Hello!

Well I am definitely feeling better. Now I'm fully recovered, I am a lot more comfortable than I have been for a while, mainly because the weather is mild and a bit damp, so I feel right at home, instead of sweating profusely and hiding from the sun.

After my last blog, I accidentally went on a date with a gentleman named William who was in my dorm. I think he realised our feelings towards each other differed when I postponed going for coffee (which turned out to be coffee) with him in favour of the free food which appeared downstairs. Oops. Anyway, he checked out the next morning after I mildly broke his heart, and as I was feeling better, I actually went out of the hostel for the day and saw something of Auckland, hurrah.

I have discovered I am immune to marketing. It wasn't until a girl who'd moved into my dorm pointed out the leaflets saying "free tour" that I noticed it. There is a company called Stray which does a free orientation bus trip round Auckland, and in return they try and sell you their tours. But it's not a hard sell, and it worked anyway because I have booked onto a Stray tour! It was pretty bloody good for a free day out anyway. First we went to the Sky Tower, which, as the name suggests, is a very tall tower. From the top you can do a base jump, which is kind of like a abseil but you're attached to wires and go face down. They gave a free one away, and there was a bit of a competition for the freebie (it normally costs about 60 pounds, so it was pretty good). It was interesting to see that only half the group wanted to do the jump, even though it was free. I sat it out. We had a general drive around and went to Mt Eden, which is the highest volcano in Auckland, so the views are really good from up there. We also saw some people doing a bungy jump off Harbour Bridge. I kind of feel like I had enough off chucking myself off high things into water in Vang Vieng, and I'm not really sure it's something I enjoy. I kind of get into mid-air and then think "oh, f***, why did I think this was a good idea, oh my god I'm going to die I'm going to die, oh I'm alive but that really hurt and I've lost my bikini top". Anyway, that was a fun and free day out. I befriended Anna and Philip and we went out for a drink. Oh, and before that I got a new tattoo. Yeah. It was kind of spur of the moment but I'd been thinking about it for a while, and I thought New Zealand was a good country to do it. I went out to get my flight tickets sorted and popped in on the way back.

The next day I managed to leave Auckland, yay! I got a bus to Taupo with Anna. Taupo is pretty cool. The scenery here is really nice. Everything looks picture-postcard perfect. On the bus on the way to Taupo I saw a rainbow. You know how in England you get a little bit of a rainbow and that's it, and then you see kiddie pictures with rainbows and leprechauns and things and the rainbow goes all the way up and over in a perfect arch, and you think "yeah, rainbows so don't look like that in real life"? Well, they do here! It was amazing, especially as it kind of moved with the bus so it felt like we were travelling in a rainbow bubble for a few minutes. I haven't seen any leprechauns though. I have seen lots of woolly cows that look like teddy bears which are really cute. The animals here are all very fat and healthy looking. And it's so clean! I don't know if I'm thinking this because I've come straight from India, where the animals are all scrawny and diseased, and several areas looked like they were a rubbish tip with people living in it, but it really is perfect here. I like it, but it's not as exciting as Asia. Were I to suddenly acquire a husband, three children and a dog, though, I would happily move here. Taupo has the biggest lake in New Zealand, the water is so clear here you can see straight to the bottom of all the lakes and rivers. The lake was created by a volcanic eruption some several thousand years ago, and there are still hot springs and things going on. Yesterday Anna and I went for a walk to Huka falls along the river but got lost and only made it to the hot pools and ended up coming back in the dark. Then I tried the same thing on my own today and made it to the falls, and then ended up coming back in the dark, although I didn't get lost. I need to learn from past experiences.

I'm still getting used to being in civilisation. It is still very English, although I think it reminds me more of America outside of the cities, not that I've been there, but I've seen it on the television which is practically the same thing. I like the roads here. Every time somebody stops to let me cross the road instead of swearing at me and trying to run me over I get so excited. I also know exactly what is happening all the time, because everything is familiar and it's in the same language. Which also makes it kind of boring. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's really nice here, but I can't wander down some random side alley and find somebody doing something completely crazy like I would in Asia. But I'm making use of the fact I can buy familiar things to stock up. I don't think I can buy "friendly bacteria" in India, I would have got a few funny looks. Well, I got a sort of funny look when I asked for it here, but at least they knew what I meant. I also bought some magic walking socks that make my feet feel like they're cushioned in waddings of warm cotton wool. My feet have never been so happy.

One thing with New Zealand, is that the average age is somewhat lower than it is in other places I've been, and most of the time I'm the oldest one. Now I like teenagers, I was one myself not too long ago, but I feel like I'm gatecrashing fresher's week or something, there are drunk kids all over the shop. Tomorrow I'm going to Auckland and then after that I go go Bay of Islands on my Stray trip. I'm a bit worried it will be like one of the notorious "party buses" and I'll spend the whole time hiding from drunken 18 year olds, but I'm sure it'll work out. :)