North Island

There is seriously too much to type on here with a $1 for every 15 minutes internet cafe.  It would probably be $50 after I finished so I'll try to skim through the most of it.  


After leaving Auckland, Peter and I arrived in the Bay of Islands.  This place was amazing.  It obviously had some islands.  That night we met two other backpackers, Brooke and Stiina.  They invited us to go kayaking the next day.  The next day we all went kayaking on this barren island and picked up mussels from the shore.  That night we cooked them in a 5 star dinner...especially compared to most backpackers meals that consisted of a can of beans.  That night everyone got drunk and jumped in the ice cold ocean.  It was pretty cinematic.  The next day we drove to the west coast and saw these Avatar-like huge trees while listening to the soundtrack to Avatar.  It was comical.  Brooke left that night as Peter and I gathered clams in the shallow waters off the coast.  Suddenly, this seems like we're back in the caveman days...gathering food and wandering deserted islands.  That night Peter, Stiina and I had steamed clams.  There's something amazing about finding your own food and cooking it.


We said goodbye to Stiina the next day and left Bay of Islands.  Our roommate Shay came with us.  Shay was from the UK and had the work visa just like us.  We all drove to Mercury Bay in Coromandel.  This place was very low key.  At this point all we were drinking was New Zealand wine since it was so good and cheap.  The next day we got free kayaks and paddled out along the limestone coast.  It was amazing seeing these cliffs reach out into the sky while under turquoise waters.  In the afternoon we saw the awesome Cathedral Cove, which might be the best beach I've ever been to.  Shortly after we went to Hot Water Beach where we dug holes in the sand to dig out the sometimes boiling thermal waters that hid under the sand.

Shay, Peter and I left the next morning and made it to the sulfur smelling Rotorua.  We walked around this park next to our hostel that had a shitload of mud pools.  It was annoying that there was so much trash in them though.  Whats the point of chucking a bottle in mud?  That night we drank way too much and blacked out from all the wine.  The next day we tried to sober up before going on some class 5 rapids.  We whitewater rafted off a 7 meter water fall (21 feet).

The next day we left Rotorua, leaving Shay behind.  We tried to make plans to meet up in Wellington later in the week.  Peter and I arrived in Taupo a few hours later.  Yesterday we hiked 25 km's/12ish miles up a mountain that had 5 different ecosystems.  Today I am still feeling that hike.  Now we head to Waitomo Caves to see some Glow Worms before heading to Wellington for the weekend.