Hello hello helloooo - it's Em here - I hope you are all well! :)

On Monday 21st, Steph & I were gutted to leave Juliet, Paul, Ethan and Bryoni. Not only did Jude & Paul insist that we took some more food with us, but they gave us water bottles with really sweet messages on them, and even invited us to go with them on their holiday to Queenstown on Thursday if we ever got stuck: I, typically, was rather emotional last night as a result of their overwhelming kindess! The people in new Zealand really are some of the kindest and most friendly that I have ever met (let's hope it rubs off on us, tee hee!). Juliet and Paul offered to drive us to the bus stop that morning but the traffic was terrible, and despite the temptation of staying another night with the Wild Harpers, Steph had to nip out to run across the junction to make sure the bus stopped for us!

Ordinarily, we could stop off at the Hot Water Beach on our way to Mercury Bay, where you can dig holes in the sand to create pools of naturally sizzling water, but unfortunately the tide was too high so we continued on to Cathedral Cove. We walked for about half an hour to a small, beautiful beach where people lazed around chatting and enjoying the sun for an hour or so. I, er, managed to get a tad wet and also seemed to think it a good idea to sit on a large rock a little way out in the sea ... until I got hit by a wave. It was a beautiful day, with a clear sky and the bluest sea I've ever seen. We arrived in Mercury Bay at about 4pm at a small and homely hostel. Steph enjoyed 2 enormous helpings of spaghetti bolognese dished up by the hostel owner, and we spent the evening playing cards with 8 other people from our bus, played pool and watched a film. Most people were tired, either from the weekend or from staying up until unearthly hours watching the football and rugby, so it was an early night for many!

On Tuesday 22nd, we were up early to catch the 7:30am bus to Rotorua: Stephanie & I have been there before but needed to pass through again on our way to do the 'East As' pass on, would you believe, the East of New Zealand, which we added on to our main pass. We stopped along the way for an easy walk through an early 20th century gold mine (and no, we didn't manage to find any gold!) through pitch black tunnels and over rickety bridges. One bridge clearly stated that only a maximum of 10 people at a time were to walk across it, but that didn't stop the whole lot of us from swinging it! We just can't seem to get enough kicks, it seems ... ;) It was then another hour on the bus to 'Hobbiton' (where we have also been before). Here, we took some more photos of the sign, only posing as Hobbits (look out for the pics when Steph can load them on) ... that afternoon a small group of us went to the Te Puia hot pools, where water spurts of up to 15m high, called Geysers (pronounced, according to juliet, as 'geezers' much to our amusement!) can be seen: we managed to spot 3 at the same timer in the same place, which is very rare! The smell of sulphur was so pungant that you could actually taste it (yummy). Te Puia also had a Kiwi bird in a glass display (yes, a real live one!) of which we excitedly took lots of photos before seeing the 'strictly no photos' sign ... oops. The place also had some Maori carvings and weaving for show, but unfortunately we didn't have time to see them.

That evening we went out with some people from our bus to the Lava Bar adjacent to the hostel, as they were serving free pizza and a free drink to the Kiwi Experience bunch - I'm surprised the door wasn't blown off its hinges. The password for the free drink was a tame 'mufasa' (from the legendary Lion King) but in the past it's been as crude as 'pinch my nipples'! Most people on this bus are newbies to New Zealand and clearly expected to be hitting the bars every night, regardless of where we were: for somewhere like Rotorua and in the tiny, quiet bar we were in, it was a tad pointless! I dutifully informed some of the girls that they will find moreback packers in their pyjamas than their heels! I was woken up later that night when the 'jolly' guys returning from the bar to our dorm decided to bang on the door even though they had a key. Hence we didn't make such an effort the next morning not to wake them as we got ready ... :)

That day, Stephanie & I considered the Black Water Tubing in Waitomo for the following afternoon. It was one of those things that I didn't really know much about and that freaked me out just a bit, so what did I do? I signed up for it with her of course! We had the option this morning of Zorbing (rolling down a hill in a rubber ball) but in the end only 2 guys did it, and even then it was only because they could do it for free (one works for the main hostel company, Base, over here and the other for Kiwi Experience). It cost a whopping $45 (including the Kiwi Experience discount), the hill was tiny and it was rather slow as well. However we did go to watch a talk and demonstration of the agriculture in New Zealand (which I was excited about!). We saw all 19 breeds of sheep that are farmed here, including some with enormous horns and others with a fringe (which I'm sure Stephanie was itching to straighten). The sheep had been well trained to jump over a small fence and run up to their displayed nameplate. The speaker also sheared one of the sheep and showed us their New Zealand sheep dogs (which are brown and white with a thin coat and much finer bones). The speaker When he asked for volunteers to milk his cow, I popped my hand up! It was difficult to get a grip - very sticky and warm, smelling like plastic strawberies!! However I was given a mini certificate as a memoir. :) At the end and beginning the audience were allowed to go and take photos with, and stroke, the sheep and dogs. However animals on the face, pulling them about by their coats, taking flash photos close-up and overcrowding them ... I really am an animal lover at heart! It was a fantastic show, however, and I of course was the last back on the bus!

This afternoon - Wednesday 23rd (having spent a total of 48 days away from home and with 13 left in New Zealand!) we arrived in Waitomo at about 1:30 and were dropped off at the Black Water Tubing centre. Black water rafting is similar to white water rafting, only it involved underground caving as well. If I'm honest, I was so scared that my teeth were chattering. When we 'signed our lives away' on arrival, we had to note down any phobias we have, and I wrote 'small spaces, heights, going underwater ... lol'! We were given torched helmets, wet-shoes, wet-socks, wet-suits and wet-jackets to put on with a fleece underneath (black water rafting is reknowned for being freezing!) It was torture putting them on, being all wet and cold! Our guides were called Veronica ('Vee') and Drew, who was American. To practise how we are supposed to jump off waterfalls (backwards with our round, black tubes ounder our bums) we had a practise run off a mini jetti about 5 feet above the water, which I had a mini panic about until I realised I could go feet first, facing forwards and with the tube around my waist. Sorted!

Vee had a waterproof camera and took photos throughout the trip - one being of us sticking our bums through the tubes to see if they were the right size for us (the tubes, that is!). These Kiwis really have a great sense of humour. :) When we got to the actual opening of the cave, we saw a teeny tiny hole a couple of feet high and wide, which we all gawped at until Drew pointed out that the opening we were using was to the side of it, and bigger! The group walked down deeper into the caves carrying our tubes, as the water grew stronger and greater. The rules for positioning ourselves in the tubes were that we had to keep our feet up at all times (if we tried to stand in the water then we could get stuck and end up face-first in the water) and to respect the stalagmites (or is it 'tites'?) hanging from the ceiling. The caves are millions of years old, and the stalagmites (tites?) had been there for 1 million: they grown 1 cm cubed every 100 years! Awesome!

After a while of both walking and tubing, we paused with our head-torches off to see the glow-worms above us that line the ceiling of all ther caves. It is actually their poo that glows, which attracts insects and warns off predators. The glow-worms stay in that form for 9.5 months until they form a stomachless, eyeless fly - and then die 3 days later! However Drew added that their life really isn't so bad as they mate for 48 hours non-stop. Fair enough! We also stood under a tall shaft with rainwater puring over our heads from outside - bizarre! It turns out that we were over 220 feet underground at the half-way point.

After a well-earned munch of a chocolate marshmallow fish (mmm!) we headed off again, under a low ceiling a few inches above our flattened-out bodies and down another small waterfall about 4 feet high (cue another tear or two). We had also been taught to make an 'eel' bu going single file and holding onto the feet of the person behind us as they rested on our tube: this kept us secure. Then we switched all of our lights off againand followed the glow worms above us for a while: it was a fantastic, very quiet and very dark journey as we paddled with our hands or drifted further on. Before we knew it, we saw light ahead and the cave ended almost back where we had started! According to Drew, we travelled for only just over a mile in about 2 hours. The trip was no where near as scary as I had anticipated and was unlike anything I've ever done! The guides were fantastic, too, and were never impatient or annoyed with me. When we returned to the centre and had peeled off our wet gear - some having a quick hot shower to warm up - we were treated to hot tomato soup and topasted bagels (MMM!) before being dropped fof at our hostel. Here, they were rather full so had to put Some of us, including Stephanie & I, in a two-bedroom room instead of a dorm, for the same price - great! We're just off now to watch some Kiwi rugby players perform a Huka at the local bar with some friends from the bus, so for now - au revoir!

Tomorrow we are heading to Taupo again, where we did our sky dive. Hopefully we will be able to do the free repeat walk of the Tangoriro crossing; you may remember that the weather was so bad during the last time that we had to turn back but were given a free guided walk again, for if we ever returned - which we are! :D So fingers crossed that it goes ahead (winter really is here, now, and it will be snowy up there).

Much love to you all and we look forward to hearing from you again - we LOVE reading your comments and messages! :) I hope you have enjoyed this installment. As always, until next time ...

Em (and Steph) xxxxxxxxxx