you may be happy to know that i got served first on the flight from hong kong to NZ! on my 1st full day in NZ went for a wonder round downtown Auckland downtown was the place i was staying and is not at all dodgy even tho it may sound it a a little. i was quite surprised at how many different culures there were there. then went on a harbour cruise, got to see why its called the city of sails, theres lots of boats! apparently one in every 4 people have a boat-pretty good odds. Then went across on the ferry to Devenport and walked mount victoria, gorgeous views from up there. Went for a drink with a guy called James that night and met up with two others, they'd finished there travelling so gave me a few tips on places.

Supposed to be doing canyoning todaybut I was the only one booked on so they cancelled it-was gutted!! will hopefully get the chance to do it another time tho. Met up with a friends friend called Kay. And she took me and her two kids to Piha beach-was a gorgoes beach with elephant rock and tiger rock there. went for my first swim in NZ waters there and did a bit of boogie boarding, great fun and loved being in the sea (no wet suits required!!) Then went beck to Kays for a bbq, ended up having a really good day and very grateful to Kay and her family!

Went to Paihai today and met Mad, Zoe, Anouk, Marie and Dan. me zoe and mad went on the excitor boat- speed boat ride round some of the island and thro the hole in the rock. was good on the way out cos hit a few waves but the way bak was just like a normal boat ride. we had a bit of a drinkin game after our bbq and then went out to another pub. met three kiwi guys from wellington in this pub (they were up on a bit of a hol), Rich, Alistair and Dan. The next day they came and woke me at 8 and went sea kayaing for free-they got it free with the hostel they were staying at! really good and think i got the hang of padderling near the end got a bit sun burnt-keep missing places with the sun cream. paihai is gorgeous and the hostel was a lot nicer than the one in Auckland.

Set off to Mercury bay, travelled through the coromandel ranges, beautiful scenery! We made a stop at cathedral cove, which was gorgeous, very blue sea. The waves were pretty big though and apparently after we left a guy was airlifted tohospital cos he got into trouble in the water.

Went for a walk round the bay at Mercury bay and kept getting attacked by sand flies, the one think i dislike about NZ is the flies! but if thats the only ting im sure i can get used to them :) having a bit of a big meal at the hostel tonight because two czech guys that have been there for bout 8 weeks were leaving. The hostel was really homely and friendly could easily see why quite a few people stayed there and got a job for a few months. Me and Paul went shopping for some food, we got on really well and had a good chat. Paul and the 2 czech boys ended up dragging me in the hot tub while i was fully cothed-trainers and everything, trainers still werent dry the next day :) we ended up watching tv and then later there was a power cut, apparently happens quite a bit there, so me and Paul went outside and the sky was gorgeous, it was so clear and you could see lots and lots of stars, was beautiful!! Mercury bay was a nice quiet little place, not much to do but relax but that suited me for a couple of days.

Met Marie, Dan and Anouk on the bus again today. Stopped for a half hour hike inbetween mercury bay and rotorua. Was a really good hike over swing bridges, along a railway and through tunnels, was all a bit Indiana Jonesy! :) Great fun! Then we stopped off in hobbiton, lord of the rings country but it was only a quick stop to grab some food so that was a bit disappointing but at least we were there for a bit. Checked into hot rocks in Rotorua and got a great room! There was just me dan anouk and marie in a rooom all with single beds (a real luxury) our own bathroom, fridge and balcony-think it could be the best room in the hostel! We headed straight out to do luging! great fun, definatley one oof the funnest things i think you can do. you sit in like a go kart thing, you lift the handle bars to go and lift them further to break. there was 3 tracks; scenic, intermediate and advanced. went on all 3 and was great, the last one had a jump and the corners were pretty tight, quite easy to injure yourself but definatley worth doing. One girl before us came off with a bandage round her knree and ankle with blood on them and a grazed chin, lol, whoops! That night went to tamaki, a maori culture night. was really interesting and good to see, the food was great as well, best meal for a long time! the bus drier got us all singing on the way back and we sank coming round a mountain while she kept driving round n round the round about-very funny-especally as wed jus passed police 5 mins ago. Def one of the best days I've had since I started travelling, did lots and was all greta fun!

Rotorua definatley smells-all the sulpha!todays sunday so most of the place was closed, but was nice to have a walk around town and see what was there. Enjoyed just having a relaxing day. Booked white water rafting, Kaituna river (grade 5, including a 7m waterfall) and topo duo. Topo is kayaing down the grade 5 with an instructor in the back and you in the front, looks amazing but I'm guessing this will be pretty scary as you cant see anyone else around you so could feel like your alone. Really looking forward to tomorow!

Rafting was good but didnt get the adrenaline going as much as I thought it would, topo was much better! Cool instructor named Tim and safety guy called Mike. Mike ended up rolling himself a few times, pretty funny! Would love to come back and have some kayak lessons with Tim cos he was good fun and really enjoyed it! would be great to be able to do that on my own as well. Met up with Zoe and we went for something to eat and then had a walk around Rotorua. went into the blue baths (old swimming pool) and saw a maotri meeting place. Had a little walk around the lake, it actually looked like i'd jumped in the lake cos it was raining and i was soaked! Walked round some hot pools and then i did the brilliant thing of dropping my battery from my camera in the lake-stupid girl, at least it wasnt the whol thing though! the shops didnt have any in stock so now got to stick around for a bit until they can order me one in. no problem though cos i like rotorua, theres lots to do and I've got used to the smell now! Went to a hot poool tonight with Mike, it was a place where a boiling hot stream and a cold stream run together. There was quite a few locals there but just up the road theres somewhere where you can go and its all done out so you have to pay to get in and thats where all the tourists go. Always good to talk to the locals :)

Today stomach muscles are absolutely killing! Getting some decent exercise at last :) booked some more white water rafting on the wairo, another garde 5 but its only open 26 days of the year when the dam opens. also booked myself a couple of hours of kayak lessons with Tim. Met up with mad tonight in the bar (lava lounge) great to see her again. Also met another 2 rish girls, Claire and Greta, theyre sisters and av got some great stories from there travels!

Got some laundry done today and then went and chilled out in the Polynesian spa (hot mineral pools), skin feels great after coming out of there. great few uot over the lake as well. Now really looking forward to my kayak lesson and just hope that it did actually get booked cos it sounded like the guy (Keith) was busy when i booked it.

Im on such a buzz- just got back and it was amazing! Did the kayak lessons and managed to so an eskimo roll twice which was pretty cool. couldn't do it when I wasnt prepared for it though so if I have a lesson again will have to work on that! I then got a to raft the Kaituna again, much better this time. Tim got me to do some diff stuff like sit on the frot of the raft with my legs pout over the water while we went down a couple of rapids, then he pushed me in so got a bit of a swim. didnt have enough strength to get myself back in the raft though, but i had just had 2 hours of kayaking! We then went and jumped off the cliff side into the river, always love doing stuff like that! Theres some really good photos, when we went over the 7m waterfall I did the peace sign to nearly the bottom of the fall when I had to grab on. Gaz and his 2 son's (the guys who i did the rafting with) were good fun and more talkative than the first trip. Didnt get the photos from this one but gaz offered to copy the cd and send them home to england whoch was really kind so will hopefully get the photos. AWSOME trip!! Me n mad went into the museum ended up spending abot 4 hours in there, looking mainly at the maori contribution to the 2nd world war and at the big volcano eruption that happened in 1886, killing approx 120 people. Was really interesting and emotional as well.

Met up with Anouk, Matt and Dan again tonight forgot they'd be coming back but saw them in the bar. Met another coupe of people- Gaz and Karen. Gaz was a reallly nice guy and he ended up giving me his fish hook necklace cos he said it didnt suit him. I tried to refuse but he was having none of it! Had a bit of a salsa dance with one of the locals who we were talkng to a couple of nights ago (Jogn), really friendly guy.

Everyone left this morning but will hopefully get to meet up with Mad again in Welington. Theres going to be so many goodbyes in this next year :( meeting up with andy today though so that should be good. Hes a guy i worked with 2 years ago on the sports camp. Andy now lives in Papamao- looks a posh little place, apparetly one of the dearest places to buy a house. Met Ian, Nicola and there little girl, Paige, also met Jerry and Carey. Had my 1st ever poker game, started off really good winning two big hands near the start but Jerry ended up winning (only played for $10 each so not bad).

Went to the beach and there was a surf life saving comp on so saw some swim races and realy races on the beach. Had a walk up the mount there, great views from the top but i was shattered! It normally quite a quiet little town i think but beacsue of the comp the place was packed. Me, Andy and Ian went to watch a micky take of the film 300, 300 was good but the film we watched today was terrible!

Went to stay at Mariannes (Andy's g/f) tonight who lives in Wakatane. went up to andys mates for a bbq and a few drinks. He lived on the top of a hill and had great views all around of the islands and the foresty bit.

Still not gpt my battery yet so think i might get a job here, stay for another month or so and take some more kayak lessons.

Rafted the Wairo today, had Mike as our guide so had a laugh with him and he let me be the guide for a bit, I just made us go in circles down some of the small rapids, but a bit disappointed with the rafting! Just doesnt get the adrenaline going enough! Went for a few drinks with Mike, Scotty and Matt (other guides) and the others who did Wairo with, Becky and Irish guys.

Mike ended up taking me to the river at night and showing me a cave with loads of glow worms in, was really beautiful, we climbed our way through the cave and then it was a really beautiful night again so we sat and stared at the stars for a bit and actually saw 3 shooting stars!

Just chilled out for a couple of days and changed to a cheaper hostel. Ended up going zorbing with a guy from Israel who was staying in the hostel. I laughed the whole way down but not really worth the money! Just ended up buying a new camrea and bought myself a kiwi phone as well so pretty exspensive day today.

last day in Rotorua today, just relaxed in the morning and then went to a lake for a picnic with Mike. Really nice place and there was a good rock there that you could jump off into the lake, not as high as the one at rafting but you had to jump out far enough to avoid the rock shelf (completely safe really dad dont worry) :) then went and had another hot pool.

All in all really love Rotorua, really pretty place and loads to do, really enjoyed my two weeks there!!

Still not