22/08

Hi Everyone,

Today I was supposed to head East to Whakatane and around the East Cape for 4 days, but due to a mix up the the bookings it meant that I had been missed off the bus and was collected instead by 'Flee' and joined possibly the best crew I have met since being here. Fate had played a hand again and it was pure coincidence that we were together as I was now going the wrong way with no way of connecting with the right bus for three days. I settled back into it and now had the company of my previous crew so we were back together again, purly by chance. We continued through to Waitomo where everyone apart from me went caving. News that I had come off the Luge had spread quickly, so I chose to say as little as possible but in truth things were getting a little worse.

I spent my spare time re-oganising my 'East As' programme and took more tablets. I had just about promised myself to visit a Doctor as soon as we arrived at Taupo in a day or so, but I now have a time issue. As a result of the bus situation I have lost my 'free' days in the South Island and will only have the scheduled stops all the way to Christchurch so any chance of going skiing or anything else where I could break a limb, get concusion or any other injury for that matter, had gone out of the window.

In the evening Flee (drivers name) prepared us another great meal with patties and salad after which we all went to the local pub but I left them all to it around mid-night.

The following day, the 23rd, we travelled to Lake Taupo. Now this is a lovely little town with a beautiful lake with snow capped mountains as a back drop. The nearby river has a tremendous set of Falls called Huka Falls where water is forced through a narrow Gorge to form very fast flowing rapids. The water shoots through a gap no more than 20 meters wide and maybe 50 meters in length the water falls perhaps another 30 meters in height into an open river. The water is running at such a rate that the river is turned into a churning torrent. It is possibly the fastest flowing water I have seen to date. We only have a short time at places like this which is a shame as it is quite possible to stand and gaze at the spectacle for a lot longer than allowed. I think this is the biggest drawback to doing something like the Kiwi Experience, places you would naturally stay for an hour or so, you only get 15 - 30 minutes. It probably has something to do with the average age of the clientel, although, in fairness others have said the same thing and I am far older than they are.

We moved onto Rotorua and I set about finding some medical assistance. That was until I discovered that there was an 80 dollar consultation fee and a 150 dollar call out fee on top for the doctor. I considerd the position again, I knew that there was little to be done, the pain had lessened so I decided to keep going without aid. Time would tell whether this was a wise move or not. I knew that if I just rested myself and didn't do anything stupid, let common sense prevail I would probably be alright. So that night we had a party!

24/08 I spent the day catching up again, had my hair cut, did my washing things like that , it was just as well that the weather was pretty overcast and to say that it had rained all day was an understatement. Having not got to bed until 3.30am it was probably just as well. We had been in the Club near the hostel, as I have said, this is a lovely group. Michael, Irish Michael that is, decided that he was going to pick me up or at least give me a hug. He put his arms around me and took hold, before I could protest he must have seen the colour drain from my face and my legs just buckled under the pain. Any strength I may have had simply drained from me. It was not his fault at all, he was simply being friendly and we had been having a great night, but the pain was intense and it was all I could do to niegh on crawl to the nearest doorway and exit the room. The poor boy was mortified when he realised what had happened, of course. It took me a little while to get my breath back and re-join the party but it was time for me to go which I did very soon afterwards.

So tonight was going to be different then, err, well not really. 3 of us went to the pictures and watched the new Batman movie which if you haven't seen it, do so, it's the best yet. An early night was in order but I wanted to say goodby to everyone so we gathered the 'crew' together and went to the pub. We all watched the final ceremony to the Olympics and eventually finished at 2.30!! Whoops, never mind! Everyone was leaving me and carrying onto eventually reach the South Island ahead of me, I was retracing some steps and then heading East so it was unlikely that I would see them again. We said our goodbyes and retired to the hostel. I had to catch a different bus the next morning with a new crew.

See you,

Chris