After completing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing I spent a day in Taupo relaxing and recovering, the sauna at the hostel came in very handy. I also bought a cap to hide my out of control hair. It had never been longer and was getting increasingly harder to manage; I was hoping this was just the awkward middle stage of growing. After Taupo the Kiwi Experience took us to the Rangitikei River to spend a night at River Valley. This was a picturesque little lodge on the...

After skydiving the next day’s activity was a little less extreme. A hike on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing was less exciting but a lot more demanding. I had known about this hike for sometime as my Canadian friends from China had made me promise to walk it. Known as one of the best one-day hikes on the planet, the crossing transverses the best of the Tongariro National Park including volcanic landscapes, steaming vents and crystal lakes. It is also where Peter ...

After we left the hostel we went for a short walk around the Ruakuri Reserve which took us past some of the caves we had been through the day before. We also went to see some Angora rabbit shearing which was very strange but seeing the big fluffy rabbit stretched across the table was incredibly funny. After that bit of excitement we set out for Taupo. Taupo is situated in the Central Plateau region of the North Island and is famous for its lake, aptly named Lak...

I jumped back on the bus and headed for Waitomo in the King Country region of the North Island. The sole purpose of going to Waitomo was to see the legendary glowworms so after checking into the hostel we set out on a 3 hour Black Water Rafting adventure. Not to be confused with the more extreme White Water form of rafting, this version involves putting on a helmet, wet suit and boots, looking very silly and walking through caves and floating down an underground ...

We left Auckland and spent a night at Mercury Bay before arriving at Rotorua. During the trip we had a brief stop at a beach and Karangahake Scenic Reserve where we walked along a disused railway track and through some old gold mines that clung to edge of a bush-clad gorge. We stopped for lunch at Matamata, the area where Hobbitan is constructed. I was tempted to do a tour but the front of the Hobbit holes have been replaced with white plywood. If I were there la...