Kerry from Derry

Firstly - I have to apologise for taking so long to getting around to updating you all on what went on with the rest of the trip but bugger it I'm doing it now am't I?!?

So on we moved from Rotorua to Taupo - quick journey across as there were lots of things to be getting on with! We got to Taupo which is where you can do the cheapest skydive in New Zealand - only $150 to fling yourself out of a plane at 12,000ft! I actually declined as I have already has the pleasure of jumping out of a plane and it was at 15,000ft so I had nothing to prove. But about 10 people did and my lord were they buzzing when they got back in one piece and with no injuries a couple of hours later.

The rest of us were taken to a nearby thermal reserve and nearer again to a waterfall/gorge where I got to see possibly the biggest rapids I have seen in my young life - the water was going downstream at a speed you wouldn't believe, pure white water and pure madness if anyone ever decides to try and get through it - apparently someone did try once but came to a rather sticky end - sticky in that his head brushed of a few rocks on the way through.... No-one else has been brave enough or should that be foolish enough to try ever since - and believe me for New Zealand, the land of the adrenalin junkie that's saying something!

The rest of the afternoon was spent taking it easy down by the Lake and then haring back to the hostel when one of New Zealands frequent rain fronts moved in at a speed that would make a Formula 1 driver jealous! So what to do when rain grounded us in the hostel......well what else - a pool competition of course. I am sorry to report that I was knocked out in the semi finals and the gold went to Germany - ah well there's always a next time.

On to the educational stuff - well not really as its a bit Hollywood! Set right behind the Lake are the mountains that you can see in all 3 of the Lord of the Rings films, Mount Doom, etc. Looked absolutely spectacular when we arrived - bright blue sky, huge snow capped mountains - literally like a scene out of a movie and would you believe it....it was!

So on the next morning to Whakapapa (for information purposes - the Wh at the start of a name is pronounced F so figure out the incestual name above!) where we went straight to the top of Mount Ruapehu but yet again the rain god decide to piss on our parade and sent us scurrying back to the bus - and this was proper rain, didn't let up all day or night so we were yet again confined to barracks. The place where we staying was right in the national park and is the starting point for the best 1 day walk in the world - the Tongarrio Crossing. The walk takes about 6 hours and crosses the National Park’s scenically amazing volcanic plateau (complete with steaming craters). Even if the weather had been suitable I don't think my old women's knees would have made but I'll never know, maybe I would have been tempted (or at least I can tell myself that now that it was no longer an option!). But again if you ever end up in the Land of the Long White Cloud it is something that is highly recommended and consistantly comes top as the 'favourite thing I did while I was in NZ'.

But anyway as we were confined to barracks - if we couldn't do the walk we could at least take in the scenery eh? How did we do that you may ask yourself? Well obviously we watched the Lord of the Rings - all 3 of them! So 10 hours later.....I have to say though that was probably the first TV I had actually watched since I had arrived so I didn't feel too bad. And then to soothe the bum sores from sitting on my ass all day went of to have my own private soak in a spa for 30 mins, all free of charge - what a great hostel/hotel! Oh and we had our own chalet too which was great - the Skotel, just in case you end up being over here.

So it got to 8am the next morning and we had another go at going to the top of Mount Ruapehu and yippee the rain eased up, the clouds cleared and it was spectacular views all the way around. A nice way to send us on our journey again.

So after a couple of days in Raglan it was time to move on to Rotorua via a small little town called Waitomo.

Waitomo is famous for its gloworm caves and there a lots of options on how to explore them. I decided on Tumu Tumu Toobing which involved quite a bit of caving and then some black water rafting involving inner tubes and an underground river. It was a very stylish option too......full wetsuit, hard hat and white wellies! The whole thing took about 3 hours and was worth every penny of the $95 it cost.

We were a group of about 10 with 2 guides - after strolling through a rather hilly field we came upon the entrance to the caves and made our way down, although it was doubtful whether a few would make it through the tiny entrance...apparently its not about the size - its all in the angle of entrance (now no straying thoughts here please!). Anyway we all made it in - turned the torches on and away we went! It was actually quite challenging - very sharp rocks, narrow passageways, swimming through raging torrents of water (well maybe not raging but I am allowed a little artisitic licence here) before we made it to the inner tubes, turned all the lights of and gently floated our way down the river with only the gloworms to looks at - very cool!

I think its about time for another science lesson.....did you know that gloworms don't have any way to have a poo? So what in fact looks like really nice glowing things is in fact sh*t? Apparently the male only lives for 3 days so spend his time having all the fun he can manage and then shi*s himself before making his way to the top of the cave where he'll stay and glow......or something like that anyway! So we came to the end but not before negotiating our way through ankle break alley - extremely sharp rocks and not much margin for error, but yet again the old Dallat strenght shone through and I made it out injury free. I really enjoyed this and given the opportunity wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

ROTORUA

After we had finished our various caving activities we moved on to Rotorua - probably the most volcanic active area in New Zealand.

The first thing you notice is the smell - it stinks of rotten eggs! This is basically the sulpher in the ground - then you go for a wander around and you notice the steam rising up over the parks, gardens and even residental streets, then you go to investigate further and you come across bubbling hot springs and mud pools spitting up mud - very wierd but really quite fascinating. There is also a place called Hells Gate which is just minutes from the city centre where you see geysers of hissing, steaming, scalding water roar from deep within the earth’s crust and hurl spray 100ft into the air. The town is surrounded by huge hills which are dormant volcanoes and remind you that potentially this could be a dangerous place! But they haven't had an eruption in 1800 years so reckoned I was safe enough - melting pot of goethermal activity or not!

I stayed in a hostel called Hot Rocks - clever eh? Wasn't bad at all - had a swimming pools and 2 spa pools with natural water piped directly through full of all that sulphuric goodness - bloody hot though!

Great town for shopping too! Stayed for a couple of days again and again mwet some great people so still all good...or as the Kiwi's say Sweet Brother!

HAHEI

Well once again it was time to move on - after leaving the Bay of Islands it was back to Auckland for a couple of days before heading off on my trip around New Zealand. The next destination was Hahei which is in the Coromandel region - unfortunately I didn't get to see much of it as I had developed a stinking cold and was in the foulest mood I had been in since Ireland got knocked out of the World Cup qualifiers! Think it has something to do with the diving - plays havoc with the sinuses and apparently the water pressure forces all the crap out.

Anyway I spent most of the day and night in bed being miserable while everyone else was cooking up a storm on the old barbie... Not much else to tell here really as I missed it all! Shame really as there was a kayak trip around the coast and into the caves which would have been good but ce la vie and all that - its only a couple of hours from Auckland so I can do it when I come back from Oz in the New Year.

RAGLAN

So on to Raglan the next day - Raglan is famous for one thing and that is surfing! They have a Rip Curl event here every year or so I'm told anyway. When the swell is just right you can surf one wave over a mile across the beach, hard to believe but true.

As I wasn't quite over my cold I got off here for a couple of days to rest and recuperate. The hostel we stayed in was great - really secluded set up in the rainforest, with only the birds and gloworms to keep you awake of an evening - absolutely fantastic sunsets as well. So what did I get up to? Well I managed to make it down to the beach....no mean feat let me tell you, was a good hour's stroll (queue lots of hills and knee crunching steps!) away. The beach itself is black - all volcanic sand and not many people on it at all - only competition for the top spots were the surfers and a few other sun worshippers, lots of males ones.......very pleasant viewing even if I say so myself!

Apart from that it was chilling in the hammocks, playing cards with a few others or just sitting around chatting. Another good place to meet some really cool people. Again a top spot and somewhere to go to just chill out and recharge the batteries and of course to admire the scenery (ahem)!

Well I last left you with tales of Auckland - well time moved on as it generally tends to do and I headed on up to the Bay of Islands which is a part of New Zealand called Northlands because bizarrely enough it is in the north of the North Island - didn't see that one coming did ya?!?

The journey up took us through a Kauri reserve - basically it was a forest with Kauri trees. So what I hear you cry....well pay attention - here comes the science...they're a native tree which were logged to near distinction until a protection order was put in them so there's only a few left. The oldest one we saw was somewhere approaching 1000 years old and believe me it was absolutely huge - to give you some concept of how big it would probably take 10 people joining hands around it to measure it. Its a really valuable wood and makes great furniture, blah, blah, blah. Apparently the only way they can use it now is if some is found buried in swamps. Its also the wood the Maori's used to make their canoes so its considered pretty sacred stuff.

Anyway enough of the educational side of things (I can almost hear the snoring....) from there we stopped in at a little town called Warkworth for a quick bite to eat - apparently the property market there has gone through the roof as the Jafa's (remember? Just Another Fu*king Aucklander!) like to pop up there mid morning for a quick coffee..as you do, bit far to drive for a shot of caffeine if you ask me but there you go - those crazy New Zealanders eh!
From there it was on towards Goat Island and on to Whangarei Falls before we reached Paihai - the town I'd love to live in, well I say town but it was more like a little village and it was simply lovely. Extremely laid back, friendly locals, sunny, beach on the doorstep, great sailing, diving, etc, etc - I think you get the idea. Its also the place where New Zealand was effectively born - just around the corner is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed which effectively put New Zealand under the protection of the Commonwealth in exchange for access to fishing, forestry, etc and it stands to this day as the contract between the Maori and the blow ins! Again set in spectacular scenery but then I'm quickly coming to the conclusion there arn't many places here which don't fit that description!

So what did I get up to when I got there? Well I originally only planned to spend a couple of days there but that turned into 2 weeks and then I had to drag myself away. First week was spent between active and completely chilling out - one day was spent taking a day trip up to Cape Reinga which is set on the very Northern tip of NZ - a day driving through rainforests and then stopping on beautiful secluded beaches for a quick dip before hopping back on the bus and making our way to the Cape. The tip itself is dramatic - it is where you get to see 2 oceans clashing - I think from memory its the Pacific and Tasman but couldn't swear on it, was great though, you could really see the difference - one was the clear green and the other was dark blue - all surrounded by rugged wild cliffs and landscapes, definitely worth the trip alone.

From there it was a trip to some massive sand dunes so we could try out dune boarding which was great craic - basically after struggling to get to the top of these huge dunes you fly down them on a boogie board with only your toes to stop you when you get near the bottom! After trying to remove the sand from those awkward spots...it was on to 90 mile beach although in actual fact its only 64 miles long - ladies can you guess that it was originaly measured by a man?!? That was quite amusing too - you shouldn't drive on it in a car as chances are you'll get stuck and there's not much chance of getting out of there - our driver (in a 4 wheel drive bus) showed us the skeletons of some poor unfortunate japanese tourists cars who suffered the fate above. There are also some wild horses who roam up there so that was quite cool to see. And then it was time to head home via New Zealands world famous chip shop which although good wasn't the best I've ever had...chips that is!

Anyway enough of the raving about that particular day trip - the next day took me out on a trip around the Bay by boat with the hope that we would get to go swimming with Dolphins and sure enough some turned up - quick change into a wetsuit later we hopped into the bloody freezing sea and after about 2 mins of the dolphins having a nose around they buggered off again! Bloody inconsiderate wildlife! But that trip gave me a taste for life on the ocean waves so as soon as I was back on terra firma it was straight down to the Info centre to see if I could get myself booked on a sailing course but none were starting in the next few days so the guy invited me to come down to the beach the next day where they were holding a classic sailing boat race and sorted out for me to crew a boat for the day - how sweet is that? Really enjoyed myself and am going back in January to do the full sailing course - 5 days of which you train for 2 days and then take the boat yourself for 3 as well as sleeping on the boat, can't wait!

Then I decided that if I couldn't do something on the water sure I might as well do something under it instead! I booked to do my PADI Open Water scuba diving course - 4 days later I am qualified to dive without an instructor and plan to go diving again very soon. Recommend it to anyone - very wierd at first but gives you a very different way to look at things!

So that's it from the Northlands - met loads of really nice people there, had a great laugh - if you ever come this way go there!

Well I've finally got around to writing this so my apologies to those of you have been waiting with baited breath to see what I have been doing in the first month of my 3 year holiday!

Well where do I begin.....suppose the beginning is as good a place as any! The first leg of the journey took me from the wonderful place that is Aghadowey to the magnificent splendor that is Belfast International Airport - if you haven't been it really is a must, its got Arrivals, Departures and even inside toilets! Oh dear seems like I'm in one of those sarcastic moods so no offense meant to anyone who's easily offended.....things may get worse from here on in.

Caught the flight to London which as usual had a half hour delay on it which did somewhat interfere with my plans to be in the pub by 5 but in my new found wisdom decided that I no longer should be worried about things like delays - I'm sure there'll be plenty more of those as I head around the world. So anyway got to the pub by 6! Spent a pleasant evening sitting outside the boozer in London (outside on the 26th Oct is a very strange thing in London believe me - maybe the sun god was shining down on me to prepare me for my little trip??) so thanks to those that came along and for my leaving prezzies - Ian have to say yours didn't make the suitcase but it is in safe hands....probably being used as a duster as we speak and NO I'm not that pale anymore! And Anna thanks for getting me tipsy again!

Anyway the 27th was spent getting those last minute essentials before heading out to Heathrow to catch my flight - cheers for the sleeping bag and the lift Katie Breen. A gruelling 12hr(?) flight and couple of sleeping pills later I arrived into Kuala Lumpar where I found the showers and the bar (in reverse order of course), 3hrs later I was on my merry way to Auckland and arrived there on the 29th at 12 midday. A couple of hours later I was happily installed in my first backpackers dorm room....and yes the charm of sleeping with 6/7 other people has worn off quite quickly but I'm used to it now and it takes a lot to wake me up although I have been told I do a fine line in snoring every so often - I don't believe a word of it, no one in my family ever snores - isn't that right oh father of mine? Anyway I digress - onto the more important things....next was a quick wander up and down Queen St which is the main rd in Auckand, quickly found a McD's and had breakast/lunch/dinner (not quite sure what it was by that stage!) and then promptly returned to my room where I thought I'd have a quick nap.....4.00 the next morning Bozo here was wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep again - if you're thinking of making your way over here try and stay awake to at least 8pm, it really will help you out with the jet lag.

So its 4am and I'm wide awake wondering whether or not I should just get up, by the way that usually wouldn't require me having a conversation with myself, the usual reaction would normally involve looking at the clock, swearing, then going straight back to sleep but twas not to be oh friends of mine - nope I got my ass out of bed and went down to the 'relaxation area' with my book where I got chatting to a couple of people and we ended up spending the day together doing a few touristy things and then proceeded to get well and truly pissed! One was a guy from Christchurch (South Island, NZ) who is going to put me up for a couple of days next week while he shows me the sights (ahem) and the other was a girl from Wales who I ended up spending the first 2 weeks with and will probably be meeting up with again in a couple of days! How cool was that?!? It's dead easy to meet people - the vast majority of people are travelling on their own so everyone just makes the effort which is really good.

Auckland isn't a bad city - it gets a lot of sh*t from other Kiwis because its just so much bigger than any of the other cities but believe me in comparison to London its sooooo much nicer - the streets are clean, people don't barge past you on the pavements and cars generally don't speed up when they see you trying to cross the road! There's loads to do, lots of nice little suburbs with funky cafes and a really relaxed vibe and generally speaking pretty friendly locals - so friendly in fact that I swapped numbers with a guy caled Chris as he offered to show any of my friends around should they ever come to Auckland. The locals are known elsewhere as JAFA's which I found quite amusing....even more so when I found out what it stood for - Just Another Fu*king Aucklander! Of a country with a population of approx 4 million I believe about 1.5m of those live in Auckland - hence the nickname I guess.

The city itself is very hilly so gets the old lungs and legs working, there are also over 40 volcanos in and around the city so pretty awesome views when you get to the top, highest is Mount Eden which gives a panoramic view of the whole city - another good way to see the city is the Sky Tower, which is the tallest structure in NZ and perhaps the Southern Hemisphere (although don't quote me on that but I think thats right), its a bit like the CN Tower in Toronto just not so high - but high enough that you can jump of it for a small nominal fee - crazy people!

So summary - Auckland is cool, think I'll probably enjoy working there for a while when I come back in January. It isn't as cheap as I thought it was going to be - in fact a pint is the same as it is back home in most of the city bars but hey ho the weather is warm, the city is pretty in a city type way and its on the coast so has some damn fine beaches and the sailing is great!

More later
xx