From Mercury bay we headed on to Rotorua but not before a nice walk over a couple of wobbly swing bridges and through a pitch black old railway tunnel where every step was one closer to a broken leg! Finally we did arrive in Rotorua - Sulphur land - where there is a constant smell of rotten eggs and if you sit on the wrong patch of land you find yourself atop a jet of sulphurous gas being sent air bound! After checking into the hostel we went for a walk through the park to see the boiling mud pools and geysers before heading back to get ourselves ready for the Maori night which we had already been warned we were not allowed to laugh during because it would be found offensive!

The night was lovely though- we got to see the Haka performed and hear some Maori songs as well as talk to some of the people - one of whom being a man who told Katy his ancestors were from Yorkshire and gave us a quick sing song of 'lets get physical' a very camp Maori warrior! After having a traditional Maori meal we headed back to the hostel and went for more drinks with Sue and Mike - notice a pattern emerging?

Next day was on to Waitomo, the home of the glow worm caves. On the way a very excited Katy took numerous photos next to the Hobbiton sign and a statue of Gollum much to the amusement of the rest f the bus. That night was bbq night at the local pub where once again large amounts of cider were consumed and Katy teamed up with Josh to play Sue and Mike at pool.

On to Taupo where we both avoided the sky dive despite Katy almost being persuaded by Sue and Mike who had loved theirs. On our second day in the room things got a bit more interesting when we walked into our room to be greeted by a completely naked lady from Holland who chatted to us for a good 5 minutes with not a scrap of clothing on her before heading to the shower leaving me and Katy more than a little bemused! Later on in the day the same lady asked us to go to the hot pools with her which we agreed to. On the way though it started raining, now, any normal person, considering the hot pools were outside would at this point have turned back, but oh no, this lady decides to inform us of her love for hitch hiking before sticking out her thumb and flagging down the car of a middle aged man and his mother. Me and Katy were both bundled into the car (me refusing profusely but getting nowhere) to be given a look of disbelieve by the man who told us that hitch hiking is not safe and we shouldn't be doing it - your not kidding! This didn't faze the crazy lady though who assured the man she was selective and then told the little old lady that if a man looked at her boobs then of course she wouldn't get in the car!!! At this point I officially wanted the ground to open up and swallow me but luckily it was time to get out of the car - at the wrong place! We did eventually find the hot springs and me and Katy looked on as she stripped off once more - luckily she did keep on a very small bikini this time and immersed herself in the boiling water. Thankfully we avoided hitch hiking the return journey and made it back on our own two feet!

Taupo done we then carried on to River valley which was in the middle of absolute nowhere but where you could do white water rafting. Me and Katy instead took the opportunity to do a bit of sun bathing around spending the night playing drinking games and watching people playing stupid games such as trying to make their way underneath and round a table without touching the ground - most amusing to watch!!

Finally it was our last stop of the North Island - Wellington, where, after heading down to the basement bar with the rest of the bus, me and Katy split and went off on our own returning at some ungodly hour the next morning after meeting a lovely pair of Kiwi girls who we drunk and danced the night away with - possibly not the best idea considering our early start and ferry to the South Island the next day!!!