OK guys, this will be a whistle-stop, blink and you'll miss it account of the last few days. I'll try to retrace and embelish maybe tomorrow on the bus but right now, time is somewhat short before I need to track down food and a decent seat for the Rugby!
Day One - Ragland
I tried to post about this from the hostle but my kindle-net is dodgy at best. Essentially, we were picked up by the bus and our driver, Kerry, and began the slow journey through north Island. We Stopped briefly at Birdal Veils Falls for some great pictures and then proceeded to hit Raglan, a small surf town on the West Coast. No one felt like surfing in the chilly ocean, so we went into town (such as it was) and then back to the surf camp we were staying in. me and Laura decided to head up into the Bush for a quick walk - loads of interesting plants and trees and nice to stretch the old legs after a bus day. Group BBQ in the evening and a failed attempt (by me, everyone else was great) to play pool. Sucks
Day Two - Glow-worms and Maori
So we headed out from Surf Country and headed inland towards the Caves at Waitimo. When reading Lonely Planet, I had planned a nice gentle day of tubing with glow worms through pretty caverns, requiring little effort. However, I somehow found ymself signing up for a 4 hour caving adventure, complete with abseiling 2 waterfalls and several rock climbs. Cos we all know how much I love heights! Weirdly, I loved it - I was the female version of Indiana Jones and scrambled up a 6m rock face with no obvious hand holds...I was impressed! I did however rip a great big hole in my left hand...you can't have everything!
In the eveing, we were priviledged to visit a Maori marae (gathering house) as guests of 'Uncle Boy' who fed us some great maori food and followed it up with a welcome for our 'tribe', (you touch noses a lot - not a good time to have a cold!) a performance of traditional maori songs...and a chance to learn some skills! The boys performed a terrifying, chest baring Haka - with some impressive thigh bruises the next morning! The girls were slightly more sedate and technical, with some poi. I can't catch them at all...but it was fun to try, and then to sleep in a big huddle in the meeting hall.
Day 3 - Up, up and AWAY!
I got up early with Laura and watched the sunrise at the beach. It was very calming - a good thing for today! We wound our way to Rotorua (or Roto-vegas as its called locally) and smelt the geotheric activity, before heading to some bubbling mud pits and swimming in a hot waterfall - bliss! Kinda smelly though - major sulphur = major bad egg smells...
So then...welll, things got a little crazy. I decided the day before that I could do ANYTHING...and set out to prove it. By skydiving. From 15,000 feet. Out of a pink plane. There is video evidence of this for any non-believers.
Wow is really all there is to say. Loved it. Amazing views, brilliant rush. Kind of tempted to follow up at Fox Glacier if I get the chance!
Must go now (damned expensive internet) but will try to come back later with some more info on the dive and onwards! :-)
