Sadly left Raglan, and travelled back to Rotorua for a couple of nights. Rotorua is constatnly on the boil, being sat in a volcanic creater! It also smells - ALOT! Here I managed to see a Maori night, and have a 'Umi' Maori feast, which has been cooked in the ground. We had lamb, mussles, chicken, veges, and steamed syrup pudding with custard for afters - and my mum was worried I wouldn't be eating well!! Rotorua was also the place where I saw my fir...

I travelled across to Rotorua, staying 1 night, (will return later), and caught 2 buses to Raglan. Raglan is one of the places I would like to live! It is a small community with 3 major sur breaks nearby. The day before I arrived, the surf was triple overhead, and firing. The day I arrived, it was flat, and remained flat for the whole week! However, I stayed in a wonderful lodge, 8km from village, in the side of the mountains. It was like being in the j...

Journied back through auckland, staying there for 1 night, and headed out the next day to the Coromandels. I stayed in Mercury Bay. This bay was named after the planet Mercury, when it was discovered. On the drive through, we stopped at Cathedral Cove, and went for a hike, and saw the rock formations. We also had a stop and hike in a mountanous region which too ages! Although the scenery here was nice, there was little to do apart from hike!!

Pahia, Bay of Islands. This is situated to the north of Auckland, it took about 3-4 hours to get here. It is a tiny seaside village, with the main attractions being kayaking, diving the sinken Rainbow Warrior, sea fishing and swimming with the dolphins. Unfortunately I had a nasty infection and had to go straight to the Doctors and get antibiotics, then I had to book into a rather nice hotel and order room service until i got better! Anyway, after a week, felt w...

After a very bumpy 11 hour ride (due to typhoon), finally touched down in Auckland.  The sky was clear and the air clean and fresh.  Hopped on the bus which dropped me outside the hostel I have booked for 2 weeks in Auckland City Centre.The first thing that hit me was how friendly everyone was here, especially after being in Hong Kong.  However, Auckland itself is OK, but I have cut short my stay here to move on.I was given a free ticket for the Au...