left from taupo this morning on the big green bus, met caz, charlotte and lucy. we stopped for a couple of hours at Tawhai falls, the place where smeagol catches the fish in the forbidden pool. had a look around the tourist centre and then hit the road again onto river valley! unfortunately on the way our bus just decided to stop! in the middle of nowhere it just stopped, luckily we still had phone signal! we were stuck on the side of the road for 2 hours before the macanic turned up, decided he couldnt fix it and until a bus from river valley came to pick us up. all in all was pretty funny! played some cards, tosse a rugby ball around- all part of the adventure :) so eventually got to river valley at 7.30 and got sat straight down and tucked into my forst roast dinner since being away! i demolished it and ate till my belly felt like it was going to explode! was so good, admittedly not as good as mum and dads but one of the best meals I've had since being away. then went up to the dorm, lol, brilliant!! there was 4 single mattresses all pushed together and then it was bunks so another 4 above them, then a small partician and then another 4 up and down. basiclaly just a huge bed- the lads were loving it cos they got to say they slept with 3 girls on valentines day! but dont worry dad they all behaved themselves :) river valley really is in the middle of nowhere and its an amazing place and the lodge was a really nice change from the hostels. the showers were just basically in an outside hut with 2 huge wide open doors. mixed showers and they were those where you can see over the top, i was fine because im small but mesica (dutch girl) was pretty tall and the sides just about covered her chest! the river runs right outside the lodge and theres a volleyball net, pulley over the river, hammocks and a swing! really nice place. i got a shower after dinner and then went down to the bar and then the games started! the first challenge was to crawl round the big wooden table without touching the floor so that meant starting lying down on top of the table and climbing underneath and back on top the other side. you had to have quite a long arm span so i didnt attempt that one, only 2 of the guys managed it, James and Neil. And then matty the local guy who was introducing the challenges. the next challenge was where you had a line on the floor that you couldn't cross, in pairs, one was the anchor and the other person had to lean out as far as possible and then place a box of matches on the floor and then get pulled back up. me and matty held the record for quite a long time but then it got broken. the next challenge and final challenge was where you had a box of matches stood up next to the back leg of a chair. you then, without touching the floor had to lean around the chair opposite way, pick up the matches in your mouth and then get yourself back up right on the chair. i managed to get the matches in my mouth but then couldnt keep my weight balanced right to get back up and ended up tipping the chair. i did pretty well though because most people couldnt even get the matches. was a fun night and met most of the other people on the bus so now looking forward to a good night out in wellington.

this morning woke up and it was a cold day and had been raining most of the night but a few of the lads decided the best way to wake up was to go across the river on the opulley and jump off half way, bout a 1.5m ddrop. so i decided to join them. the river was freezing!!took me a good few seconds to catch my breath- definately a good way to wake yourself up! we had to wait a couple of hours for lauren, our driver, to bring a new bus so played around on the pulley for a bit, had a go on the swing and then decided to have a breakfast- a cup of tea and a cookie, lol, they looked so good i just couldnt resist! then me and neil went for a walk, good little walk and part where you had to use rope to get down and back up this muddy drop, pretty cool. then our bus finally turned up- a newer bus with a dvd player- very special :) and pretty useful because it was about a 5 hour drive to wellington. night out in wellington- went down to the basement bar, underneath base at about 9 and everyone else from the bus was already there. had my 1st NZ jagerbomb with tony and caz, chatted to everyone and watched some of the girls strutt their stuff on the dance floor. we then moved onto an irish bar just round the corner and had a brill time in there n think we all got up dancing at some point. by the time this pub shut there was just me paddy and shane left and we decided to hit another bar. played some pool and had a good chat and then asked someone what time it was and it was 6.45am! couldnt believe it! the 2 guys were leaving and had to be at the bus with everything packed for 7.10 at latest. so hurridely made our way back to the hostel and finally got to bed at 7, lol! the lads made it to the bus ok but then they had a 3 hour ferry ride over to the south islandso not sure how that would have been :) the girls woke me at 9.45 cos we had to pack our stuff and leave cos there was no room for us for the next 2 nights so we had to find another hostel which was fine by me cos im not really a fan of the base hostels. the rooms are just too cramped! we ended up checking into wellywood packers. we chilled out for a bit and ended up going down to the museum Te Papa at about 2. we were really lucky cos it was the museums 10th birthdayso there was loads happening and live music on pretty much all the time. me caz lucy and charlotte spent about 2 hours making sombrero hats, great fun! decorated them with tissue paper, materials, feathers and i drew pretty patterns on mine with felt. like charlottes the best, all oranges material with feathers dotted in places. we then went and got free birthday cake, all drizzled in hot chocolate sauce. we had a wonder round the museum, had something to eat and chilled out. then later there was a drag show which was pretty funny and then fireworks to finish off the night. got back about 10.30 and then tried catching up on some sleep :)

got up but 11 this morning and went for a walk round wellington. really nice city, didnt think it was anything spectacular but would be a nice city to live in. managed to find a decent bikini that actually fit so now have a decent bikini again seeing as my other is starting to look a bit battered from sitting on all the rocksand being in the hot/cold rivers. went to see the parliment buildings, seeing as it is the capital we thought we shouldprobably do that. charlotte, lucy and caz eat together so i got in on there spag bol, charlotte cooked and it was one of the best spag bols i have ever had! great meal but now got to go back to my crap cooking, or attempts at cooking i sould probably say :) leave tomorrow for the south island and really looking forward to seeing what its like but really love the north island and will definately be back up here before my visa runs out! wellywood is brilliant- definately recommend it! the rooms are standard but then upstairs the kitchen is brilliant, theres table football, pool table, 2 tv rooms with sky movies and free internet! we keep talking about bungee jumps and the big one in queenstown and getting so excited about it- can feel the buzz and adrenaline building already, going to be amazing! wellington is known as windy wellington and its definately lived up to its name, not cold but just very windy. after spag bol jus chilled out upstairs and there was a guy playing guitar and just really great atmosphere- really do like this hostel.

got up at 6 this morning to catch ferry. took us jus less than 4 hours to cross and was quite choppy to start. only got bout 20mins sleep and absolutely shattered! but im now in the south island!! :)