So on Tuesday the 10th of June I left Sydney after being dropped off by Ben my housemate and his girlfriend, my two closest friends from the year and was headed for Auckland where the next day I began a Contiki tour of the north island. Restricted by time and money, a brief tour of the north island of New Zealand was all I could manage unfortunately but better that than nothing at all.
From Auckland we headed straight to the Bay of the Pigs, arriving in the evening for a group meal with the tour group and some drinks. There were some really nice people on the tour and the guide was a good laugh so it was perfect for little ole me travelling on my own! In these scenarios you’re never really alone and you’re surrounded by people who are looking for the same experience as you. The next day one of the options was a day tour which I chose. We covered about 450k that day looking at everything from rare Kaori trees, cruising on 90 mile beach, sand boarding the dunes, stopping off for some traditional “fush and chups” in the afternoon before heading back to our accommodation.
The next day we made our way to Waitomo where I did black water rafting in the underground caves there which was definitely one of the most amazing things I have ever done. All kitted up in sexy wetsuits and a head torch, in a group of 6, we headed to deepest, darkest depths of Waitomo caves crouching, crawling, swimming, shivering, floating, stumbling through the natural path of the cave system. It was absolutely incredible, freezing, but incredible! At one point we floated on our rubber rings and there was about 3 inches between us and the cave ‘ceiling’, definitely not one for the claustrophobic! We jumped off waterfalls, spotted glow worms and ate their famous chocolate fish whilst standing in a huge lit up enclave. A cup of warm soup and bagel after went down a treat soon followed by a pizza party back at our accommodation and a great night in the local pub.
Next on the list was Rotorua, the cultural capital of New Zealand and pretty much the reason why I wanted to go to NZ in the first place – zorbing. You jump into an inflatable ball which is a similar size to a Vauxell Corsa I would say, they put a bit of warm water in with you (more fun) and then push you down a hill. YES, it is as fun as it sounds! Sooooooooo good, my only regret is that I couldn’t afford to do it more than once! In the evening most of the tour group opted to go to a traditional Maori feast which is cooked in the hot springs of Roturua, after this there is a performance of Maori song and dance including the infamous Haka. The food was immense and the performance was really cool and we got to have a go at a few of their moves which was fun!
The next day we headed back to Auckland and my part of the tour was over whilst others in the group continued on. I flew to Fiji the next day.
