Dunedin

We rolled into Dunedin around 1pm or so I think it was and we still had lots of time for the Cadbury factory tour, which was the only thing that I had really planned on doing there. The only shitty thing was it was Saturday so the factory wasn't running production but we could still go on a discounted tour. Since we only had one night in Dunedin we could either do it that way, or not at all. Clara, Claire and myself decided to do it anyway and it was a cheap and tasty way to spend a bit of time in Dunedin. It wasn't much of a tour really, we just walked up the hallways of the factory, tasted some liquid chocolate and saw a chocolate waterfall. I didn't even see one friggin Oompa Loompa! I did get some free chocolate and it was okay, but I would have loved to see the factory in full swing!

After that we walked around town, went to the Botanic Gardens and just took it easy. The next day we were leaving but we made a pit stop at the worlds steepest street. It is called Baldwin Street and it is in the world record books as the worlds steepest street. Why they would make a street this steep is beyond me, and why anyone would live on it is another. We got to the base of it and 2 other Canadians, a Swede and myself decided to try to race to the top of it and see how far we could get. I certainly got my ass handed to me in that race! To be fair I was doing it on concrete in bare feet, but I would have lost anyway, it might just have been less of a gap. Baldwin street is just a short street but it really is crazy steep and a real work out to run up. I like visiting those places, I guess the nerd in me finds all that quirky stuff neato! I have been asking around for other interesting attractions like the jandal fence etc. But haven't found any yet. I am sure they are out there.

After our early morning workout on Baldwin street we left Dunedin and headed towards Lake Tekapo. It would be a heavy day on the bus and a long drive. Along the way we did stop at the Moreaki boulders, which were pretty cool. They are spherical boulders on the coast and a nice little stop to get out and stretch the legs. The rocks were very cool and perfectly round! Weird!

We arrived in Lake Tekapo close to 4 in the afternoon and it was just starting to rain. There were a few activities that you could do here, but most of them got the axe once this storm moved in. Then it started to really rain, and I mean pour! So for the whole afternoon I have been stuck inside the smallest hostel in the smallest town playing cards with a French Canadian. I will have to put this on my list of places I would like to come back to because tomorrow we hit the road again for Kaikoura and after that I will be headed back towards the North Island. I can't believe I have been travelling on the Magic bus for almost a month and soon my trip will come to an end. I wish I was independently wealthy so I could just travel around and not have to worry about working ever. Oh well from what I see I will have LOTS of time to explore New Zealand. So there you have it, you are all caught up on blogs. Sorry I haven't been as detailed or regular with the blogs, but it has been for 2 main reasons. First is the lack of free internet while I am travelling, and two is I have been so busy loving this country and haven't felt like blogging much. Thanks for tuning in tho :)

Queenstown and Milford Sound

So after throwing myself off a bridge and collecting my T-shirt for doing so we headed into Queenstown. For those of you who have travelled through New Zealand will know that Queenstown is quite similar to Banff in that it is a ski town in the winter and most definitely a travellers town. It is also the adventure capital of the world so travellers of all sorts flock here to enjoy some of the worlds best adventure activities during the day. Then they all return to town jacked up on adrenaline and party hardy till the wee hours of the morning. Queenstown is littered with hostels, restaurants and bars. I knew that the only real adventure activity that I would be doing was the bungy jump, which was done, and the gondola ride to the top of the mountain and some luging. Queenstown does have so many activities to do, but they will all cost you. Much like Banff it is a very expensive town and will bleed your wallet dry if you let it.

I would be staying 4 nights in Queenstown and one of the days that I was there I would be doing a day trip to Milford Sound. Since it is such a party town and filled with backpackers on budgets the bars all offer a ton of drink specials especially if you are travelling with a company like Magic. My first two nights were pretty tame. We did go out for some drinks, but just a few and went to bed before midnight. The third night I was there my bus driver pulled out with his crew and another magic bus pulled in around noon with a new crew and a few that caught up like my friend Clara. This bus driver, Jack, had arranged a thing for magic passengers that included all you can eat pizza, and 2 for 1 drinks at 3 of the best bars in Queenstown as well as a few free drinks, all for 12 dollars. So Clara called me from the bus and asked if I wanted to sign up for that night, of course I did! So Sahria and I got ready and met up with the new crew at the World Bar at 6:30pm for our all you can eat Fat Badger pizza. The night only went down hill from here really, or up hill depending on how you look at things. We had an alright time at the World Bar and filled our bellies full of pizza and enjoyed dirt cheap drinks. Jack, the bus driver, was talking about a competition they were hosting at the base bar. I had already heard about the competition because Sahria and I were staying at the base for 2 nights when we first got there. I was thinking about checking it out to start with then he said he would be my partner, so it was set! The competition was

a horizontal bungy. Which means he was tied to a bungy cord that was bolted to the wall and had to run as fast as he could across the bar and grab a drink from the bartenders hand. Then he had to race back to me and I had to chug the whole drink and the pair with the fastest time won. We were the first to go, so we had a disadvantage of not seeing anyone else do it, but we did damn good. Despite a great effort we did not win, but it was better that way because the prize was a Nevis Swing and that means I would have to stay another night in Queenstown which I know I couldn't afford. After that we danced and had a ball all night and the atmosphere was great! The only downfall to this was that the next morning I had a bus to Milford Sound to catch.

Queenstown was great and I WILL go back there some time before I leave. I feel like it would be a great town to let off some steam. What more could you ask for really, a place to throw yourself off a bridge, drink, dance, and meet people from all around the world. There are some activities that I wouldn't mind doing out of Queenstown so I think I will head back in the summer for a bit.

So after a night of cheap/free drinks, dancing and a sweet bungy comp I wearly drug my ass onto the bus for Milford Sound the next morning. I did recognize many faces from the bar the night before on the bus so I knew that they all felt the same or worse then I did, and I prayed the boat wouldn't be too rocky. I hopped on the bus and had about an hours nap and after that I actually felt great, so turns out I wasn't as worse for wear as I thought. The rest of the drive out to Milford sound was so beautiful, but I am sure you guys are getting tired of me saying that. It is true that the drives around the South Island are so green and stunning no matter where you go. Each spot is just as gorgeous as the last, it is amazing. The closer we got to Milford Sound the shittier the weather got, but I heard that is a good thing. See Milford Sound is one of the wettest places in New Zealand and they receive about 200 rain days a year, that only leaves 165 of days with no rain! That's not a lot. Our bus driver Cam had said that often it is a lot nicer when it is raining because heavy rains activate the waterfalls in the area. Boy was he right! At one point we drove into an area that was almost completely surrounded with rock faces with beautiful tall waterfalls pouring over the edge. It was AMAZING! Unfortunately the shit weather did make it hard to take pictures, especially on the boat, but then again there is no video or picture in the world that can describe the beauty that I saw out there. We drove past waterfalls and waterfalls and more waterfalls the whole way into Milford Sound. Once we arrived I was boarding a boat that would take us out into the sound and out to the Tasman Sea.

We departed from the dock and headed out to the channel that takes us to the Tasman Sea, the Sound. This is the coolest place I have ever been! You are on a boat in the beautiful blue water and on either side of you are sky scraping cliffs, some up to 700 meters tall! And on this particular day the cliffs were pouring with waterfalls that emptied into the sound where out boat was gliding along. The Milford Sound does have 4 permanent waterfalls but I couldn't even begin to count how many I saw gushing over the cliffs. I am so glad that I went out to the Milford Sound and I am planning on going back and hiking the Routeburn and Milford tracks before I leave New Zealand (if I ever do). The boat cruise was 2 hours long and it was 2 hours of gorgeous amazing unbelievable sights. I took some pictures but it really looks like crap compared to what it looked like in real life. There could never be any substitute for how beautiful it was in real life.

The next day I headed out on Jacks bus for Dunedin. Good-bye Queenstown, we shall meet again!

They Said, “Go Jump Off A Bridge!” So I Did!

So! As many of you have seen already today I did my first ever bungy jump! Let me tell you a little story about the time that I threw myself off a bridge.

As many of you know when I came to New Zealand I said that the only one thing I wouldn't do was a bungy. For a number of reasons I had some of which was I didn't want to be hung by my feet, and I didn't like the idea of being snapped back up once the bungy extended. I planned on, and still do, doing a skydive but was not entertaining the thought of a bungy jump. That all changed yesterday. Our bus driver Cameron is very much into adventure sports and is also training to become a skydive instructor so if you want information hes your guy! While we were driving to Wanaka he started talking about doing the bungy on the way to Queenstown. This is the place of the worlds first ever bungy jump and the bus stops there on the way. A few people had signed up already and Cam had a little talk with the bus while driving about the bungy. I will tell you, he is one damn good salesman because by the time he passed the clipboard around again he had me considering it. A few of the things he said that changed my mind were that it isn't a big snap back up it is actually a soft spring back up and not jolting at all. The other thing he talked about was that it is a true test of yourself. I guess I had not really looked at it from that angle before but it is true that it truly tests yourself to make yourself go against all that your instincts and thoughts tell you is wrong. Your brain is telling you no don't do this because of our natural instinct not to die. By forcing yourself to trust yourself and the people that rigged you up it can be a life changing moment. He also talked about the reel of emotions that you pass through on your way down, when the bungy catches you, and after you have done it. Like I said, after listening to him talk I was actually thinking about it, and then I thought, if you are considering it then you should do it. So the next time the clipboard came around I slapped my name down on it!

Last night we went out for a couple drinks and then I went back to the room to get some sleep. Well that is one thing that didn't happen last night was sleep. I slept for about 3 solid hours and then was awake off and on until it was time to get up. I had also gone to the supermarket the night before and bought a beer to chug right before I got down there to calm my nerves. I just kept thinking and trying to prepare myself for what was to come. I don't get rattled by much but the whole morning I felt like I was going to vomit because I was so nervous. I asked the driver to give me a 5 mins heads up for our ETA at the bridge and I would chug my beer and let it settle in so I would be loose by the time jumping came around. After chugging my beer we arrived and we had to watch a short video on the creators of bungy and even during the video I felt sick at the thought. After the video it was time to go and get weighed and sign your life away before heading up to the bridge.

Once I got up on the bridge there was a girl just about to jump off so I watched her and it was at that moment that the internal freak out commenced. I saw her do it and I thought to myself there is no way I can do this! Why did I agree to this, and I already paid my money! So then I decided that maybe it was a bad idea to watch the others so I stayed back and tried to amp myself up. My driver was most supportive and offered moral support while I was beginning to freak out. At one point I felt good about it and wanted to strap up just then, but of course I had to wait so then I lost that feeling in a hurry. I watched a few people go and they made it look so easy so I didn't know what to expect once I got on to the platform.

Then it was my turn he called me up and started to tie my ankles together. My anxiety level grew larger and larger and I really started to think I couldn't do it. The guy tying me up was great about it though and he tried to chit chat with me to keep my mind off of it until it was time to stand up. Then he told me to stand up and I couldn't! I was terrified and tears started to roll down my cheeks. I said repeatedly that no I couldn't do this, I wasn't going to do this. I didn't care that everyone was watching that was absolutely terrifying. He kept trying to get me to inch towards the end of the platform and I just wanted to run in the other direction. Then of course you are panicking so your breathing goes to shit and you start to feel a bit dizzy. I got out to the edge and he got me to slow my breathing down and keep my eyes on the bridge in the distance. At that very moment a sense of peace came over me and I knew that I would jump when he said bungy. It was a strange feeling but at that moment I knew I could do it! So he said, "1-2- and I jumped!"

I don't think I breathed once on the way down! My face was hurdling toward the river and all I could think was, "Oh god, oh god!" The free fall was the longest few seconds of my life! When the bungy caught me I took a big inhale in and it was then that I realized that I hadn't took a breath the whole time I was falling! Then I started to come back up and I saw the bungy and all that went through my mind was those horror stories of the bungy getting wrapped around your neck. Then in an instant I was headed back towards the river! It was amazing! I was a bit disoriented but grabbed the pole on the boat and they pulled me down into the boat.

It was probably the most scary thing I have ever forced myself to do, but I am soooo glad that I did it! I will never forget that.

Would You Like Ice?

After leaving the whooping town of Greymouth we headed towards Franz Josef where one of the two glaciers in NZ is located. My plan was to go hiking on the Franz but when we were in Nelson they stopped all walking tours on the glacier and were only doing the heli-hikes which were really expensive. They had to stop the walking tours because the bottom half of the glacier was collapsing on its self and it just wasn't safe to have people tromping around up there. I was going to try to get on the Fox glacier which is only a half hour drive from where we were staying but at first that meant me being stuck in the Fox township for 2 nights until the next magic bus came along. Luckily my great bus driver Cameron called a few people and he worked it out so that we could hike the Fox Glacier in the same day so we only had to stay the one night then continue on to Wanaka with him. So I booked it in!

When we arrived in Franz Josef I checked into our hostel then had to meet the shuttle driver that was taking myself and 3 other girls over to Fox for our half day hike. I thought the roads from Taupo to Waitomo were windy, they have nothing on the roads we took to Fox glacier. He dropped us off and told us he would come back around 5:30 to pick us up and take us back to Franz for the night. We went in paid for our walk and in a short time we went into the boot room and got geared up for our hike one of the worlds only temperate glaciers. We had to get special hiking boots and things called crampons that were spikes that dig into the ice so we don't fall on our asses. Then the guide said that if we needed a jacket or pants or anything else to go and get some from the counter, and if you weren't sure about the stuff you had just ask him and he would tell you if it was okay. So I had on a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, a t-shirt and I had the inside of my jacket to take with me. I asked him if my jacket would be fine and he asked if it was wind proof and water resistant (which it is) and then he asked where I was from and I said Canada. He said, “Oh, pfft. You'll be fine, it's not Canada cold up there!” So after getting all geared up we headed out to the bus that would take us to the actual glacier so we could begin our walk.

It was about a 10 min drive to the glacier and then we all piled out of the van to start the walk. The walk up to the glacier took up most of the time, and wasn't easy peasy that's for sure. Of course we stopped along the way and took pictures and lots of stuff like that. Once we got to the spot where we got on the glacier we had to strap on our crampons and follow the guide along the ice paths to the locations around the glacier where we would stop. It was very cool to be walking on an actual glacier and parts of it looked so blue and pure I wanted to fill up my water bottle. At one point our guide did chip off some ice for us to try and it was great! I had a great time tromping around on the glacier and having a look at the ice caves. The inside of the caves were so blue and smooth they were just beautiful! The hike was challenging at times but over all a pretty smooth going and really great! I was going to try and go hiking on both glaciers but I guess one will have to do for now, and it is another check mark on my ever shrinking list!

The list is coming along so well and I have checked off a total of 10 of the 40 things on the list and it is only about a month into my living here. I knew that I would check off a bunch while on this national pass with the Magic Bus, so I am stoked!

When we left in the morning on our way to Wanaka we stopped at Lake Matheson just outside of the Fox glacier township and our driver let us walk around the lake to the reflecting island. This was one of the most beautiful things I have seen while being here. This lake is so still and the water is like glass it reflects everything around it including the majestic views of Mt. Cook in the distance. Unfortunately there was a bit of cloud cover so we couldn't see all of the mountain but still, stunning! I couldn't believe how still and how much detail you saw in the lake it was just remarkable. I am so fortunate to be able to experience all of these stunning views!

The Abel Tasman and Greymouth

I am going to double up my hike through the Abel Tasman and my drive/night in Greymouth because either one doesn't have enough detail to warrant their own entry but together they can make a good sized read.

The Abel Tasman was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life and the reason it doesn't warrant it's own entry because I don't know how many different ways you can say amazing. I could go on and talk about each beach and view but each was more stunning then the last. We took an hour bus ride to a place called Kaiteriteri where we boarded a boat sitting on a beautiful beach. We then took the boat from Kaiteriteri to Ancorage Bay down the coast. It was a beautiful boat ride with the rocky shoreline and blue water. I was doing this hike with several other Magic passengers and two of which I have become friends with. Isak the Swede, Clara the German and Ivy the Asian was tagging along. We disembarked the boat onto the golden sand beach and I would have gladly stayed there for days! It was so stunning! The water was clear blue the sand was soft and golden and the shores were rocky and beautiful. We stayed a while, took some pictures and then started out on the hike. It said it was a 4 hour hike and we had 6 hours to complete it before the bus picked us up at the end. This left lots of time to hike down to the gorgeous beaches and scramble around the rocks. I would have been perfectly content to sit on the beach all day. Some parts of the hike were steep and taxing but over all the actual walk was quite nice. It was also good to have the company, and to laugh and joke around while we walked. I took a lot of photos but none of them will ever compare with how beautiful that place was. All those memories will be kept in my head until I go crazy! I wish I could write more about the Abel Tasman but really I don't know how else to say how beautiful it was. I guess it is one of those places that leaves you without words.

Hiking the Abel Tasman was my last day in Nelson and I was boarding the bus in the morning headed for Greymouth. I knew we had two stops in between, but I had also heard that it was a very long day on the bus, so I was not looking forward to that. We boarded the bus early in the morning and our bus driver, Cam, seemed so cool I bet he shits ice cubes. Although he seemed way less stuffy then Greg who I had on my way from the ferry to Nelson. So we hopped on and our first short stop was a place called Cape Foulwind. We didn't have a whole lot of time there to look around, and the weather was cloudy and kinda shitty. Cape Foulwind is not named so because of the foul smelling odour or anything. It is actually named because when Captain Cook sailed around the coast of New Zealand he sailed into that cape and there was no wind for 3 days and he got trapped because he couldn't sail out. The wind there was 'foul' so hence the name. Cape Foulwind was a stunning place with a great little walk along the coast to a fur seal colony to have a look at. The large rocky cliffs with the beautiful waves crashing against it was a sight to be seen. I bet that place would have been a beaut in the sunshine! I would have gladly spent a day just there in Cape Foulwind, and who knows maybe I will make my way back there someday without the magic bus so I can stay a little longer. The seals were cool. A whole little colony of them just hangin out on the rocks having a nap. They were cool little guys!

From Cape Foulwind it was on to the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki. This was another stunning place with lots of palm trees around and beautiful coastline. The pancake rocks are named that because they look like stacks of pancakes. The rocks were formed under the sea thousands of years ago and then they were thrusted up from the sea floor with all the volcanic and plate-tectonic activity. The coastline looks very very beautiful and the blue water crashing against them was so peaceful. We ate lunch there and then jumped back on the bus for our drive to Greymouth.

Greymouth is a very small town on the west coast but it is actually the biggest town on that section on the west coast. When we were driving through the town to our hostels Cam said that there was a bar in the Neptunes backpacker. He said it wasn't like a night club if you were looking for a big night out, but a good chill out bar. I was staying at Noah's Ark backpacker, which besides the fat smelly guy in our room, was great. I was going to do a brewery tour in Greymouth but the brewery was under construction so they stopped the tours for now. So come evening time Clara, myself and an English girl Sahria decided we would go down to to the Neptunes bar and have a beer or two and maybe meet up with some of the other magic passengers. So I got ready, changed my shirt and we headed off. As we were walking through the town, at 8:00pm, it was a ghost town. The streets were empty of cars, people and any other signs of life. We would walk past restaurants and they were completely empty. We didn't quite know where Neptunes was but we figured we couldn't get lost, it was either on this street or the other one. We found it after a bit of looking, and it was down in this industrial looking area that I am sure they have filmed horror movies in before. We could see the lights on in the front but nothing that resembled a bar. We approached the building and it looked like a regular hostel with no signs indicating a bar. So we followed the signs to the side of the building where we found a door to get into the hostel with a sign saying something about a bar. So we went inside and there was no reception or anything so we started walking around trying to find the bar. We walked in to what was their TV room or lounge and turned to come out when Sahria noticed a guy sitting in the corner in what looked like a shed. She stopped and asked him, “Is this the bar?” Sure enough that guy sitting in the shed with the fridge was the “Bar” at Neptunes! Well all three of us could barely speak because we were laughing so hard. We figured what the hell and got a beer from him. He was a nice enough fella from England and was funny to chit chat with. We only had the one beer there though, because I mean common!

After Neptunes we went in search of an actual drinking establishment and were told to head to a place called Franks because it would have live music on a Saturday night. So we found Franks and sure enough there were a couple of hippies with guitars strumming away! We only stayed there for a drink then headed back to the hostel to turn in early for our next days adventures.

Ahoy Captain, Land Ho!

So after hauling my arse out to the street at 6:40am still bleary eyed and not happy about getting up. I have a few lists that I am working through, my To Do List, my personal Bucket List, but getting up was last on my list of things I would rather be doing at that moment! So the shuttle picked us up and we headed to the interislander ferry terminal to take the ferry crossing from the North to the South island. The ferry ride takes about 3.25 hours or so. I was hoping the Cook Strait wasn't too choppy today because given my current condition I didn't think that a rocky boat ride was the most best thing for my stomach. The ferry was huge and had it's own movie theatre, cafeteria, lounges etc. Jolene and I got on and had a backpackers breakfast instead of buying the overpriced food on the boat and the we settled in and I took a nap. When I woke up the land was right in front of us! The majestic rolling hills of the Marlborough Sounds was the first thing I saw and boy was it beautiful! Although we seemed to be 'there' we had to navigate for another hour through the sounds to dock in Picton. It was a very beautiful ferry ride from then on, and seriously that is why people fall in love with New Zealand! A few people think I am going to fall in love down here and get married and never come back. Well I do have strong feelings......for New Zealand. I think we are going to just keep seeing each other and everything continues to go well maybe I will pop the question! I really do love it here tho!

So we arrived in Picton and our Magic Bus was waiting for us in the parking lot. I met the new driver, Greg, and right off the hop I knew he wouldn't be like Kate. He seemed very nice and very helpful, but he seemed like all business all the time. I like someone that is personable and you can joke around with and someone that at least tries to make the long bus rides more enjoyable. After loading up the bus we were off! Our first stop would be a quick lunch stop then our over night stop in Nelson. We drove through the most beautiful green mountains on our way it was just stunning views! Now I know why everyone says the South Island is way better. I plan on actually staying in Picton on the way back up and hopefully doing some hiking around the Marlborough Sounds. What a gorgeous area! Originally I was going to just spend one night in Nelson and keep on trucking with the Magic Bus. Then at the last minute I decided that I was going to hike the Abel Tasman, so that requires you to stay 3 nights in Nelson. So here I am at one of the best hostels I have ever stayed at sitting on the patio off my room typing up this blog. Yesterday I hung out with a German girl named Clara, Jolene and Issac the Swede. We walked around Nelson together and just chit chatted then had supper and drank some Nelson wine by the pool. Yea, the pool! This hostel is 20 bones a night and has a pool, a hot tub, a sauna, free soup every night, free breakfast, and there are only 4 beds in the dorm and we have a patio right off the side. It is great! I love Paradiso! If you come to Nelson, stay here! While walking around Nelson I discovered the best street around! Have a look!

Today I walked all around the town, got some groceries and went to the Centre of NZ. There is this walk and it is supposed to take you to the Centre of NZ. Turns out it is close-ish to the actual centre of NZ but it is the point that all surveyors base their stuff off of. Plus it is on the top of a really tall hill and it has great views! I don't have my pictures on my computer just yet but I got two great panoramic pictures!

Tomorrow I am going the Abel Tasman National Park walk and boat cruise. It is considered one of New Zealands great walks so I am really looking forward to it and I will be sure to let you know how it goes!

Catching Up!

I realized today that you guys are severely behind when it comes to what I write about and where I actually am, so I am going to catch you up! The last thing I wrote about was going to the glow worm caves and spending the night in National Park. That was a few days ago, and I am in Nelson now on the South Island. Here's what happened in between!

After leaving the very uneventful National Park we headed to our last North Island stop Wellington. On the way to Wellington we stopped at a place that I of all people found most interesting. We stopped at the jandal fence! If you are thinking to your self, “What in the hell is a jandal!?” Think Japanese Sandal, jandal is what they call flip flops! This fence has started along the highway and people put their old jandals on the fence. Honestly when Kate told me about this fence I really wanted to put my own jandals on, but seeing as I haven't worn full shoes since I arrived in NZ that would mean I would be walking around barefoot. Although that is socially acceptable around here, I can't imagine it would be the most comfortable thing to do. So I took pictures of it and with it and if I ever pass by it again I will put some jandals on.

So They had told me that Rotorua was a city then when I arrived it wasn't a city at all. It was more of an over grown town. It must have just fit in the city guidelines somehow because it doesn't look city like at all. So they said that Wellington was the capital city I thought to myself, “Ah, you fooled me once with that city business, not this time.” So I hadn't planned on doing much in Wellington but checking off one of my list entries. When we pulled into Wellington I was surprised to see a proper city in front of me. It had office buildings, public transport, stop lights, etc. Although it is smaller then Auckland it is still a real city, so that was a bit of a game changer for me. My plan was to upload photos and update blogs and things because there wouldn't be much to do. Instead I wanted to go out and explore Wellington. So I dumped my bags in the room and Jolene and I took off to explore the city. For the record, Jolene is the girl from Alberta that I met on the bus from Auckland. Her and I befriended each other and hung out until Nelson when I stayed and she left. Our first mission was to check off my list entry from Sue. Number 14: When in Wellington go to Willis street and have a cup of coffee at Johns Lunch. So turns out Willis street wasn't far from Nomads where I was staying so we took a little walk up there. We ended up coming onto Willis street in the middle and I didn't know where Johns Lunch was so we guessed and headed down to the right. We found a street sign and took the photo with me under it and then headed off in search of Johns Lunch. Which I would like to note that if you people want me to do the things on the list they have to be REAL things! We walked to the end of Willis on one side, crossed to the other and started walking back up towards the way we came. I noticed two people on a smoke break on the sidewalk so I thought I would ask them if they knew where Johns was. I approached the two girls (or what I thought was two women but turns out it was a woman and a very fem gay fella) and asked them if they knew where John's Lunch on Willis was. They looked confused a bit then one asked if it was a high end restaurant. Umm with a name like John's Lunch.........probably not. So anyway long story short they were no help what so ever, they basically told me to walk up and down Willis to see if I could find it. Like I already wasn't doing that. So we kept walking and couldn't find it so we decided to stop into a hotel and see if they knew where it was. I went into a hotel lobby and there was not a soul in sight. There was absolutely no one around. So we left there and went to the coffee shop next to there, and again, there

was no one around. It looked like someone walked out in the middle of making a sandwich. There was a sandwich sitting on the cutting board with a knife laying beside it and not a soul around. I even waited a few minutes to see if anyone was in the back but nope, not a single person. Then I thought, geeze maybe they know about something I don't, are we being evacuated?? We kept walking, convinced that if we just walked a little further would find it. We were also trying to make it to Te Papa the national museum before it closed, so we didn't have all day to be tramping around Willis street looking for John's Lunch. We walked almost to the end of them street and I cam across a place called Willis Lunch Cafe. So I went in and asked the woman behind the cash if she knew were John's Lunch was on Willis. She said she had worked on that street for 17 years and she had never ever heard of such a place. So I said, great can I have a Chai Latte? So that is as close as she gets with the Johns lunch! I am going back to Wellington before I go back to Auckland and I will finish the street, but I am not so convinced that it is a for reals spot!

Me, an American Twit, Jolene and Kate.

After hunting around for a non existent coffee shop we went to Te Papa to see as much as we could before it closed. This museum is completely free and huge! I will definitely go back there too because the amount of time we had certainly didn't give it justice. There is so much to see there and we just didn't have enough time. Also for a museum it is really well done and very interactive. I really enjoyed the displays that I did see and I look forward to my time back in Wellington. Part of staying at Nomads is you got a free meal at their partner bar Blend. So Jolene and I as travellers our favourite word is FREE. Someone says, “ Would you be interested in a free..” “Yep!” They also had drink specials on for people staying at Nomads. I appreciate that the hostel bars know we are all on a fixed and small budget so they make really really cheap drinks, but really, I don't need that! All it does is encourage me to drink which equals feeling like a bag of shit the next day. How are you going to say no to $3 champagne and 5 dollar beers? Common! So we ended up staying for a few pops and it was good because we said farewell to our bus driver Kate. The buses don't cross the straight, they just have another diver pick you up on the other side. I will see Kate again because I am going back through the North Island, but Jolene was leaving from Queenstown, so we had one last hurrah with her. Turns out we had a great time and the guy with the guitar was hilarious! He was a pretty good singer too, but he had us in stitches all night. He was so funny, and he picked on everyone around, gawd it was great. We stayed out too late and then I felt like a bag of shit getting up for the ferry at 6:40am but someone once told me, “ You never reminisce about the nights you got a really good sleep.” That is true!

It's Hard To Be Glum When The Sun Shines Out Your Bum!

So after a few wobbly pops at the pub in Taupo I had to get up stupidly early and be on the bus for 7:30am. I wasn't 'hungover' per say but, I didn't feel like a million bucks either. So I got ready, ate and jumped on the bus and we were off. You guys got a description of what the drive was like in one of my other posts because I was actually typing while we were driving. Kate had warned us that it was going to be twisty and she was going to be going fast, but I have NEVER seen roads that are that twisty turny. Kate is a pro! Needless to say that right after I wrote the public service announcement because of my morning condition I actually had to shut my computer and take a breather so my breakfast didn't end up on the floor of the bus. I mad it through, no puking which at one point I wasn't so sure was going to happen. I thought the turns would let up and we would have a straight stretch before we got to Waitomo but no, we turned a corner and we were coming into Waitomo.

That blue dot is a glow worm!

Now, Waitomo is a very very small little town and really has only one thing going for it, the caves. There a lot of people that pass through Waitomo annually but the permanent population is actually less then 50 people. P.S. That is where I will be living and working later in the year......... Anyway so we stopped, got our tickets for the caves and then had to wait about an hour until the tour started. I just hung out in the General Store, which is a little cafe and store in Waitomo. Our guide, Barnsy met us at the van and we all hopped aboard for our tour. Barnsy was a great fella, and smelled like a dream! He told us all about the area of Waitomo on the way to the caves and there was some pretty impressive landscapes that we passed along the way. We drove out to the middle of now where and over some farm land and then we were at the entrance to the caves. Barnsy told us that there are actually 7 entrances to the caves and miles and miles of cave under the ground in Waitomo. It depends on which company you book with as to what entrance you go in and what part of the caves you get to see. There are a number of tours to do in the caves from adrenaline pumping to the casual and informative. Since I will be coming back to Waitomo before I leave NZ I figured this time I would do something casual and go with just a walking tour. Barnsy took us down the stairs into the cave and it was very dark. He explained that the glow worms turn their lights off when they are around other lights so in order to give us the glow worm experience the first part of the tour would be very dark. He wasn't lying, there were small LED lights along the sides of the path and that was it. In some places he lit candles but it was very dark and sometimes he made it so it was so dark you couldn't see the person in front of you. The glow worms were really really beautiful. Unfortunately I couldn't get a good picture of the clusters of glow worms because my camera wasn't good enough. I did get a picture of one glow worm tho. What it looks like is black dotted with hundreds of little blue lights. They look like stars in a dark night sky. They are really neat and group themselves into large clusters over a water source. I actually learned quite a bit about the glow worms, let me educate you.

So the glow worm is actually a larva of these little cave fly things, kind of like a caterpillar or maggot. What they do is they hang out on the roof of the caves over a water source and their bums glow in the dark. The reason they hang out over the water is because other insect larva gets washed into the cave then when they hatch from the water they fly up towards the glow worms. Insects are attracted to light and since the glow worms bum is the only light source in the cave the baby insects head toward the lights. The glow worms make these mucus fishing lines that hang straight down from where they hanging out. The insects fly up to the light and get stuck in the fishing lines and then the glow worm brings up the line and eats its catch. Smart! They do this for a while then they build a cocoon and stay inside for a bit before transforming into the fly. When they emerge they look like giant swamp mosquito and they actually have no mouth and no way to eat so in about 5 days they die of starvation. That is the life cycle of a glow worm! In the mean time it makes for some great tourist attractions and a beautiful sight to see in the dark caverns of the caves.

After the caves we jumped back on the bus and headed to National Park. The drive was okay, not as twisty turny as the way to Waitomo. National Park is only good for one thing and that is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, the rest of the village is tiny and nothing to do, they don't even have a grocery store. The crossing is a pretty popular walk that lots and lots of people do and quite a few of the originals departed in National Park for the crossing. It takes between 6-8 hours walking to complete the crossing through the mountains, but from what I hear it is a very very beautiful hike. I will be doing the crossing but probably not until next summer the weather conditions can change on a dime up there and it didn't fit into my schedule time wise. Before checking into the hostels Kate took us up to a waterfall that was very beautiful and if you are a Lord Of The Rings fan you will recognize it from a scene where Golum(I don't know how to spell that) grabs a trout from the water and takes a big bite. It was a very nice set of falls, and you can jump off the top into the pool below when it is warmer. There was a dusting of snow on the mountains that morning so jumping into the water wasn't on my to do list for the day. I took a bunch of photos then we headed further up one of the mountains, and normally you can see Mount Doom from there but there was quite a few clouds in the way this day. All the mountains around here are old volcanoes so when you go up there is nothing but rocks and maybe a bit of scrub brush. After having a look around we went and checked into our hostel for the night. Coming down the mountain there is a place called Whakapapa and what is funny about that is in Maori the 'Wh' is pronounced as a 'F'. Take a minute and figure that out................Haha! There is also a place called Whakatane in the North Island and that one is even funnier because Tane is the Maori word for man. Hehe!

Anyway I digress! So I checked into my hostel which had a climbing wall inside, awesome! My room was actually in a little cave of the climbing wall which was both interesting and confusing when I was trying to find it. Since there is actually NOTHING to do in National Park village I used the last of my free internet to load up some pictures and blogs, made some dinner and went to the pub for a few drinks with the magic peeps. We had a few beers and shared some laughs which was really quite fun and I am sad that we left Matt the Englishman in National Park because he is a good fella to shoot the shit with. Aw well that is the life of a traveller, you meet people and lots of times I don't even know their names despite the fact we hang out a lot. Then you part ways and you pick up with someone else. I guess what is why I am so suited for travelling because of my cold black heart ;).

Right now we are driving to Wellington and this leg is not exciting in the least so I probably won't write another blog until after we leave Wellington.

It was pretty much straight through from Rotorua to Taupo, and not too long at all. The drives are really green and have rolling hills all around and hundreds and hundreds of sheep. Just before the town of Taupo there is a stop to go and see the Huka Falls. I had heard that these falls were pretty nice and I had wanted to go and see them so I was happy when the bus said they were going there before we made it into Taupo. I got out of the bus and went over to the viewing platform to see the falls. As I approached the bridge you hear the litres and litres of water rushing and I thought for sure they would be impressive falls. Upon reaching the bridge I gotta say, I was disappointed. It wasn't really falls at all. It was just a very rapid river with a lot a lot of water rushing through it. I gotta say that I was really expecting it to be a lot more falls like. Aw well it was still impressive as a a river though and it is always nice to get off the bus and stretch.

After a quick look at the Huka falls we headed into Taupo. Taupo is home to the largest lake in NZ and is a very popular destination for skydiving. Before any of you get your hopes up that I am going to say I checked that off my list, don't. I didn't go skydiving. If I can afford it on the way back up through Taupo then I will then. This time around I was looking for cheap cheap cheap. Something cheap to do. Kate, the driver, said there was a fella named David that would take us sailing out on Lake Taupo to see some Maori rock carvings for $40. Sold! We arrived at about 2 or 2:30 I think and the sailing trip was leaving at 4pm. So I checked into my hostel, got things settled, changed my clothes and then went on a bit of a walk about around Taupo. The town is very friendly and small and nestled at the base of an extinct volcano and right on the water. The lake itself has beautiful mountains on one side and impressive cliffs and rocks on other sides. It actually reminds me a lot of Kelowna but smaller. It was a clear, warm perfect day to be in Taupo. I wandered down along the water to the dock where the sail boat would pick us up.

At 4pm our captain David pulled up with his sail boat fearless. It wasn't big, but just the right size for a nice sail about Lake Taupo. We motored up to the rock carvings because we were loosing daylight and it takes about an hour to get there, the sailing came later. The houses along the lake were most impressive! They were huge mansions with glass fronts and gorgeous patios and things. David told us that most of those homes were only used 3-4 weeks out of the year because they were just vacation homes! I wish had the money to have a lavish vacation home on Lake Taupo! We came up to the rock carvings and they were pretty cool. The largest one is huge on a piece of rock facing the lake. David then told us a story about how the fellas who did it had just got back from Amsterdam and brought back 'treat bags' when they came. They would go down to that bay, get ripped and carve away. They never thought it would become an attraction and now they are pissed that they never capitalized on the tourism. Haha, suckers! The bay they are in is only accessible by boat or swimming so it was easy for a company to start touring over there. After the carvings we went out into the lake a bit and threw up the sails and set the course for home. The sun was starting to set and it was just a beautiful place to be! Dave stalled the boat for us so we could watch the sunset. It was my first real sunset that I have seen in NZ, and it was very very nice. It was just such a beautiful picture, us on a small sailing yacht the sun setting behind the mountains on Lake Taupo. I am glad that I got to experience that before I die.

Of course we couldn't stay out in the lake forever so he did have to motor us part of the way back to shore because the later it got the colder it got on the water. The last part of the trip was just as beautiful as the sunset. Gliding gently through Lake Taupo under the clear starry skies! Definitely forty bucks well spent! I went from the dock to a pub called Mulligans in town. It was recommended to us by our driver because it had a cheap backpacker meal that comes with a drink. Then for any other drinks you want you can play rock paper scissors with the bartender and if you win you get a dollar off your drink. Dave, the captain also said it was a good place to go for some pub grub. So I went to have a bite to eat before heading back to the hostel for the night. Well while I was eating my burger and writing to Marcus and Jackson Dave the captain came in (he had said he was going there after he tied the boat up) and invited me to join him at the bar. There was hardly anyone in there at the time so it was nice to have someone to yarn with. So we got to chatting and drinking and before I knew it, it was 11pm and I had to get up at 6 for our departure to the Waitomo caves! Not to mention I was feeling pretty good after a few pints of beer! So I decided to head home and get some sleep before I had to endure the twisting roads to the caves. Dave told me that when I come back through Taupo I would be welcome to stay at his house (which has other people and rooms, don't get any ideas) and he would take me out on the boat again. I think I will take him up on that! He also txted through to our driver Kate and got her to give me his number for when I come through. I really do love Taupo, it is a great and wonderful little town and I am going to try to make it back for a couple of days.

I am going to leave it here for now, and in the next one I will tell you about my Waitomo Caves experience and National Park.

What's That Stank!?

We came into Rotorua and the weather along has been just awesome! Hot and sunny and just great! Our first stop in Rotorua was on the outskirts and I was able to check off another list entry. Number 19: Go Zorbing! The great thing about the Magic Bus is that it stops at a lot of things like that along the way if people want to do them. I have always wanted to do the Zorb so it was one of the many on the list that I was looking forward to. For those of you that don't know what Zorbing is it is when you get inside a giant plastic hamster ball looking thing, they pump some water in with you and then you roll it down a steep hill having the time of your life!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog to bring you this announcement: People in BC think they are well versed in driving windy roads. They don't have shit on the Kiwis! As I have been typing we are on our way to Waitomo and holy fack! The driver warned us that if you were going to get sick from the winy roads let her know and she can stop or give you a bag and I thought she might be exaggerating a bit. Nope! I feel like I am at the damn Bill Lynch! Up and down and all around, and twist and turn and bump and hump. It seems to be never ending! I am glad I don't have to navigate these roads with a bus going at least 80!

Now back to our scheduled blog entry. We got to the Zorb and there were a bunch of us on the bus that wanted to do it and they said it was more fun if you paired up with someone and did it together. I ended up pairing up with the fella from Victoria as team Canada. We got changed and got taken up the hill in a SUV that also returns the Zorb balls after they come down the hill. Team Canada went up with team Iceland, two really great girls from our bus and the guy asked if we wanted to race each other down the hill. So two balls headed down at the same time and the winner would be who ever stayed standing inside the ball the longest. The guy set up the balls in the areas and pumped in a bunch of water then told us to dive in through the hole. So we had to superman dive through the hole into the ball then he zipped us in. He called 1-2-3 GO! And released the gate keeping us at the top of the hill. Marc and I started pushing like little hamsters and I think we stayed standing for less then a minute! Although I am proud to say that Team Canada won that race! Certainly not by much, but a win none the less. After we both fell on our asses it was about 2 minutes of sloshing around and flip floping all over the inside of the ball until we reached the bottom. I tried to take pictures inside the Zorb ball but only one was of anything. We were being tossed around like a couple of rag dolls I couldn't possibly focus my camera on any one thing. Also it was so quick that before we knew it we were soaked, slightly bruised and at the bottom of the hill. After it was all said and done I thought it was SO fun and I absolutely loved it, but like most activities in NZ it was over priced for what you got. I feel like for the $35 you should be able to do at least 3 runs down the hill. I am still super glad I did it though, and check!

After towelling off and hopping back on the bus we continued into the town of Rotorua. Now, let me tell you something. Rotorua was completely awesome and there is so much stuff to do there, but man oh man does it ever stink! Rotorua is a Geo-thermal hotspot and is filled with hot pools, bubbling mud, geysers and lots more. It is an active volcanic area and because of all this the smell of sulphur is over powering when we first entered the town. For those who don't know what sulphur smells like picture this, its like someone ate 10 egg salad sandwichs with a side of 10 devilled eggs then after digesting them sharted in their pants! No, I am not being dramatic, in fact I am being quite generous I think. I booked into my hostel, which was really nice, and I had enough time to wash the Zorb off of me before I had to get ready to go to the Maori cultural experience that evening.

The cultural experience was something I was really looking forward to, and I was glad I was able to go and do it. We waited outside our hostel and the bus picked us up to take us out to the Tamaki Maori Village for our experience. Through the good ol' Moreeeny luck we got on the bus filled with junior and high school kids. Apparently there was some school holidays trip that was going out to the village. This was slightly annoying, and I would have preferred to be on a bus of adults, but it got me where I needed to go. When we arrived at the village and got off the bus you could smell the campfires and we entered into a stadium type area where the warriors would perform the opening and welcoming ceremonies. Unfortunately it was after dark so my camera didn't get great photos of much of the outside stuff, but it did get some sweet vids for you! Being after dark was better for in person though. It was very cool to see the warriors painted up and doing the traditional opening for us. They worked very hard to provide a fairly authentic experience all the way through and I must say that all of the people working there to put on the cultural experience did such a wonderful job and really made it so I enjoyed every moment

from start to finish. After the chief (who had a bangin body in his little loin cloth) welcomed us into the village we went through a set of archways that opened into a great little village set up where you can go in and learn about several aspects of the Maori culture. I visited several displays including learning how to do the haka, learning about tattooing and carving, some games that the women used and some fighting styles. I also got my picture taken with two of the Maori warriors with my tongue out. It was really common for them to stick their tongues out and bulge their eyes out to intimidate their enemies. After visiting around the village part we were taken to be shown where our dinner was being cooked. We were going to be eating a traditional Maori Hangi,which is a meal that they cook buried in the ground and they use white hot rocks to create an earth oven. So they unburied our feed for the night and hauled out a huge basket of potatoes and a huge basket of chickens. The smells were just awesome! I was very much looking forward to the hangi but first we were ushered into a building where we were going to be entertained by the Maori people with song and dance. I was so lucky and had a seat right in the front row right up against the stage. The only time this became a disadvantage was when I was trying to video tape it they were a bit too close. I was just amazed and enthralled with the performances. They were so great and the people there at Tamaki were so into it that it made it that much better. I was so impressed and there is no media in the world that could capture how great the performances were! That is something common about all the places around here, the pictures or videos don't even d it a percent of justice. After the performances it was time to go to the Meeting House for our meal. What a scoff we had! There was potatoes, carrots, stuffing, chicken, beef, fish, mussels, some salad and bread. It was a buffet so you could eat until your hearts content, but after one plate I was stuffed to the tits. I felt I should try a bit of everything while I was there. I mean when is the next time I will be at a Maori hangi? After stuffing my face with such delicious food they brought out dessert. They had a chocolate brownie like cake with custard, fruit salad and pavlova. Pavlova is a traditional NZ dessert, and very good. So I managed to stuff in one piece of pavlova but after that I was afraid they would have to roll me out of there. Then as we all sat about chit chatting they sung some songs before we wrapped it up. All in all it was about 3.5 hours of well spent money and time. I would absolutely recommend the Tamaki to anyone else wanting a Maori culture experience!

I know this is a long one (I did warn you) but I really did do a lot of really great things in Rotorua. I can't skip over any or I will feel like I am cheating you guys. This next bit really is the last event that I did before we hit the road for Taupo so keep reading. In the morning I got picked up by a very cool shuttle bus driver named Pedro. He was going to take me to Wai-O-Tapu, if I remember correctly Wai mean water and Tapu means sacred. I know for sure that Wai is water, but I can't remember for sure about the second part. That is another good thing about being down here, I am learning lots of Maori words for things. So Pedro took us first to the bubbling mud pools in the geo-thermal park and then to see the Lady Knox Geyser. So #39 on the list is: Get within 100 yards of a real geyser. Check! The Lady Knox erupts every day at 10:15am and I was there to witness and take pictures of the whole thing. Now I was a little confused as to how they knew exactly when it would erupt until I got there. The Lady Knox would erupt once every 48hrs or so on its own but the people in the park give it a little help. They add an environmentally friendly catalyst to ensure that the geyser erupts in time for the tourists. It was very cool to see, and maybe someday I will see one erupt naturally. She did throw up a lot of water and it went really high too. Unfortunately since I travel alone and there wasn't really anyone I wanted to ask to take my picture I am not in any of the pictures, but next time. After seeing the Lady Knox erupt the race was on to get to the Wai-O-Tapu park. Tour buses and private cars alike raced to get down to the park. Good ol' Pedro got us there second bus I think! This just ensured that there wasn't a whole lot of people in your pictures because the park really does get packed! I was grateful for Pedro's quick action and years of

racing to the park experience! The park has a 75min walk around where you can see a number of pools, craters, lakes etc. All of these features are a direct result of geo-thermal activities below the surface of what we could see. As a result of this the park smelled worse then any where in Rotorua! It was pretty bad, but totally work it. There were steaming craters all around and it felt like Pedro just dropped us off on another planet. There were pools of boiling water and bubbling mud all around. Some of the highlights were a large area called the artists palette. It was a large area of hot water and the natural chemicals within the earth created splotches of bright colors amongst the whole ares. It was very neat! Another was a green lake. It was a bright emerald green and just gorgeous to look at. Then right at the end of the park there is a small pool of water and the sulphur content is so high in that one pool that it is a neon greenish yellow. It looked radio active! The park was great and again the pictures don't compare to the real deal, but some of the things I saw were just amazing. After exiting the park Pedro took off and the Magic bus picked me up there so we could head out to Taupo for the rest of the day.

So that, in a very very large nutshell, was my time in Rotorua. Although it smells like shit 24/7 I will be going back there at some point, and there is just so much to do there!

Lost In Translation

Wow! I have so much to tell you guys, and just no time to sit down and write. Luckily for you guys I have a shit day of a lot of driving and a fully charged laptop battery so I am going to try and bang out some entries while in transit. I should be sleeping because I haven't the time to do that either, but hey, you can sleep when your dead! So some of you might be thinking, “Geeze, she has only been travelling for 2 days she must be exaggerating about all the stuff she has to talk about.” I assure you I am not, it has been a full on 2 days of greatness!

I started this trip in Auckland ear-lie in the morning! I had to be at the station for 7:00am, which involved me getting up at 5:00am getting ready and taking the bus down to catch my Magic Bus. Also I am going to go ahead and put my J-Mo stamp of approval on this tour company. It is a great deal, great people, they make wonderful stops and take care of a lot of booking for you. So I rolled up to the station ready for adventure, and being the eager beaver I am I was the first one there. I pulled up a seat and took a load off until the bus got there. Then a young fella came in with his life on his back too. He sat down by me and asked where I was from. I said Canada and he said he was from Victoria. I am always happy to converse with fellow Canadians so we started chatting. Within a half a minute I realized he was not my people. He might as well have been from Toronto. It didn't help his case that he just turned 20 and he thought it was funny to make fun of my east coast accent.. I always get disappointed when I meet people like that because I don't want those ignoramuses representing our great nation! Anyway, then it was on to the bus to pick up some other peeps before hitting the road to Rotorua. We picked up another girl at the Base with a Uof A sweatshirt on so I knew she was another Canadian. We also picked up this funny English guy that stumbled onto the bus with his belt in his hand and blood shot eyes who was obviously a bit dishevelled this morning. Turns out he was out with some friends until 6 and 7:30am came a little quicker then he thought it might! Haha! He seems like good people though! So after out pick ups our driver, Kate, hit the road headed for Rotorua.

Along the way we stopped in three spots. The first was a place called Thames, we had to drop some people off there that were headed to the Coromandel (which I will be doing at some point in this year) and it was a chance to get out have a pee break and stretch. We didn't have very long in Thames but from the looks of things we weren't missing much. It is just a small little town that people probably stop in when in transit to better places. It is also the gateway to the Coromandel. Our next stop was in Paeroa. This town is famous for one thing, L&P. L&P is a famous New Zealand soda that was created in Paeroa. In fact that is what the P stands for. The L stands for lemon because how it was developed was they put lemon in the spring water from Paeroa and named it L&P. I have tried it, and it is quite good. It is like a carbonated lemonade with sugar. So we stopped there and got our picture taken with the giant L&P bottle they have there. It was also a good chance to get out and stretch our legs and pee if you needed to. Then it was back on the road for our next stop for lunch, and I was also able to put another check on the list!

We stopped for lunch in a little town called Hobbiton, maybe you've heard of it! I wold like to draw your attention to number 24 on the list: “Get in touch with your inner nerd and run through Hobbiton humming or singing the Lord of the Rings theme song.” Well I had to modify this a bit because to go to the actual hobbiton movie set thing you have to pay a pretty good price and you have to sign a waiver saying that you won't post any photos online until after the release of the Hobbit movie coming up. So, I wanted to save my money, we didn't have a whole lot of time, and I wouldn't even be able to post a picture of me checking off the list. Not to mention that because of my complete lack of interest in Lord of the Rings I don't know the theme song off the top of my head, so I compromised and took my picture with the Hobbiton sign instead. I did, however, get in touch with my inner nerd and felt the epicness that is Hobbiton. Also, spoiler alert, I will be going to “Mount Doom” today so I will have another opportunity to get in touch with my inner nerd then too. So I am going to count that as a check! I also was able to have lunch in Hobbiton across the road from the rolling green hills and sheep. Did you know that in NZ there is 9 sheep per person, and they have over 4 million people in the country. That is a lot of sheep! After lunch in Hobbiton we headed to Rotorua where we would spend the night. Now, because of the immense amount of things I have taken in I am breaking up blogging so it is not a massive read for you guys. It also allows you guys to get more detail about the stuff I am doing, and therefore be able to feel like you have been there with me! The next one will be about Rotorua and all the wonderful things I was able to take in there. Be warned though, it will be long, I did some pretty amazing stuff and I won't skimp on the deets!

My Magic Adventure

Well in just a few days I will have been living in New Zealand for 2 weeks. It is surprising how at home I feel here, and how much I have done around Auckland so far. I didn't think I would have been able to see as much as I have around Auckland before travelling more. I also thought the jet lag was going to kick my ass far worse then it actually did. There was two, maybe three days, where I felt really tired in the afternoon but that was it. I have even put a small dent in my list. Rest assured that list is going to get an ass kicking very soon!

Also in two days I am leaving for my Magic Adventure. I only call it this because that is what the company calls it. I am travelling with a company called the Magic Bus and they offer several tours and travel passes all called something different. The one I am going on is called the Magic Adventure. The Magic Adventure consists of a circuit starting in Auckland and ending in Auckland and passing through many places along the way including 13 highlighted places. The deal with the Magic Bus is that you purchase the pass and there is a minimum amount of days it takes to complete the circuit but you can take longer if you want since you are booking your own accommodation. So I technically have 180 days to complete my circuit, but I do have to start work at the end of May, so I have to be back by then. I am thinking that this trip is going to take me close to a month to complete. Don't worry I will be updating you along the way, I'm sure. I am also setting a goal of completing 15 things off my list! There are a total of 40 (nice work btw!) tasks to complete on my New Zealand To-Do List and to date I have only done 3, so this trip should kick it into high gear! I am not going to tell you the 15 things I think I will for sure be able to accomplish on this trip, I am going to leave that to be a surprise!

I have been exploring Auckland and what it has to offer since I got here, and it seems like a pretty

good city. I have also been very much enjoying the beach bum lifestyle. The weather (apart from yesterday and today) has been so friggin nice that it is hard to keep myself away from the beach. If there is good weather on my trip I am sure I will have the same problem. Now those really are some white people problems. Or should I say some tanned people problems! With all the beach time I have been putting in I have been getting some colour too. There is a beach just minutes from the downtown called Mission Bay and it is so close that I can hang out at the beach all morning and take in some tourist stuff in the afternoon. It's great! Some of the tourist things I have done recently are; taking the ferry to Devonport, The Museum and Domain, and the Art Gallery.

Devonport is right across the harbour from the CBD (downtown or central business district) and is accessible by ferry. You can drive there too but it takes longer and is less nice then a quick ferry ride across the harbour. Once arriving in Devonport the streets are lined with shops and cafes around the ferry terminal and you can blatantly see that it is geared towards rich tourists. I spent my time walking around to different areas like Mt Victoria an old volcano turned defence fort, and the north head. The north head is a raised section of land right on the shore of the harbour. Here they built forts and things for defence back in the 1800s. I also spent a few hours at the beach there in Devonport. It was a really nice beach and given it was a long weekend lots of people were away so it wasn't crowded in the least. It is still strange to me the tides in other places. Growing up on the Bay of Fundy you take for granted the tides there and how spectacular they really are. When people say the tide is out here my answer to them is always, “But the water is just right there.” People think I am exaggerating when I say that back home when the tide is out all the water is gone and you can't even walk to the water. You people from the Bay of Fundy know what I am talking about. It is strange to see the tide out and you just have to walk and extra 4-10 meters to the water.

The Museum was very cool and I learned and saw a lot of things from the Maori culture. The museum here in Auckland showcases the Maori people and their history in New Zealand. I find it very interesting because they are so much different then the Canadian aboriginals. For instance back home any of the exhibits at home depicting native Canadians is sure to have pelts and animal hides made into blankets, coats, etc. Here there is none of that. The Canadian natives had to endure long cold harsh winters, but here, give em a grass skirt and a head dress and set them free! Not to mention the style of carvings, paintings etc are all different style then at home. I have grown up learning of the Canadian aboriginals and now it is nice to learn of some others. I look forward to learning more about the culture during my trip around NZ.

hmmm. One of my favourites was a little box, like a room that you could go inside. The walls were painted with vertical stripes, but not just straight lines up and down. They were kind of staggered a bit. Then the floor and ceiling were made of mirrors. It was a very cool experience to go in there (even though I had to hold my skirt shut so people couldn't see up it on the mirror floor) and feel like there was no ground beneath you and no limit to above you. All in all it was a great trip to the art gallery.

Well that is all for now, I have to go and pack for my trip. I will keep you updated when I can. Peace!