31st March 2008

Got up and checked out, as we do. Then Claire and I trekked 7000 miles up St Kilda road to Europcar, where we got our little blue bundle of sunshine in the form of a Hyundi Getz, which we christened Felicity (Flick). We took quite an extended root back to Posso, as I was getitng used to the car and to Aussie rules driving. On our arrival we loaded up, rather crammed, and bust round to safeway to buy provisions, pasta, sauce, cake, sweets, veg and fruit later, we were off again. Our first port of call was Geelong, however, initially we got lost coming out of Melbourne, but sorted it quite quickly and entered Geelong, rather oddly, from the factory district. Where we saw vast quantities of chip wood places and other scary industrial lunatic schemes. Just before we got to the actual town of Geelong we stopped at a picnic spot, near the sea, and walked along a boardwalk that was lined with weird and crazy statues of bathers/sailors and the such like. Twas rather odd and a sign of Geelong things to come. In Geelong we parked upon the pier, and walked its length only to find that the cafe/restaurant didn't allow crazy thong/jandal wearing fools. So we went in a coffee shop in town, which was extermely strong, and we were all feeling awful. Next stop: Botanical Gardens, where we ate a lunch of fruit, bread, jam and peanut butter, using lollipop sticks that claire scammed off of a random merchant. We wandered through the gardens for a bit after I bought a Diet Coke from a woman who was vastly interested in our accents. Nice gardens, though one section that was designed to on water usage only did as there were basically no plants....

After leaving Geelong, we got excellently lost and wasted an hour getting back on track towards Torquay, a surfer town. We stormed into the tourist information office and a very helpful lady gave us half a tree of ocean road related leaflets. The 'surf town' that surrouned it was a bundle of surf shops by the big brands and a small hot chocolate shop that we vowed to entertain tomorrow. A few hundred metres down the road was a recommended hostel, which we booked into, surrounded by surf type folk. Our dinner plans required the attendance of some prawns, so we strolled to the supermarket in the late afternoon heat. Walk was longer than we though, but the beach was close so we wandered along it, until we found a bank we could lie on and gaze out to sea under the near setting sun. We traversed to the supermarket, grabbed prawns and bits, then hit up the Bottle-O for a 6 pack of beer and trekked home. Posso entered zen cooking mode and Claire and I attempted to flail wilding around the kitchen, well that was my ploy anyway. On completion, Louise had made the greatest home made Thai prawn noodles ever. And we had garlic bread. And lemon and honey to sooth our throats of death. Into the evening we watched a mix of poor brain melting American and Australian TV shows before hitting the sack.

30th March 2008

Met the girls by net. Brekkie in St Kilda, salty but nice. Went into the centre of Melbourne. Wandered around. Got cakes and extremely strong coffee. Checked out shopping centre built around an old building factory. Returned to St Kilda to look at the beach and investigate a very disappointing Luna Park. Some crazy person also appeared to be getting married on the up and down horses. Decided to get a curry, which took ages to come but was extravagantly nice and after much vague alcohol searching, we reutnred to base for a few drinks, though Louise spent a lot of the time on the phone. Felt a bit ill and ick, hope it's all good tomorrow.

29th March 2008

This day appears to be devoid of memory. Apart from Xtreme Xcitement at the arrival of Claire and Louise tomorrow. And booking of Europcar in morning with base.

Later that day..

I played for a few hours more in the zoo with some gorillas, elephants, tigers, lions, jaguars, pumas and ducks. Very enjoyable and the sun came but only for a bit. Felt a bit sorry for the animals overall though, especially the big cats. Took the train back becuase I thought I was cool., I then went down to the dock and pottered around checking it all out. I came to the conclusion that the "NewQuay", as it is called, was designed in one foul swoop, by someone with big dreams and a large budget. Commissioning huge amounts of random modern art to slam all over the place and bhilding futuristic buildings to house hundreds of bars and restuarents. Unfortunately, it would appear only Tom and about 7 people had ever gone there, so everywhere was empty (and expensive). Still, nice to wander along, and doa bit of sudoku to exercise my brain. I suck at it majorly.

After returning to town I got a cinema ticket and wasted a while browsing some shops and such. Movie, (St Trinians) was pretty good and quite funny and I didn't get out till about 11.20pm. Then I had to wait 20 minutes for my tram ride home with the friday drunks. Which was interesting.

28th March 2008

Oh. Why hello there. Today I have washed my clothes. I also dried them. That is all.

Oh wait, I'm also in melbourne zoo, woo! After skillfully negotiating the tram system, I bust into the zoo and checked out some very sleepy kangeroos. The wombats and koalas were of a similar disposition so I checked out some cool birds in the Great Flight Aviary. Except I don't like birds. Eventually I escaped and ambled my way to the zebras, who were in deep conversation with the giraffes. It was at this point that my face got a cheeky photo with our long necked chums. Then I got a cornetto and scampered past Tree kangeroos to the awesome Red Pandas. They were particularly playful and I stayed there for a while before having a quick gander at some tiny penguins before hitting up a very nice Japanese garden and skillfully dodging some sprinklers which were out to get me. Now pretending to be a food critic with a greek salad.

Too salty.

27th March 2008

Museum today. Overshot it on the tram somewhat. Wet. Saw the oldest modern computer still intact (4th ever made). Had tuna and crackers from a vending machine for lunch. Saw a cool evolution section, and a totally awesome brain/mind section that I really enjoyed. I may have eaten food at the hostel today. My memories are non-existent.

26th March 2008

Hey kids, today shall be remembered as the day I woke up early without a magic bus forcing me to. After leaping like a ninja cat from the bunk, I was greeted by a barely clothed passed out girl on the bottom bunk. Wasn't too pretty. No matter, I bust out and grabbed the tram to town and made my way to the Rislato tower, to the observation deck, to inspect Melbourne from high in the sky. Nice views and I chilled with a coffee before hitting up a tram to the old gold treasury building.

This is a highly excellent museum, multimedia rooms that are activated by you entering. Kitted out old kitchens etc with very life like noises coming from all over. Deservedly winning various awards and only cost me $5 dollars as I was a packer of backs (2 quid?). On leaving the beautiful building (which was designed by a 19 year old), I wandered towards the most amazing cathedral I've ever seen (no disrespect to my beloved exeter cathedral). The entire building was black, possibly gothic in nature and just had an ominous evil prescence. After admiring it for a while, it began to pour and I made my way to hide in a cafe, after avoiding a crazy man who was climbing into a water feature to find coins. I don't spend all my time in cafes honest!

On leaving my hideout, I got scared by Parliament and trammed on down to the Gallery of Victoria (or whatever its name was). Although it was free, I was disappointed overall. Though Kirsty had hyped it up a bit, some bits were cool, but it lacked a lot of stuff I like and had too much fine european art. Blargh. Still, I saw everything and bust out in the torrential rain. After some confusion, being conned over a memory card reader and drowning in rain, I found the net shop I was in yesterday and got my mocha on.

My next ploy was to get a tram back to St Kilda and see a movie in the palace cinemas. However, I remember that my observation deck ticket lasts all day, and the sun had just set. This explains why I'm sitting up here, with a sausage roll, an amstel and a fantastic night time view of the city. Just gone 9 so I should probably get back or something. Amstel is yummy. So are Brand New.

25th March 2008

Woke up a bit disorientated and dehydrated, but stumbled successfully to the 7-11 to get a weekly metcard for like 12 quid! Good stuff. Journey to the city took a bit longer than I thought, but I leaped off outside a huge futuristic building that turned to be southern cross station. Wibbled around that for a while before walking in all manner of directions, with a coffee, past hundreds of cafe's and eateries. Lots of business type folk. After a while I managed to end up near St Paul's Cathedral, and after much map pondering, found federation square, which is extremely nice. I slammed into the info centre to find out what the crack was in Melbourne, and much to my surprise I found there was a history of computer games exhibit. On now. Next door. For $15. With 125 playable games from pong to Wii tennis. Bonus.

Needless to say I spent a good hour or 2 in there, beating up small children and showing off my extreme skills. Or something similar. There were some cool arcade machines, old school ataris, and every console really, including some sinclairs, nintendos, segas and sonys. The had a bit about the development of GTA3, Max Payne and Tomb Raider, but was a bit brief. I then watched a very geeky video and my brain imploded.

After escaping I strolled along the river, eating lunch, past various sculptures, ferris wheels and pretty gardens. I crossed the river, chilled in a park and loop back to the city, past the gallery, which was closed and walked along the river agian, through the extremely nice south gate collection of shops and cafes. After crossing a futuristic brdige I wandered towards China Town, but fell into an internet cafe next to a lot of Harley Davidson dealerships, where I uploaded a plethera of photos to facebook to make up for my poor blogging skills.

Once more I successfully navigated the trams home, which I have decided are even beter than the tube. Maybe. Rather than die a little emo death in the hostel, I found a really nice Chinese restuarent where I had a crayz combination of meats and rice & spring rolls. Followed by $2 worth of chines tea, which in reality was a teapot the size of Africa. After returning to hostel, I watched some awful TV while writing in thsi book of wonderment, then hit the old sack.

24th March 2008

With amazing skills I walked out of the airport and straight into a St Kilda shuttle, dropping me straight off outside the eye melting Base Backpackers. It's a gneric base, loud, icy people and a kitchen that looks liek a rabid racoon has been unleashed on it. It's worse than some of our uni kitchens! No matter. Cruised to safeways and got some supplies, including a Lonely Planet from late late night bookshop, before returning to chill and watch some American TV. Chatted and had a beer with a couple in the dorms, the guy came from Croydon, and went to Langly Park boys school in Bromley. Extreme rain outside.

24th March 2008

In a strange occurance for someone who is travelling the world on his own, this is the first time I've been on my own for nearly a month! Currently sitting in Christchurch airport, worrying how far behind my journal is and if I'll ever remember it all. Also, I feel a bit bloated from large smoothie I just bought with last of my NZ dollar. Woke up after an awesome nights sleep, which my body wasn't used to, and pootled around vaguely, before bidding farewell to Sarah as she was going to Andora for the day. After some net time, Kirsty and I dumped our now homeless bags and cruised to our place of worship, Starbucks. Had a nice stroll through the park and sat in the intense sun by the river for a while, battling with a cheeky seagull.

We returned to the square to bust out some souvenir shopping before wandering into the Chatedral for a gander around. My shuttle was at 1 so we just chilled in the TV room, wtaching an extremely bad film and eating fruit salad. Joff popped over and we said bye the marlen way. Kirsty waved me off as I took the fully packed shuttle ot the airport and I blundered through security and check in via a BLT bagel and a small child attempting to steal my water.



Flying. Aided by a plane. That sounds like it's powered by a lawn mower. Aisle seat. Bonus.

23rd March 2008

This morning we were all quite the tired little puppies, with only about 4 hours sleep. Luckily, rather than having to rek all our stuff 15 minutes out of the city to the crazy hostel that we booked last minute, it turned out Base had room for us all tonight. So after rejoicing somewhat, Kirsty, Sarah and I cruised out and looked for some nourishment, mainly coffe and a croissant in Starbucks. We chilled there for a while, before causing comedy based havoc involving Kirsty and I creating trouble for mother Sarah, culminating in a water related incident. After which we explode a bit more, before grabbing some lunch goodness in the form of tune sandwiches. We met Joff in the square at our prealloted time, though Steph was no where insight and we had to hop on the shuttle to the Antartic Centre. Unfortunately, as we pulled off we saw her wandering into the square and felt really bad. Bus took longer than we anticipated and we must of gone quite far out of the city.

Overall I can summerise the Antarctic Centre as "okay". We rushed in to see the cute TINY penguins fed with fish, but there were loads of kids being noisy and pointing, which Joff and I disapproved of. The guides seem to exploit one poor ickle penguin as well, who could only use 1 flipper and so swam in circles. We all then crashed drastically and had to get some surgary liquid based goodness. Rest of the centre was cool, though a bit short, but it did snow on us at one point and we saw some cool arty Antarctic movie. Before tackling Christchurch's transport system, we grabbed some pizza/wedges from the cafe and lay on the grass to summon some energy. After conversing with a moustached lady, we caught the correct local bus but it cost $7!! Big rip off. On return, Sarah and Joff internetted while Kirsty and I chilled in the TV room. Kristy was felling pretty rough so Sarah, Joff and I decide to bust out, not to waste our time here. We managed to get to Starbuck, the other side of the square, and bumped into Jenny and Cat, which was cool. So we sat in the square chatting, and then Hot Katherine and her friend popped up, and we were all like "Hey!". Quite a series of coincidences.

Jenny, Cat and Joff departed their seperate ways, so Sarah and I decided to wander towards the setting sun, with a kebab wrap in hand. Luckily we stopped at a more attainable target than the sun: The botanical gardens. Very pretty, with rose gardens, fountains, giant trees, crayz photo taking foreigners, and a river cutting through the middle. We wandered back haphazard style and cooked even more food back at Base and I thought I was gonna explode. The other two actually did, either by illness or tiredness, so I went to join Joff, Steph and Heather just for a few cokes. Which resulted in Joff and I getting insanely giggly on caffeine, making the girls think we were totally insane when playing cards. Steph then grabbed her bus to the airport and we all returned to bed.

22nd March 2008

Magic bus once more, apparently went through Burkes Pass, and across the Cantebury Plains towards Christchurch. Unfortunately we're staying in Base, but as long as we have each other we should be alright, thought slight anger when it turned out Magic only booked us in for 1 night, and they might be fully booked tomorrow, meaning we have to get up early to either check out or check in again. No matter, we had a bit of an explore (Sarah and Joff), and got to a nice little cafe called the Honey Pot. We had a HUGE sandwich each and a beverage, and randomly Jenny and her friend walked in. So we chatted with them for a while, and invited them out tonight.

In the evening about 10 of us, or so, went out for dinner, where I had some awesome Cantebury Lamb, and then we went to find somewhere to drink, though we ended up in Base bar, where I randomly bumped into Amie and Rachelle, which was awesome. People began to depart back to their hostels, but Sarah, Joff, Steph and I went out first to an Irish pub, with a great band playing. We then headed to Sals Square, which had lots of cool bars and clubs, so we had a few drinks, before going into a Jazz bar with live music and a loft full of sofas that we chilled on for a while. Once we left, we wanted to find some awesome food, but were worried everything might be shut, so Joff and I got a back up sausage roll, that we ate anyway, and still found places open, so got wedges (again). Then sleep. Good night overall, though I was shattered at the end.

21st March

Once more took the bus of magic, out of Dunedin towards Lake Tekapo. Stopped off at the Steepest road in the world, which I thought was pants, and San Francisco has some VASTLY steeper roads. Later on I was proved wrong by the internet in a bitter knowledge based situation. Next were the Morecahi boulders, which we only saw from a distance as we were starving, and had to wait ages for our brekkie's to arrive. We passed a number of Dams, and were told about their differing technologies. None of which I remember. Just as we entered Lake Tekapo we stopped at the Good Shepard church, which overlooks the lake, where Sarah told me off for taking photos. And then we saw a statue of a collie dog, which I assumed was some form of Lassie figure, who had saved some kids who had fallen in well, but it just turns out the people liked collie dogs in general. Pfft.

When we arrived at the hostel, there was only 1 key for our 4 bed dorm, which was a bit suspect, but we went to the supermarket then met up with Joff again. We ate and had a few cheeky beers in front of the sunsetting lake.

20th March 2008

Took the magic bus uneventfully through Central Otago and arrived in the Scottish area of New Zealand, Dunedin. We had somehow booked ourselves into a fantastic hostel, right in the centre of town, which was a shame as we only had 1 day here. So we traversed to the Cadbury's factory for a tour. The entire factory smelt a bit urgh to me, but the girls seemed to like it and we began with a free chocolate bar (called a fish) and an introductory film. Next a crazy lady took us around the factory, making us wear silly hair nets and giving out free chocolate at will. I didn't fancy eating anymore after the very suspect "fish" so just collected them. Near the end I asked her why New Zealand chocolate tastes different (a politically correct way of asking why it tastes crap), and she made up something about different cows. She gave me a free chocolate bar for asking though. We decided to drown our sorrows at a bar by the Octogen, the centre of Dunedin, with a girl we met called Anabel. We had a few beers, then some Wedges, and were surprisingly tipsy before finding internet for $2 an hour. Extreme value. Sarah then bought EVEN MORE wedges from a shop, and I had to finish most of them. Then we cooked food, and slept.

19th March 2008

Today we went to Milford Sound, which took an epic amount of time to get to on a coach, along the way stopping off at a few photo spots, and drinking fresh water from "Monkey Creek". When we finally got there, we had a 2 hour boat ride, which was quite nice, but only because there was a lot of us there and we had fun messing around. The scenary was beautiful but we've been spoiled so much by New Zealand already, it felt all the same, and the boat ride was a bit slow and went back on itself. Steph was randomly on the same tour as us though, so it was cool to see her again (we saw her at Abel Tamsin as well). Boat was extremely windy and the weather was a bit dodgy, as it supplied a few rain showers. The drive back was even worse than the drive there, as we were all tired and just wanted to get back. We did see a big forest fire on the hills though, and an army of helicopters collecting water from the lake to drop on it. In the evening I can only imagine that we chilled.

18th March 2008

Recovered from Paddy's Day thanks to young Joff bringing croissants over. Wandered into town and got Fish and Chips from a nice little place, before getting some Juice/Smoothies to improve our health. Explored a bit, past a church, before collapsing by the lake on some grass, and enjoying the intense sun. Eventually, by the afternoon, we gained enough energy to go up the Gondola to the top of a large hill/small mountain, where Joff and I went on their luging tracks and took photos while Sarah and Kirsty died a little bit inside. When we got back to the hostel we found that Rachel and Lisa had also gone up, but Lisa had somehow walked all the way up! Needless to say we were highly impressed. In the evening we decided to see Run Fatboy Run at the Cinema, which was quite enjoyable and I think I ate too much popcorn.

17th March 2008

Woke up crazy early to get taken to the Nevis, the highest bungy jump in New Zealand, at 134 metres (which is the same height as the London Eye and the Sydney Harbour Bridge). Was one of the first leap off, and was totally frickin' awesome, and no death ensued. I was pleased with my expert dive off, Lara Croft sytle, though I ruined the end as I couldn't release the cable, so I was pulled up, upside down. Ah well. Talked to a guy named Jo, who looked far too much like Jesse Lacey to be safe, while eating a free bbq we were given. Got our DVDs and then bus back to Queenstown. Met up with young Kirsty to go St Paddy's shopping, and found a few green things and a box of Goon (cheap wine in a box). Called the crew over to our place and began drinking games, mainly ring of fire, but with strange Kirsty rules. Apart from us two, there was also Sarah, Joff, Rachel, Lisa, Katherine and Jenny, good bunch. We left and made our way to a 2 for 1 beer Bar, where me and Joff got confused at having to hold two drinks at a time, so just drank the first one far too quickly. To solve matters, we got wedges, then were worried everyone would steal them, so wolfed them down at a crazy speed. Went to a few more bars, then ended up in World Bar, where I shared a teaport of cocktail with Sarah on the dance floor. We danced for ages, busting some amazing shoulder related moves, before exiting and getting Burgers from Ferg Burger on Cow Lane. I got a fantastic lamb one, was extremely scrummy. Chattted for a while before going to bed, and Joff slept on our couch as he was 1) too lazy to go back to his hostel, 2) scared of the girls in his room.

16th March 2008: Queenstown

Notes: Bus through Fox Glacier. Then crazy fast trek to mirror lakes. Beautiful Lake reflects the Southern Alps. Dense forest then vast plateaus in Central Otago region. Lake Haivea? Stopped at Wanaka, where Sarah got off and we played in Lake Wanaka, on a stegasaurus and a Huge hand. Bungy bridge, watched some peeps leap to their doom, and then booked the tallest bungy for tomorrow. Felt guilty -> blatantly lied to mum about doing it. Got into QT late, southern laughter, great hostel. Own lounge and kitchen. Went for Curry with Joff and Kirsty. Played cards with them till late.

15th March: Franz Josef

• Woke up for Heli Hike
• Amazing Helicopter Ride
• Wandering over glacier is amazing
• Scott our guide, was very good, running all over the place
• Even when my crampon snapped!
• Kirsty was a bit nervous but got used to it
• Defo worth money
• Came back and chilled with carrots and hummus.
• Made wedges for arrival of Sarah.
• Rang Mum
• Went to Blue ice bar for pizza meeting.

14th March: Franz Josef

• Got up early for bus with Rhyno
• Ross, gold panning and old buildings from gold era.
• Possum pete's odd cafe/museum/video
• Disturbing helicopter capturing of deer.
• Met 50% of drivers family along the way
• Arrive in Franz Josef
• Decide and convince Kirsty to do HeliHike
• Chillax
• Soup of freedom and Salt.
• Went to blue ice barm cheap. Ryan taught me and joff the marlen.
  
• Played pool with scary german rebecca who had a crazy argument with other girls yesterday
  

13th March, Greymouth

• Maccy D mega brekky combo
• Bus
• At stop, met guy called Joff, from reading/north london in cafe because of Kirsty's accent.
• Bee slaughter in bus.
• Seal walk.
• Ice Cream and Honey Comb
• Rhino (Ryan) our driver, looks like badly drawn boy/silent bob, guitarist.
• Pancake rocks and Blow holes. Confirm hostel
• Neptunes, no bunks! Wandered into town. W00t?
• Brewary tour. Boring but pour own pint! Met Jenny, doctor, nice.
• Pub and sasuage BBQ (crazy old dude took 13 sausages at end!)
• Pool with Joff and odd kiwi
• Strippers, so we left.
• Had bottle of wine with Morgan (American) and Jenny.
• Played with a cat called fish. (all hot water coal heated!)
• Sleep.
  

12th March: Nelson

• Maccy D's
• Abel Tamsin
• Crazy Coach, with bruce as driver. Random stops and dropping off school kids.
• Fast awesome boat, apple/egg rock smashed in two.
• Amazing beach, weather and walk.
• Near death at end.
• Nachos. Drink.
• Bus extremely late.
• Accent Bar again, no falafel left :( French/Canadian girl.
• Room empty.
  

11th March: Nelson

• Ferry good, sleep on reclining seats, snore.
• Wine Tasting. 5 glasses for free. Buy red wine.
  
• Magic/YHA screwed up. No reservation. Girls got amazing luxury hostel, I got mountain top hostel that I entered during a burglary.
• Went to quaint pub in centre nelson
  
• Went to the bar in the girls hostel (Accents on the Park)
• Amazing falafel and drink.
• Some guy made loads of noise with the giant Jenga. I wonder who he is.....*insert mystery*
  

10th March: Wellington

• Stroll through town and shops
• Cable Car up to the Cable Car Museum
• wandered around the Botantic Gardens
• Art Gallery. Crazy lie down show. Crazy film
• Went to Mr Buns on Cuba Street. Then TV archive on own (Flight of the Conchords + fruit juice)
• Got awesome QuikSilver hoodie. Gangsta-skater.
• Crappy 2nd hand bookshop
• Chillaxed in evening in perparation for early bike ride. Cinema and saw Juno. AWESOME.
  

9th March: Wellington

• In a rather organised series of events. Hit Te Papa (Museum)
• Volcano simulator. Outside garden. Whales.
• Crazy Junk shop. Maori stuff.
• Awesome music device. Brewary. Sassy Red
• Supermarket
• Cards.
  

8th March: Wellington

• Magic Bus: Mt Doom, Bulls, Parliament, Beehive, Mt Victoria (failed photo trickery)
• Arrived expertly.
• YHA was like a hotel
• Met Mark and Kelly in Molly's Pub (irish bar)
• Crazy talking box in street
• Welsh Bar, used to be a public toilet. Guitar dude, no clapping.
• Got cards and played with them.
  

7th March: Taupo

• Organisational Day
• Juice Bar
• Booked Ferry and Hostels
• Chilled at Lake and had semi-picnic. Began to rain.
• Pack and Save. Coffee!
• Evening: Food and watched American Idol, Singing Bee, Bridezilla with Mark and Kelly

6th March: Rotorua->Taupo

• Dusty (Magic Driver)
  
• Government Gardens
• Boiling Hot Mud Pit
• Lady Knox Geyser, farcical 10:15 display
• Thermal wonderland, L&P, food.
• Honey and wine tasting.
• Haka Falls (gay skaters)
• SKY DIVE EXPLOSION
• Nice hostel
• Bar with Dusty, Kelly, Mark. Beer. Fush and Chups.
• Destruction of toe
  

Hangi and Concert

Argh. Eaten so much. But had a fantastic cultural evening.

After returning to the hostel I met up with Kirsty and Sarah and after booking oru next two nights accommodation for Taupo, we decided to utilise our free beer/wine voucher for the pig & whistle. Jolly nice pub, chillaxed there for a bit before getting ready for our Maori hangi and concert night

It began just a block away, with some introduction videos to the Maori people and the evening. We then got on our bus with an awesome driver called Mark. He said hello/goodbye/thank you/etc in 52 different languages/accents flawlessly, and was in general highly hilarious. A worthy man on the bus was chosen, as chief, apparently being a rugby player is a must. Once we arrived in the village, we were treated to a traditional welcome, or a "challenge of peace". This involved women singing, and warriors performing and demonstrating their prowess in front of the chiefs from each bus. A peace offering is then laid out and a chief is selected to accept it.

Upon entering the village we were allowed to wander around, where we saw various demonstrations of traditonal methods, tools and weapons. Questions could also be put to the chief of the village. At the sound of a horn, we were led through to a little concert hall where we were treated to some amazing dances, songs and love stories. All maoris seem able to sing, dance, perform amazing hand-eye coordination, look scary but also be amazingly friendly at the same time. Next we entered the dining hall for a great hangi feast.

Hangi is the way the food is cooked, using heated stones in a pit. It's very similar to a big roast. The food was sublime though, potatos, carrots, lamb, chicken, fish, stuffing, mussles, salad etc etc. Dessert was passionfruit and kiwi pavalova, fruit salad, steamed sponge, custard and cream. Everything was buffet style and phenominally delicious. I finished off Sarah's veggie samosas as well. We washed it all down with New Zealand fruit punch and coffee.

The process of Hangi was then explained, then we perused the shop before the ending ceremony where we all stood, held hands and sang. The drive home was fantastic as Mark got each nationality to sing a native song and he led the singalong. Obviously we got God Save The Queen. Then at a round about he started singing " round the mulberry bush" and 3 of these massive coaches circled the roundabout loads of times, to much hilarity and blocking of all other traffic.

As we were dropped off, Sarah got a photo of Mark's tongue and we chuckled all the way home. Rotoura sure stinks more when it's not raining. Sleep time. Magic tomorrow.

5th March 2008, 16:00

Woke up today after a really cold night and some crazy odd dreams that made me believe I'd actually killed a load of people by running a boat so hard the propeller shattered. Anyway, met my suspiciously organised white water rafting pick up out side hostel. Took about 20 minutes to get to the HQ where we signed our lives away, got suited and booted, and headed down the river.

We got split into 2 boats, one of 6 and my boat which had 5 of us plus a guide dude. I got put in the front left cos I was the only guy and was probably a mug. Ini mini mieni mo sorted the other front person. We were safety briefed, what to do if flipped or we fall out etc. The way we traverse the rapids is by the guy yelling at us to paddle forward, or back, then the two of us at front have to paddle in unison and others follow us. Our guide was a pretty awesome dude and did some mauri river chanting before we went off to respect the river.

First test was a 1 metre and 2 metre waterfull drop, which we survived excellently, and participated in various victory shouts afterwards. We took some rapids in our stride, then flew down the 7 metre waterfull (where 10/20% of boats flip) perfectly, posed for a victory photo and cheered. Next our crazy guide made us go down some rapids standing up (which the other boat didn't do). He then suggested we go for a swim, which resulted in a flurry of clambering back in once next rapids came faster than expected. Finally, we did some "surfing" in the last rapid, which basically involved us at the front being totally drenched/drowned. Awesome.

After carrying the boat, on our heads, back to the van, I bought a CD of photos and we got dropped off back at the town. After inspected photos, you can see the entire boat and all of us were submerged at the bottom of the 7 metre waterfall. Sweet.

Had lunch and then decided to walk around Government park, which was really pretty and sun began to come out. I randomly ended up outside an Elizabethian building, that turned out to be the Rotorua Musuem. The first video/movie is worth the entry fee alone, all about the eruption here in the 1880s. Fantastic reenactments and "interactive elements". To top it off, and after confirming with the front desk, Bret from Flight of the Conchords is in it! Grand.

Rest of museum was good as well, mixture of old bath houses resotred, war/maori history and hot spring explanations.

Am currently sitting on waters edge looking out towards another Sausalito like town that I don't have time to see. Walking through the woodland next to lake, very nice. Must push on.

4th March 2008

The journey to Waitomo was uneventful, apart from a very scenic river stop and being starving the whole time. We reached Waitomo at 12, the home of the famous glow worm caves. Now, I had been down these when I was 7 on the tour and gentle boat ride, so I decided a more extreme was required. So enter black water rafting.

We got suited and booted and after a short ride in a raggedy old minibus, collected out rubber rings. A few comedy photos were taken, a small trek to the entrace was undertaken and we were briefed on the caves and various creepie crawlies. It turned out, black water rafting is kiwi talk for caving with a bit of water "drifting" and a few backwards falls. Good fun though, we got up and close with the glow worms, crawled mostly underwater through tiny gaps and saw some amazing rock formations. All the time our guide was taking photos and attempting to scare us with loud noises in the pitch black. On return to the surface we just got changed and got given our tomato soup when our new grumpy driver, Nigel, stormed in saying if we weren't on the bus in 5 min he'd leave without us. No time to get photos or anything.

Drive to Rotorua was average on coach and driver was crappy and the rain was torrential. Our Nomad hostel was nice and in the centre of town. I booked tomorrows activities and hit up a coffee shop that my hostel had given me a voucher for. Strong stuff. In the evening the hostel had an awesome quiz night, where Sarah, Kirsty and I were the Demon Llamas and didn't come last! We even got fake moustaches and I got lots of free beer, good hilarious times.

3rd March 2008

Well, I may have drank slightly more than I hinted at, and failed to wake up in time for my pickup(7.30) and therefore missed my magic bus. Error. Obviously I was quite annoyed at this fact, especially as I only gained an hour extra sleep. Staying calm, I booked an intercity coach to whitianga to catch up with the bus, as the next connection was 3 days away, which I couldn't afford to wait for. I wasted time on the internet and treked to the coach stop.

Journey was uneventful, apart from a very long wait at Thames, when I changed bus to a tiny mini bus. I arrived before the magic bus, booked in, and soon became known as the guy who missed his bus. To cheer myself up I got some "fush and chups" from a lady with scary gypsy eyes, and wandered along the beach front even though it was grey, cold, windy and deserted. As I got back to the hostel the magic bus pulled in, and the look on Luke's (the driver) face was worth it all. It was as if he'd seen a ghost. In the evening we had a gentle pint in a pub as it was Luke's birthday and he proceeded to be vastly crazy.

2nd March 2008

For out trip back to Auckland we had a new driver, Lefty, and I was actually booked on the bus for once. Lefty was good fun and jokey, so was a good ride. First stop was a random village which had some crazy kids show being filmed in it and Kelly, Kirsty, Sarah and I got some breakfast in a harbour side cafe. Next stop was Opononi and to watch an informative and totally hilarious video about Opo the gay dolphin, that played with residents for a year in the 50s. Took photos of Opos grave and statue, was fantastic.

After bidding farewell to Sarah, who was to do the amazing footprints night-time forest walk, we had a photo op just outside Opononi. We got the Waipana Forest and it was really wet, but we still visited the HUGE tree called Tare Mahuta, named after a story where some guy had to hold his mother (the earth) and his father (the sky) apart. After an incident involving the ordering of drinks, I was named Diet Coke by Lefty and his trainee driver Brian. We then became the cool kids on the bus...

On the next driving stint we played the now classic game of "Hey Cow" which only Kirsty and me volunteered for and consisted of shouting "Hey Cow" at a field of cows and who ever gets the most cows to look at them wins. Excellent fun. Before arriving at our next destination we drove through a very "inbred" town and Left dedicated the classic banjo yokel song to me. At Matukohe, Kirsty and I went into the awesome Pioneer Museum, with working wood processing machinery and reconstructions of houses in the 1800s.

Unfortunately, we had very little time there and our next stop was the city of Auckland, where the hostel were busy and the "fat camel" was our only sensible option. We agreed to meet the drivers in the bar at 8 and then wandered around town (mainly for Starbucks) with Kelly;s friend Lisa (essex).

Using various bouts of cunning, we acquired a table in the bar and had a few drinks. We met our driver for tomorrow, Luke, who was vastly insane and crazy. Met a few more randoms,as well as the bus drivers from today, and played a few drinking games. At some point we met a kid who had loads of free doughnuts, which Luke ate most of and we got some burgers as well. Great night and good fun.

1st March 2008

Today, Sarah, Ashley, Kelly and I went to Cape Reinga, though I nearly didn't as Glen failed to book me on it due to a mix up with dates. Weather was awful, and our first stop was a random Kauri forest which was apparently owned by the crown (i.e. The Queen). This meant when the queen came over, she wanted to see her trees, so they had to hurriedly build a walkway and lay a red carpet down. Obviously, there's no red carpet now, but we trudged around the magnificent trees, Sarah in her crazy white poncho.

Our next stop was at Taipa Bay to grab some food and take in the wet and windy view. I got some crazy awesome breakfast sarnie quite cheap and took some obligatory photos. After a bit more of a drive we arrived at the 90 mile beach, which we promptly drove along. It's actually only 60 miles long, due to guestimates, and is actually a classified highway. Which makes it the oldest highway in the world, as well as the newest (as its resurfaced every day). How we laughed. Bus coped with it fine as long as it drove on the hard wet sand. We stopped for a photo op. and it was mad windy. Then carried on towards the sand dunes, I had a great view the entire time as I was right at the front of the bus. To get to dunes we drove through what was basically a river running into the sea, crazy stuff. Piled out and scaled a huge dune, which had a raging swirling twisting wind on top, that DROVE sand in your skin, eyes, nose, ears, mouth etc. Quite painful. The sand boarding itself was only just worth it, but great fun, even though I was crap and screwed up the steering, resulting in a double 360 spin on the way down, crazy stuff. Another bus driver could go down so fast that he aqua-planed across the river at the bottom without getting wet! He was mad though.

After getting rid of as much sand as possible we carried on towards the end of New Zealand and Cape Reinga. The roads were so muddy and just dirt tracks that the driver managed to drift the 11.5 metre bus at one point! Great Fun. Once we got there, we took the incredibly muddy and windy walk to the lighthouse in Jandals. Kelly and I totally lost ours at various points and just walked bare foot in the end. By the lighthouse it was nice but felt like we were gonna be blown away and it seemed like some of the metal signposts point to international cities had been blown off! Crazy. We only just got back to the bus in time because of more Jandal issues.

On the way back we stopped at Kauri Kingdom, which is basically a big Kauri tree souvenir shop. Once we got back I just chilled and finished 1984 by George Orwell, great book. Read it if you can.