17th JanuaryBack on the bus at 9am today I was heading to Taupo via Rotorua. In Rotorua we looked at the hot pools (smells of sulphur) then had a walk around the park. We hopped back on the bus to Taupo.Taupo has the largest crater lake in the world. After we checked into our hostel Nat, Carley and I headed to the lake to sunbath and have a swim. It was the first really good day I have had since being in NZ. That evening we had eggs on toast and headed out into t...

16th JanuaryToday we left Raglan at 8am heading towards Maketu via Waitomo. In Waitomo we saw the Waitomo caves to see the glow worms and went on a walk through what looked like England!! After we headed to Maketu for a unique cultural evening. We had a modern Hangi meal followed by learning about other traditions - these involved saying hello to everyone by rubbing each others noses. The boys then went to learn haka and we girls learnt poi (to the tune of my gir...

15th JanuaryToday was another early start at 7:30am. We started the morning stopping off at The awesome Twin Kauri trees a route the Maori took. The trees are supposed to give you good Karma. We then head back over the Coromandel Ranges and down into Waikato. Waikato is known for its dairy farming (apprently the most productive in the world) - there were, not suprisingly, lots of cows around. Then we had a quick stop on Hamilton to stock up on food for dinner and...

14th JanuaryI jumped on the bus at 7:30 very tired. It was odd being back on my own and moving its been awhile. We stopped of Thames to pick up food. We then continued to climb across the Coromandel ranges an through Tairua on to Hahei. Hahei is one of the best beaches on the Peninsula. It has a great view of Mercury Bay, so called, as it was the place where Captain James Cook anchored in 1769 to watch the passage of the planet Mercury. That afternoon I took a 2 ...

9th January - 13th JanuaryWe hoped on the ferry for 35mins stepped off on the island and instantly it felt like we had flown miles over the sea and in some new exotic land. We arrived at our accommodation which was lovely but on the beach wear and head straight to the pool to sunbathe!! Lush! At last some real heat. We decided that evening to talk a walk down to the beach and get fish and chips.Next morning was time to check out the one and only town/village/ roa...