Written 26th September 2011

Kia Ora! Haere mai New Zealand! Hello, Welcome to New Zealand!

I arrived in Auckland at about 9pm after my flight from Brisbane got the Airbus to the city and checked into my YHA Hostel. Let my next 3 weeks of adventures begin! J

So as I am sure everyone knows it is currently the middle of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand with the biggest city Auckland playing host city. After dropping my stuff off at my hostel I decided to head straight into the thick of it and find 'Fan Zone' just as New Zealand v France had finished with New Zealand coming away with the victory. It was pretty obvious who had won! As I walked down Queen street I was walking against a sea of 'All Black' fans heading away from the big screens, bars, party central of Fan Zone at the wharf. I couldn't help wondering if someone had died and I had just turned up at the funeral! Literally everyone was wearing black. Apart from Le French of course... I entered Fan Zone and was great by a massive rugby ball. Photo opportunity! I wondered around for a while soaking up the atmosphere and then tried to get a drink. No UK driving licence allowed as ID I was told as one lovely fan walked past me and shouted, 'f*** off you look about 12!' I suppose I am keeping my youth well…

By the way… I am just on the Magic Bus that I have started this morning. The driver is just announcing we are going over the Bombay Hills…

So not able to buy a drink I decided to head back up to my hostel. On the way I took a few pictures of the enormous Sky Tower in Auckland, apparently the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere… although I'm sure that is what the Eureka Tower in Melbourne people said…Hummmm. Anyway, Auckland is surprisingly full of hills! The YHA is at the top of a massive one so I trekked home via the internet café J

After my first night in Auckland I was starting to enjoy Rugby fever as much as I hate to say it! It is actually pretty cool I'm at a World Cup and didn't even realise it when I booked it!

Just as I got in bed my two room mates arrived back. I was expecting either two very pissed Kiwi's to walk in and kiss me on my head or two very depressed, normal looking French men to walk in and cry. I got neither as Saleh and Syed walked in who are originally from India but now live in Australia. I asked their plans for the following day and liked the sound of it so decided to join them.

We decided to get a ferry cruise for the day and island hop around the volcano created islands. After a very early get up as a result of New Zealand entering day light saving time we headed to the wharf. Only us boarded the ferry cruise so we were invited up to the captains lookout and he gave us our own private tour of the harbour and islands for the day! Well cool! It was freezing cold and chucking it down! Out came the hoodie, jacket and Mickey umbrella! We got off at the first stop and walked around a maritime museum and ate lunch after walking to the top of North Head which gave us fantastic views over Auckland which was covered in cloud! We then got back of the ferry and went to Rangitoto Island. The most recent Volcano to erupt, only 600 years a go, Rangitoto is no dormant and literally has nothing on it. We had about 2 and a half hours on Rangitoto so we decided we could walk to the summit which took about 1 hour each way and maybe have time to fit in the Lava caves if we moved swiftly. So move swiftly is what we did. We literally ran up the Volcano and nearly killed ourselves. Surrounded by Lava fields we hiked over the rocks top the top clutching our umbrellas as we went. At the top we got amazing views overlooking the surrounding islands and city in the distance. We were in amongst the cloud so occasionally everything would disappear! Then we ran back down again and decided to chance missing the last ferry to see the caves. The Lava caves were created by Lava flows cooling and hollowing out a tunnel some how. I didn't understand it. Anyway we crawled into a few caves and then ran back down the volcano back to the ferry terminal… a bit of wood in the water. We had about 10 mins to spare, perfect timing if you ask me. We then sailed back to the city just as the sun came out…typical.

I moved my bags into the YHA next door, don't ask…I just had to do it, and then met up with the guys to go out for something to eat. We decided a burger would be best so we got a quick meal and then got the bus to the Fishing market. We walked along the harbour looking at some gigantic boats! Some of the worlds best boats, both power and proper sailing boats were docked. We then went back into Fan Zone to watch the Scots play Argentina. On the way I decided I would by an England badge… now I have Rugby fever! It was quieter than the night before which was kind of good. I enjoyed the interactive games room where wearing my badge proud I scored a try on a big screen which reacted to my body and completed the kicking challenge! Go me! I then watched the game, got converted to a Scotland fan by some crazy woman and then knocked her mates pint out her hand, oh well J Scotland played well but were beaten by a point in the last few minutes. I then headed back to my new hostel, said goodbye to my friends for the day and got some kip.

This morning I had to get up at 7am to catch the bus. We have just been to the top of Mt. Eden, another old volcano, which gave us amazing views over the whole of Auckland including the stadium at Eden Park. Today I am on my way to Rotorua where I will enjoy a mud bath and evening cultural experience! On the way we will stop at numerous sights including the set of Lord of the Rings… Yawn Zzzzzz…. And then tumble down a hill in a big ball, Zorbing!

Looking out the window I can see lots of little hills which I presume are Volcano's and have just started to sing Popakatapetal….

Bye for now, E noho ro!

Tom x