(will write properley when I go back to Australia)

wed 9th feb 2011

fly to auckland from melbourne early. Met Fiona and stayed at Birkenhead in Auckland.

thur 10th feb 2011

Met up with Ben, stayed at fionas in Hamilton

fri 11th feb 2011

Last day in Auckland staying at BASE hostel

sat 12th feb 2011

Start touring the north island, first stop mercury bay - stayed at turtle cove hostel near whitianga beach and had home made spag bol for dinner.

Visited Mt. Eden i think in Auckland, a dormant volcano, and made our way to Whitianga (pronounced Fit-e-anga). It's a town on the northeast side of the island with beautiful beaches

sun 13th feb 2011

2nd stop rotorua

Rotorua (row-toe-roo-uh) is the cultural capital of NZ, and also the stinkiest place in the country. There are many Maori (indigenous people) cultural shows and museums throughout the city. There's also a lot of geothermal activity because the Earth's crust is thin here which gives the city a sulfur/rotten egg smell. Some people call the city Rotten-rua.

Our first stop was a Maori Museum/Georthermal Park. They demonstrated how the Maori people carve and weave (it's actually a school for Maori people to learn). Then, the guide took us to see some geysers and a boiling mud pool. We wrapped up the tour with a kiwi bird exhibit. It was the only time we saw a kiwi bird while in NZ. They're actually quite rare and slowly becoming extinct because of possums and rats.

mon 14th feb 2011

3rd stop waitomo

glowworm caves and waitomo walkway through the bush.

Went to watch a sheep-shearing show. It sounded comical! There was one of every type of sheep on stage (merino, leicester, etc). the announcer energetically introduced us to each one, then brought out a separate sheep to sheer. I got to see how clever and well trained his sheep were and one even jumped a fence, these were bigger than average sheep. It took him about 3 minutes to watch him sheer the whole thing. Next up, he brought out his sheep dogs and demonstrated how they direct sheep just by using their eyes (demonstrated on ducks). Outside, we watched a dog move three sheep through an obstacle course to end the event.

tue 15th feb 2011

4th stop taupo - day 1 BASE hostel

Taupo is an amazing city. It's right on the largest lake in NZ - Lake Taupo. The lake is so big, Singapore could fit in it. If you had a string and pulled it tight from one side of the lake to the other, it would be 15 feet below water in the middle because of the curve of the Earth. The lake is actually a volcano. It erupted back in the day (Romans documented seeing the red ash when it happened) and filled with water .

irish pub quiz

huka falls walk

wed 16th feb 2011

taupo - day 2 BASE hostel

boat harbour

maori museum

lunch at a quiet cafe

shopping

walk around the lake - paddle in lake

tacky backpackers bar - kiwi couple

thur 17th feb 2011

5th stop - river valley. river valley adventure lodge

middle of nowhere, cut off from communicating with the world - awesome place. lots of moutains, a river trolley on a zip wire and i swam in a freezing cold river.

Visited Tawhai falls for a walk and lunch and a volcanoe of which i can't remember the name.

fri 18th feb 2011

6th stop wellington

visited a town called bulls, then the bus got stopped by police const-A-bulls! hehehe very true.

met jo and steve and stayed at theres in karori

japense grub and a few drinks to watch the rugby, not forgetting a visit to alice in wonderland!

full of a cold today, not feeling good at all. might be to do with the lake and other popele ill on my bus! :(

sat 19th feb 2011

tour of wellington with jo and steve