Bula! (Once again).

I hope you're well!

I have just returned from my island-hopping trip, WOW. I'm lucky enough to actually be in paradise and am now completely on Fiji time, I haven't worn any shoes all week, ha, barefoot is best. I can't believe that I'm only two weeks away from being home now, I'm so sad that it's coming to an end as it's literally been the best thing that I've ever done (and I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone and everyone! I feel quite passionately about the need to do this at least once in your lifetime) but am also now very excited to see loved ones; family, friends and a certain someone going by the name of Matthew. Not long now pal.

Time for a quick update on the north island of New Zealand….

So I flew into Wellington and liked it a lot more than I had expected to. I'd heard that it can be very grey and rainy but I was lucky and experienced wall-to-wall sunshine. It's a very 'cool' city with lots of very 'cool' people hanging around quirky coffee shops on Cuba Street all day. I spent the first evening going for dinner and then to the cinema with Emily as she is now based there and even has a grown-up job in the city! As always, it was lovely to see her, I can't believe we've been able to meet up in three different locations during this travelling trip! I climbed Mount Victoria the next morning for spectacular views of the city and surrounding areas. I spent the afternoon perusing Cuba Street and visiting the HUGE Te Papa museum, one of the best I've been to! Emily and I went for a few drinks that night, nothing too crazy though as she is now a working woman and it was a week night, I was also being picked up just after seven the nest morning by the Magic Bus.

The bus took me up through the country stopping at Huka Falls (stunning, I can't get over the colour of the water in New Zealand), Lake Taupo (the biggest lake in New Zealand; the size of Singapore!) and then finally arriving into Rotorua late afternoon. I'd heard about the distinct odour of the place and it really is true, due to the volcanic nature of the area you cannot escape the smell of sulphur wherever you go! I only had one full day there so decided to combine a Maori and geothermal experiences by visiting Te Puia park on the outskirts of town. I saw a live Haka performed (very cool), saw bubbling mud pools and witnessed the Pohuto ('big splash') and Prince of Wales Feathers Geysers erupting, it only took a slight change in the wind to become covered in warm, wet Sulphur-smelling spray, nice, ha. Really great park with lots of history and culture as well as the natural geothermal exhibits.

The next stop for me was the surfer/beach town of Mount Maunganui, I stayed there for three nights and being a beach person, it was so nice just to chill and do nothing but walk around the bay and read a little everyday, heaven. The north island is so much warmer than the south (obviously), it was so nice to ditch the leggings and get back into my shorts. It's where I belong! I met a couple of nice Canadian girls and we'd either watch movies or go and watch some live music in the evenings, very chilled.

I then moved onto the historic gold-mining town of Thames for one night in order to catch my connecting bus to the Coromandel Peninsula the following day. Thames is very small and very quaint, it's strange to think that towns as tiny as this still exist and still function in such an old-fashioned way. It didn't seem as if much had changed since the gold-mining days! I got talking to an Irish girl, Elaine, from my dorm and spent the next few days with her as she was also touring the Coromandel Peninsula. Our first stop was the beautiful Cathedral Cove area, really stunning. Because of the cyclone earlier in the year the steps down to the Cove itself had been washed away so we took a boat tour instead. So fun being out on a jetboat, we saw the whole coast, visiting caves and islands along the way and finally Cathedral Cove at the end. We were then driven down to Hot Water Beach, we only had to look for the massive group of tourists to find the hot area of sands. By digging down just a few inches the water becomes almost boiling hot, so hot in fact that I could barely bring myself to put my whole foot in let alone sit in the pool! The other people must've found cooler pools as they were wallowing around for hours! We then had an overnight stop in Coromandel Town before heading back to Thames the next day for my last Magic Bus connection to Auckland.

I couldn't get my head around how many people were in Auckland, the city's population is only 1.2 million but considering that the whole country's population is only 4 million (with around 40 million sheep!) and that less than 1.2 million people live on the entire south island it seemed very hectic! I was staying in a really nice district just east of the city, Parnell, the locals apparently like to think of the area as being a 'village' - separate from the rest of Auckland. I must admit there were some very expensive, very upmarket cafes and restaurants in the area (I just admired from the outside ha). I visited Mission Bay on my last day in New Zealand (the nearest beach to the city) and felt it was a fitting end to a wonderful 4 and a half weeks in beautiful New Zealand; the country with everything; mountains, waterfalls, lakes, wildlife, culture and beaches. One of my favourites for sure.

A Fiji update coming soon.

Lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Happy 8th Birthday Bay! Happy Birthday again Dad for yesterday and Happy Anniversary to you and mum for yesterday as well xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx