Rafting in Zambia was phenomenal, don't get me wrong, but if I'm going to remember one rafting trip in ten years time it will be the one we did on the Kaituna river in Rotorua in the North Island of New Zealand the day before yesterday. The rafting itself was tame in comparison to the Zambezi, and much shorter, but we got value for money solely from the other five people in our boat! Out of all the fifty odd people rafting that day, Kirsty and I ended up in a boat with five Japanese students who didn't speak English. Simple calls from our guide such as "paddle forward" suddenly became hidden code for "paddle in all different directions at different times whilst gabbling away in Japanese"! When it came to the highlight of the trip, the 7m waterfall, which it is apparantly possible to do without flipping over, we didn't stand a chance... We pretty much went over the top sideways and were upside down before we started - there were paddles, limbs, and Japanese students flying in all directions as we plummeted into the pool at the bottom! The girl from the rafting company who was taking the photos for the day said she'd never seen people scattered so far and wide after going down the waterfall in all her years of experience. It was definitely a memorable trip...

Last night we continued to blow our non-existent budget (non-existant not because we're rolling in money, but because we seem unable to say no to anything we're offered in exchange for money!) quite spectacularly by foregoing the traditional baked beans on toast in favour of dinner at The Orbit - the revolving restaurant at the top of Auckland's Sky Tower. The tower is 328m tall (which is 4m taller than the Eiffel Tower) and has a 38mm thick glass floor in the viewing part which made me feel really quite sick! You couldn't beat the view though, and the food was stunning... What backpacker wouldn't have tender loin of lamb followed by handcrafted chocolates for dinner?! We redeemed ourselves slightly for our extravagant meal by having sparkling grape juice instead of veuve cliquot (the waitress humoured us by giving it to us in champagne flutes), but that was about it. Needless to say we felt a little underdressed in our flip-flops...

So, budgeting officially starts today!
> Dinners in revolving restaurants at the top of sky towers: OUT
> 3 minute noodles: IN
> Diet coke: OUT
> Tap water: IN
> Rafting and other extreme sports: OUT
> Walking: IN
> Starbucks coffee: OUT
> Caffeine tablets: IN
> Cider: OUT
> Cheap local ale: IN
> Hostels: OUT
> Tents: IN
> Ciabatta bread rolls: OUT
> Grains: IN
> Internet: OUT
> Occasional postcard: IN

Ok, so maybe I'll start tomorrow...