Allrightee then....have to give me a few minutes to recall all the mad stuff we've been up to this past week.
Arrived in Auckland last week, left on a Sunday and arrived Tuesday, lost a whole day and recovered at Base, downtown Auckland, the Big Smoke. Which is more like a really really subdued mini Oxford Street. It was lovely not having Christmas shoved down your throat from all angles. We caught the free Kiwi Experience bus around Auckland, first stop a walk across the bridge for Bungy, and "nope"..I didn't jump. Then walked up one of the many dormant volcanos for great views over the harbour.
Sarah and I signed up for the Whole Kit and Caboodle, with Kiwi Exp, a big green bus tour which takes you to everywhere you'd wanna go in NZ and experience as much as possible. Great crowd on the bus, and the drivers are brilliant. Accomodation is sorted and you get to lap up the gorgeous scenery. Trees, trees, ferns and more trees..I love it!!! It's SO green and lush, parts similar to blighty, but much more lumpy and bumpy. I thought "hmmm...Telly Tubbie land on speed" It's spring/summer here so there are baby animals everywhere...in one morning I saw baby calves, lambs, lamas, piglets and the best...baby donkeys...how cute???!!
The people are chilled and very friendly, the whole place is geared up for adventure and adrenalin, as much as you can absorb in the hours you have. It's also tranquil, quiet and serene. Walked through the great Redwood forests, hugged trees & visited waterfalls on route. One night went to the Hangi, and traditional dance and culture gig where they performed ritual greetings and of course the Haka - I love it, wicked.
Friends went Zorbing the afternoon, giant hamster balls basically, then I went luging. Involves riding the cable car up the side of a mountain and getting on a skateboard thing with handles and zooming down a course avoiding small japanese children in your path stratigically placed there to either kill you or them.
The funniest shock we had was enlisting for the Black Water Rafting. A leisurely stroll down through some caves, watching the gloworms above we thought. Bloody wrong there eh??!...you get in some heavy duty wet suits, white wellies and a hard hat, one black rubber ring and jump into caves 67 metres underground into freezing water, rivers and waterfalls. The only way down is to stick your bum through the tube, face backwards and launch your sorry self off the cliff into the dark swell. Was WICKED fun!!! and can safely say I've overcome my dislike for wet, cold, dark damp places - it was the white wellies that did it, I am an Essex girl afterall?
Straight after that, legged it up into the hills for some hardcore 350cc quad biking up and down terrain, for a second I was in Lord of the Rings and surrounded by sheep and bulls...but i'd prefer the Orks. With no time to stop we arrived in Lake Taupo for Xmas eve, and an awaiting Skydive. No messing here...I signed up for the 15,000ft jump...when in Rome and all that. Pictures on facebook, surprisingly we weren't nervous, just really excited. I'm glad Jammo convinced me to get the photo's and dvd to bore you all with when I get home.
Xmas day here, so I'm off up to the balcony and then go swimming up by the waterfalls here. Merry Xmas everyone, and Happy New Year if I don't get to speak with you x
