A new island and a new bus! We were all very sad to say goodbye to tess and Nat as we left the North Island on the ferry to Picton in the South island, the non to Nelson. Again feeling very rough and gutted to part with the BRRB but we would all soon be reunited once again! Nelson is another cute LITTLE town. Everything in NZ seems to be on a much smaller scale and about 20 years behind the uk. The hostel here was so lovely and we were glad to be staying for 2 ni...

Taupo was definately my fave place in the North Island. The lake is the largest in Australasia and apparently big enough to fit Singapore in it! We were really lucky with the weather here, especially as this was where we did our skydive! The 'Lord of the Rings views'and the lake were spectacular from teh sky! For some reason I didnt feel at all nervous, even when hanging 15,000 feet out of the plane. The 60 second freefall was just awesome. Such an intens...

After looking at some more huge geysers and also thefamous Kiwi bird, we headed to Waitomo. In this area rainwater has carved a network of underground caves in the limestone and here we did blakcwater rafting (dont worry - no nudity or near death experiences). We got kitted out in wetsuits and sat in rubber tubes through the underground caves, jumping off waterfalls and checking out the glowworms! Despite planning a chilled eveing in the scenic hostel, we all e...

Next morning we feel like DEATH on the bus!! Get off for the first of far too many scenic walks before reaching the town of Rotorua where jen and I did zorbing. (basically you sit in a giant inflatable ball with a bucket of water and get pushed down a hill - tres fun!). At Rotorua the earth's crust is very thin so there is a lot of geothermal activity in the area. Boiling mud pools and geysers in people's back gardens ever! That night we went to a Maori ...

First day on the Kiwi bus we meet our legend driver Gerg (Greg) and found out it was his first ever solo trip. We certainly made it one he'll never forget! was weird not knowing anyone but that soon changed! Out 1st stop was Mt eden, a dormant volcano, to check out the views over the North island and the whole of Auckland. later we headed over to hotwater beach where we dug big holes in the sand (Luke u'd love it) and sat in teh hot water. That night we s...