Hey everyone! The last couple of weeks have flown in. I arrived in Auckland with no plans, so when a guy from my dorm said he was off to climb a volcano on the outskirts of town I happily joined him. The views were magnificent from the top - the North Island is so narrow there that you can see the sea on both sides of you.

The next day I took a tour of the Hobbiton set where they filmed the Lord of the Rings and had a cider at the Green Dragon pub - it was SO COOL. From there I went to Rotorua to hike through the very peaceful Redwoods forest and wander among the geothermal pools at Kuipei park - the smoke rising from the water is pretty eerie.

Next I visited Taupo to see the biggest lake in Australasia - spent a day chilling on the banks with my book then hiked up to the wonderful Huka Falls. I came back to Rotorua for an evening visit to the geothermal Polynesian Spa, where you can sit in hot pools under the stars until you turn into a human prune (ie. my dream).

On my last day I went to Waitomo where I took a boat through huge underground caves that are lit up by thousands of tiny glowworms - it really was breathtaking. Even the kids behind me who wouldn't shut up on the way down fell into a sort of hushed silence when we came into the caves. I rounded off the day by doing the Ruakari Bushwalk across fields, through forests, over rivers, through caves... Really wonderful. I was nowhere near ready to leave, having seen only the North Island, but I guess that just means I'll have to go back...

I arrived in Fiji and spent a day chilling by the pool with a bunch of other solo travellers, before setting off for the Yasawa Islands on the Awesome Adventures catamaran (thanks for the tip, dad). I started off on Nacula Island at the very north, and then worked my way down to Nanuya Lailai and Matacawalevu islands, picking up friends on the way - with everyone on the island-hopping Bula pass we were all free to roam about as we liked, so you'd meet people on one island, spot them on the boat later and decide to hop off wherever they were going. By the end of the trip I was travelling with a German girl Christin, two Argeninian boys and one Scot, and we met plenty more on each island - it was so much fun!

On our first island I arranged to go diving with sharks and it was INCREDIBLE - a group of us all went down together and hovered on a rocky outcrop on the sea floor as sharks swam by us, totally unfazed by our presence. They weren't just the small reef sharks either - there were massive wide bull sharks about 3 metres away from us. It was weirdly serene and not scary at all (to me at least... one girl totally freaked out as soon as we were back on the boat, which I suppose is a more normal response).

On the islands we stayed in little huts without hot water - some had electricity during certain times of the day but one didn't have any at all and so we had old-fashioned gas lamps to see by - I felt like I was in Downton Abbey. Every 'resort' was dotted with hammocks and that's where I spent most of my time, sunbathing, reading, writing in my journal - pretty perfect. I did make it out of my hammock to go snorkelling at the Blue Lagoon where they filmed that film, and to go to a crafting class where we all made rings out of coconut shells. On my last night with my island pals, a massive group of us had a bonfire on the beach and sat around telling stories with the local guys, and Christin came to wave me off the next day - it's amazing to meet so many people, but so sad when you have to leave.

I'm currently in Hawaii at Terri's house... I'll write one more blog about my time here, and the rest I can tell you all in person! Can't wait to see you all in 2 weeks... but I have no idea how I'm at the end of my trip already. Where has the time gone?

Love x