It was a short flight from Fiji to Auckland and I got the Airbus into the city where Alec was waiting for me (met in Fiji, was also in NZ) which was cool and I stayed at the Queen Street Backpackers it was cool. He introduced me to some of his friends from France, Chile, Spain and UK, and there was about ten of us and we made a huge group meal for dinner. Each cooking a bit towards the meal, we ended up having a massive feast it was really nice!

Next morning I headed out to catch the first leg of the Kiwi Experience tour, up to the beautiful Bay of Islands!! Met Drew outside the hostel he was also waiting for the bus. There was about 18 of us when we finally got on the bus, Flea (Felicity) was going to be our driver and she seemed cool and kinda wacky. Got talking to different people on the bus and enjyoyed the amazing scenery on the drive up.

Despite being 'Winter' it was a beautiful blue sky, sun shining and 16c. So I was happy. Bay of Islands was stunning. Kind of similar to what I'd seen in halong bay in Vietnam. Most people chose to go on a boat cruise but I decided to hire a bike and go off exploring on my own for some exercise. Was nice, pretty tough though up some really long hills and the bike I hired was rubbish and the chains kept falling off and then it started to rain...but all in all good fun.

Stayed in a great hostel for only $20 a night which people I met in Fiji recommended, it was really modern and clean, had a swimming pool and hot tub etc too. The next morning I went to this Maori museum and meeting house and learnt some more about the traditional Maori culture in New Zealand.

That night went back to Auckland where I bumped into everyone from the first night in Auckland, so had some drinks with them and met some english guys and all played some drinking games. Next morning I was off to start my tour down south for the next few weeks!!