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Hello all, we're now in New Zealand!! Landed in Auckland at midday on Wednesday and had some serious bus troubles! Got a public bus to Manakau, then the "naked bus" to Whitianga and caught up with the Kiwi Experience :) Stayed in a really homely hostel, had an enormous helping of spaghetti bolognaise and got chatting to the guys on our trip but went to bed fairly early cos we hadn't slept all night!!
Did a walk on Thursday morning through a railway tunnel. Stopped for food and photos in Matamata (Hobbiton) where they filmed the "Shire" scenes, then on to Rotarua. Saw the geysers, which were really cool, then relaxed in the hot pool at our hostel :) Had a huge dinner at the bar and then sat inside for most of the evening on the phone and internet to our friends and family at home. Well done to everyone for getting amazing A-level results!!
Saw a "sheep show" on Friday, which was interesting, then straight on to Waitomo. Did a guided walk through the Ruakuri cave- very impressive- full of glowworms and stalactites! Had a hot chocolate to warm us up, then went to the pub... Fab steak BBQ/buffet and pasta for Jen!
Got a bit of a lie in on Saturday, then did a short walk up to a really blue waterfall! Had a cup of tea in the cafe :) carried on to Taupo, where we sat in the middle of a park in a scorchingly hot thermal stream! Went out for Cathy's 28th birthday... Drinks, food, more drinks and played some hilarious games.
Fell out of a plane on Sunday morning :D AMAZING!! Thought it would be much more scary but really, really loved it. Just like falling into a pretty picture :) gorgeous view of the lake and got to talk to each other on the way down! It took 15 minutes up in the plane to 12000ft, 45 seconds freefall then a lovely relaxing 5 minute float down! Went to Subway for lunch and Pizza Hut for tea- nice and healthy ;) Won the hostel/bar quiz and had a great evening in the Irish bar!
Had a pretty long drive on Monday from Taupo to River Valley, stopping off for short walks and photos! Saw Mount Doom :P Lovely winding road down to the River Valley Lodge with wonderful scenery. Watched the guys play volleyball then huddled around the fire inside. Had a roast dinner, played cards and Dan entertained us with his guitar :) the sleeping arrangement was interesting... 16 of us in one massive bunkbed!!
Went White water rafting early Tuesday morning, which was cold and hard work but absolutely loved it!! None of us fell out, thank god, but Lauren screamed the whole way anyway! Had a lovely hot shower then bused straight on to Wellington, where we stayed at Sals house (thank you for having us!)
Got the ferry over to the South Island on Wednesday, which took 3hours but it was stunning and we saw some dolphins :) Drove to Nelson, stopping for wine and liquor tasting, then beer tasting at the pub! Had a lovely meal and watched some films before bed.
Had McDonalds breakfast on Thursday and bought supplies for supper. Went to Lake Rotoiti, which was gorgeous!! The nutters jumped in, we did a walk and took some photos. Straight on to Westport, where we went shopping for the guys cross-dressing outfits for tomorrow! Watched The Fellowship of the Ring. Dan and Andrew cooked pasta for tea :)
Did three walks on Friday on the way to the Pu Pub- Lake Mahinapua. Had an hilarious evening of cross-dressing guys and women dressed in bin bag outfits! Had a huge country dinner and spent the night dancing away to the juke box!
Set off on Saturday morning and went to the bushman museum and watched a crazy video of people jumping out of plane onto deer to catch them... It was mad! Headed to Franz Joseph in the pouring rain and chilled out for the afternoon in the hot tub. Cooked dinner for once and played a game of scruples.
Went hiking on the glacier on Sunday. Absolutely amazing scenery, completely unbeleivable! Kitted out in all the proper ice gear and had to squeeze and climb through ice tunnels. Headed back after 6 hours on the ice and spent the evening in the thermal baths.
Had a lovely walk around Lake Matheson in the morning, whilst waiting for the skydivers to land. Had an amazing days scenery of waterfalls, lakes, snowy mountains as we travelled through 3 ecosystems to Wanaka. Went to this retro cinema in the afternoon to see "Get Me to the Greek" before a night out at the karaoke!
Headed to Puzzling World this morning and saw some crazy optical illusions before getting lost in a maze for an hour! Went to the bungy centre and checked out the original bungy bridge. Had a group photo as we arrived in Queenstown, before heading out to the canyon swing. The swing was a 150kph swing off an 109m high ledge in the middle of the canyon. Jenna went first and did a backwards fall and then later did an upside down tandem jump with Nicky. Lauren and Anne were our excellent photographers. What an amazing experience, very similar to a bungy! Headed back into town and had a famous fergburger, tasted absolutely amazing, definitely will be going there again this week! Loving the amazing adrenaline rush of New Zealand and looking forward to the rest of our time in
Queenstown. The end of the crazy adventures now, so no need to worry for our safety anymore! Write again soon x
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