there which were pretty interesting and went up the Skytower, supposedly the tallets building in the SOuthern Hemisphere but i couldn't see much from up there cos of the clouds......but then this is the 'Island of the long white cloud'!

On the first day of the Kiwi Experience, we went to Cathedral Cove and it was chucking it down (to be the story of the next few days). Decided no matter what i had to get in the sea and went for a dip with a couple of the other lads. The second day we went for a trek around one of the areas they filmed 'Lord of The Rings' and the scenery was fantastic! Then we went zorbing, for those who don't know what it is....you're placed in a giant ball and rolled down a hill, good fun! But after 2 metrs of rolling Chris (lad i was doing it with) fell knee first on top of me and gashed my nose open, pretty painful but all aprt of the fun! That evening we went to a MAori village and the saw the Haka, which is amazing and petty daunting to see in the flesh and saw plenty of other Maori rituals. Then we had the feast to end all feasts, ate so much i was sick when i got back but then i did accept an eating challenge from on of the MAori guys......and they are huge!

The next day Ed and I went to a Polynesian spa just down from where we were staying, Ed's a lad i've hooked up with Devon. The spa was brill, with pools varying from 36 to 42 degrees and i then crashed out and fell asleep in the sun.......IDIOT! Woke up to be burent from head to toe and as i type my face is one massive blister, look like Gollum! The first night was horrible, kept waking up to find my face glued to the pillow with puss...gorgeous picture i know! That evening we went a did a luge wis was pretty good fun.

On the way to our next stop in the bus, the suspension blew and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere for 5 hours in the rain, but a decent time all the same. When we got into Taupo i was struck by the beauty of the place! The scenery is amazing and its right near 'Mt Doom', which you can see from way off. That night we all went on a amssive bender which ended with a 45 minute walk back to the hostel that was only 5 minutes away!

And so we get to today....which was bloody amazing, the day of the skydive. Opted for the jump from 15000ft and i cant put into words the buzz it gave me! You could see for miles and during the 1.5 minute freefall i was in histerics.....laughing the whole way and its by far one of th3e best things i've ever done!

Anway internet time bout to end....so gotta go.

Hope all's good with everyone!