July 31st (Friday) - Day 152 - Waitomo and Rotorua
As we'd have to come back to Auckland we decided to do the rest of the north island first so we knew how long to spend there. Hence we had a really early bus. It was late as per normal and with Auckland being a large place it took a long time to go around picking everyone up. Once we got underway it was not long until our first stop at the top of MT Eden. This is one of Auckland's many extinct volcano's. The views where stunning. The driver told us a funny story about an April fools joke that some students had played. They set fire to some tyres in the creator of the volcano. The black smoke set off panic in the city to the point where some people evacuated. (Why didn't I think of that!)? Our next stop was in the tiny village of Waitomo. We had enough time to do two activities. The first of which was to watch a rabbit shearing. These huge rabbits they had in the centre get shaved every 3 months. They are also the size of a small dog. The lady grabbed one of these huge rabbits from out the back and started to strap its legs down. Once all 4 were tied she stretched it out. It looked cruel but she ensured us the rabbit was fine. The icing on the cake was when she started to rotate this poor rabbit like it was on a bbq. The whole bus seemed to leave quite quickly. It has to go down as one of the strangest things I have ever seen. Our second activity was black water rafting. A million miles away from rabbit shearing. We had to check in and pay before making our way over to the changing rooms. Here we had to put on a two piece wet suit and welly's. Before we knew it we were in the mini bus and off to the Waitomo caves. Once we arrived we had to grab a rubber ring and walk across a field full of cows. Sound normal but in wetsuits and mining helmets it's a whole different experience. On the other side of the field we walked down some steep steps and made our way into the caves. The first part was just a walk through the caves. They stopped us to show the millions of glow worms all over the cave. The next part was when it really started to get interesting. They made us stand in single file and turn off our lights. We then had to walk along the cave holding the person in front of us. As we started you could feel the water slowly rising and before we knew it we were shoulder deep in freezing water. Once we turned our lights on we could see we were near to a mini waterfall. The only way to get over it was to put our backs to the waterfall and fall off backwards landing on our tubes. I was a little nervous but 4 people in front of me did it so I could not wimp out. It didn't hurt but the shock of the cold water knocks you out for a second. Next we had to lie in our tube and be pulled along by the person in front. They even got us to sing a song. That was the second surreal thing of the day, floating underground while singing. We then had about 5 minutes to float freely. Everyone was getting cold by this point. The last thing we had to do was go down a huge water slide. Once we reached the bottom it got shallow again and we had to climb out the cave. We'd got back to the same point where we had picked up the rubber rings. Once back in town we had a nice hot shower followed by some soup before getting back on the bus. We arrived into Rotorua about 5. The first thing you notice here is the strong smell of Sulphur (which smells of eggs). This is due to the volcanic activity. We had a quick walk around town before visiting a few of the local establishments.

August 1st (Saturday) - Day 153 - Rotorua (One month to go!!!!)
I woke up feeling a bit rubbish with the flu but I didn't let it ruin the day. We had a quick walk to the lake and then we jumped on the local bus and headed over to the Sky ride and Luge. It wasn't a brilliant day weather wise but was fine for what we were doing. We headed up the gondola's to the top. The view of the town and the lake was nice. Once at the top we had a quick walk around before jumping on the Luge. For those of you who don't know it's basically a go kart that works only by gravity and a brake. We had 3 goes each. The first one you had to go down a scenic track. It wasn't by any means level but you didn't get up much speed. It also had a number of places to stop to take pictures. Once you reached the bottom there was a chair lift back up. It also grabbed the karts so someone else could use them. It took so much longer to get back up compared to how long it took to get down. Once up we went again but this time on the intermediate track. This was a lot faster and a lot more fun. I kinda left Sarah behind!! Once back at the top Sarah didn't feel like going again so I got 2 goes down the advanced track. Soo much faster than the other two combined. We had some lunch at the top and tried to head back into town. We missed the bus by about 5 seconds as we could not get across the road in time. So instead of sitting inside the bus stop for 30 minutes we went to a Kiwi centre. We didn't go in but looked around the gift shop. We made sure we had plenty of time to cross the road this time, looking both ways of course! Once back in town we had a few hours to rest before our evening's entertainment. We'd arranged to go on a Maori (native New Zealanders) cultural evening. This started by one of the worlds strangest (so far) bus journeys over the village. Along the way we had to pick a chief for our bus. As I was feeling a bit rubbish I didn't volunteer myself although it did look like fun. Once there we had to wait outside the village to be welcomed in by the local tribe. There were far too many people there and we couldn't really see too well but basically the tribe come out and dance and chant to offer peace. Once they have established we are friendly one of the ladies sounds a horn to give us clear passage. Once in the village we got to see a number of traditional acts such as games and weapon making. Shortly afterwards we went into the meeting hall to watch a number of dances and songs, including the famous dance done by the All Blacks. Once that was done we were called in for dinner. We had loads to eat. After dinner we had a quick look around the gift shop and I sulked outside with my cold. Just before we left they did a final good bye dance which was funny as some lady leaned against the window and smashed it. The bus journey back was even more random than the one on the way. The bus driver was trying to make each country sing a song. Everyone stuck to their national anthems. After the songs the driver started singing "coming round the mountain" and decided to drive around a round about 5 times. Someone who had drunk or ate too much suddenly stood up and ran to the front of the bus. She started shouting at the driver saying "you f**king drove round that 5 times you b***h". She jumped off the bus and was very ill. The rest of the journey back was very sedate after that!

August 2nd (Sunday) - Day 154 - Rotorua
We got picked up and taken to the Hell's Gate geological park and spa. Once we arrived we had an hour to walk around the park. It was full of hot pools, mud pools and mud volcano all of which were really hot. Some of the pools were 120 degrees. After our walk we a chance to do some wood carving. I made a Kiwi and Sarah made a NZ fern. We then got changed into swimmers and jumped into a warm mud bath. It was such a weird experience. I got to chuck loads of mud at Sarah hehe. We were only allowed 20 minutes for some reason. We then jumped into a sulphur spa. One bath was really hot and one was really cold. We stayed in the hot one as long as we could and then spent the next 40 minutes going between the two. Once back in town we went to the local park which had a load more volcanic pools. I was feeling rubbish still so didn't do a lot else that day.

August 3rd (Monday) - Day 155 - Rotorua
We caught the bus out to the Zorb centre. For those who have not seen the pictures a Zorb is an 11 foot high plastic ball that you get inside of and roll down a hill. When we arrived we had to fill in loads of questions about us and then decide what ways we wanted to do it. There are loads of options such as wet or dry, alone or with others. We went for the dry option first. We had to wait a few minutes as they only had one dry Zorb and someone was in front of us. We watched her come down the hill and then Sarah headed off for her first go. I couldn't really see a lot of what was going on but she jumped in and rolled down. Then it was my go. The guy drove me to the top of the hill and I jumped into the Zorb. He jumped in after me and strapped me in. First by the legs and then the chest. He then jumped out and pushed me off. Next thing I know I am going spinning really fast down the hill. It felt so funny and I could not stop laughing. Although it was only 30 seconds it seemed to last for ages. Near the bottom the Zorb started bouncing and that made it even more funny. I was a little bit dizzy once I jumped out but not as bad as I thought. Next was a wet go and Sarah and I were going in the same one. We quickly got changed into swimmers and were taken to the top again. The difference with the wet ones is that you don't get strapped in. The guy filled the bottom of the Zorb with water and we both had to take a running jump to get in. Once in we got shut in and were ready to go. To move we had to run up the side of the Zorb to make it move. We soon fell over once it started to roll. With the water you don't go upside down and are held near the bottom the whole way down, with the Zorb running away underneath you. For our last go we did another wet one but this time down a long zig-zag track. You had to go it alone. Sarah went first and I jumped into the next one and the guy held me there for ages. Was quite nice sitting in my own little plastic dome with nice warm water around me. Eventually without warning he pushed me off. Again I could not stop laughing. You get bashed all over the place as the Zorb hits the wall and goes in a different direction. At the bottom we got changed and had a look at our pictures. They were so funny; so funny in fact we brought one set. I will get them online when I can but they are on a CD as it stands. After a really long journey back into town we grabbed a late lunch and had a look around the shops. We spent most the afternoon looking into Fiji and had another quiet night in.