It's been a really crazy week or so and I finally have time to finish what I started writing about!

Rotorua was a crazy place! I did something I never knew existed - Zorbing! You basically get inside a clear, rubber bubble filled with water and roll down a hill. It sounds strange but it's so much fun! We spent a few hours at the zorb headquarters watching others tumble down the slope until it was almost time for dinner. We had prearranged a Tamaki Maori Culture show so we got picked up on a bus and headed out into the woods to witness a strange ritual that can only be described as bizarre. It was fun to watch though! We ate a dinner that had been cooked in the ground and got home around 11 or so. It was a long day and we were tired.

The next day it was off for our next destination! Right off the bat we headed to watch the Lady Knox Geyser trigger at precisely 10:15, which it does daily. We then drove a short distance to the geothermal pools that were all the colors of the rainbow and sort of mysterious. We hiked quickly so we could make it back to the bus while seeing every pool we could. It was very interesting seeing yet another of nature's wonders!

We drove the few hours to Taupo next and the bus driver dropped 10 of us off immediately to skydive!! Although I was extremely unprepared for this moment, I had told myself I needed to do it. It was an amazingly clear day -- one for the books they said. We waited for a couple hours as only a few could go up at a time. The waiting was the worst part. We flew to our destination of 15000 feet and the instructors forced us all out quickly one after the other. It was such a strange sensation at first. But once my stomach caught up with me I could see coast to coast of the beautiful island!! Falling at 100mph isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I didn't realize I was going that fast until the ground approached quickly and the instructor attached to me pulled the shoot at 5000 ft after about a minute of freefall. The floating was my favorite! I could enjoy the view for real and take in the moment. After several minutes of floating towards the ground, we landed with ease beside the airport where we took off from. It was such a great experience and everyone should do it atleast once!

After the skydive was done and over with the bus picked us up and dropped us off at our hostels where we got ready for the night out. My friend Caitlin and I met up with some girls from Norway at an Irish bar where we had dinner and talked about the amazing experience. It was a fairly early night though because we had to get up super early for the Tongariro Alpine Trek. Five-fifteen am never felt so awful. We looked forward to the day though.

One of the most famous day hikes in the world definitely lived up to its expectations! Although the hike was a painful 11 miles or so, the views and vistas were breath-taking. At the peak of the hike were 3 or 4 green crater lakes where we ate a very brief lunch. If we were going to make it in 8 hours we had to hike continuously. So we did. I was definitely in pain the next day because there were barely any flat walks. The hike was almost entirely made up of steep ups and downs. It was an insane idea to think we could do it. But we made it alive and with tons of amazing pictures in our minds that only those who've done that hike share.

We were picked up and taken back to our hostel once again to get ready for another night at another Irish bar. The food was just what we both needed! We shopped around a bit and walked through the town. We headed in after dark because it was another day of traveling on Friday!

Wellington was our destination. But along the way we stopped to each lunch at a farm that had sheep, pigs, and chickens that were all very friendly and would anything you gave them. It was hilarious watching the pig roll around and nap. After about an hour there we continued on towards Wellington. It rained most of the way there but gave up when we got into town.

Caitlin and I had dinner at a really good Chinese restaurant that only had the options of chopsticks, which was interesting and frustrating because all we wanted was to eat and we couldn't do it at our regular pace. Afterwards we met up with our fellow bus-mates at a bar where much fun was had. It was our last night together though which was very sad because we'd all bonded while traveling together through the north island.

Saturday we went on a short tour around Wellington that was well worth the 20 NZ dollars. It winded around the coast and the guide talked to us about the history of the town while we stopped at the Chocolate Fish Cafe for some of New Zealand's world-famous Hokey Pokey ice cream. It was definitely good! We finished our cones on the beach and ventured back towards town.

Caitlin and I were dropped off at a botannical garden that was so lovely and breathtaking! We spent lunch at the rose garden that holds almost 200 beds of various roses. I could have spent all day there! We found ourselves at Civic Square in downtown Wellington just in time for the Jazz Festival where we laid in the grass and rested for the first time all week.

We then decided it was time to see the huge Te Papa museum on the harbor. So we walked over and spent a couple hours there were I saw an exhibit of works by Monet, Degas, Manet, Renoir, Cezanne, Pissarro and several others. It was astounding to say the least. It was in awe to be surrounded by such history and talent. I spent about an hour there while Caitlin wandered around the rest of the museum and we met up later for dinner.

We settled on an Indian restaurant called Daawat in the middle of the city where we each ordered things we couldn't pronounce. It was really good though! We walked around town a little after dinner and went to be early as we were exhausted.

The next day we had to fly out so we relaxed by the harbor for breakfast and watched walkers, runners, and bikers fly by in each direction. We spent the entire morning by the harbor then caught a bus to airport. We were both sad to leave, but ready to not be living out of our bags anymore. We also missed our new friends back in Melbourne!

The trip was nothing short of life-changing and inspired me to see every corner of the world. I know I'm capable now and I know it's not that hard! I can't wait to do more traveling while I'm here. Next comes the outback!