On the road again - Queenstown

Okay, so now I'm back on my travels, and I left Wanaka for my first stop in Queenstown. It was a nice bus ride, and the driver, Lisa, was a real hoot. She first split the bus into two teams and gave us a list of 10 things to bring to the front of the bus, with the first group getting a prize. The list included a phone, an iPod and a Loenly planet guide, as well as boxer shorts/ bra. We then had an individual mini quiz, and I won a drink. We arrived at the Kawarau Bridge after a fashion, and I stood and cringed as some of my fellow Magic passengers took a jump. I also saw a couple jumping tandem whilst both nude. Shortly after that, we arrived into Q'town, and to my surprise the first two people I met in the reception were Jason and Shane-o from Wanaka. I made plans to meet them in the bar, and quickly took my stuff up to the room. Before the night out I needed sustenance, so I decided to takle the legendary Fergburger, which was described as "A very big burger. Unless of course you're from America, because then it's normal size". I decided to have a 'Big Al' and I was so stuffed that I didn't manage to finish my chips. Feeling full, I traipsed back to the bar to meet up with Jason and Shane-o. Many fun and exciting pursuits then ensued, aided (of course) by liberal amounts of alcohol. These included the pub quiz (which we didn't win) and the horizontal bungy. I was paired up with Shana, a girl from London. Before our turn, a very drunk Shane-o took his turn, and he decided to do it stark bollock naked! He managed to stagger far enough to eventually grab the drink before returning it to his partner to skull (well, half ended up on the floor). When it came to our turn I decided to do the running and let Shana drink. I ran and just grabbed the drink bfore I was pinged back. I managed to fall most of the way back to my partner, and we set a very reasonable time of 35 seconds which put us in the lead, with one more pair to go. I watched then next pair, praying for them to fail but sadly they managed 32 seconds. This was actually a blessing in disguise though, as the prize turned out to be a free canyon swing (height + rope + falling = not my cup of tea). I partied for a while longer before managing to stagger back to bed. I awoke the next morning feeling reasonably rough but bearable, only to find that my backpack (which happened to contain my passport, eftpos card, tickets etc.). I tore the room apart, becoming very agitated, before deciding to go down to reception to call somebody. I opened the door to find that the guys who were on the Kiwi bus (and had already left) had lleft it sitting in the hallway outside the door. I was furious, but relieved, and headed into town to get the minibus for my next adventure, jet boating in the skipper's canyon. The bus journey took about an hour to the canyon, but the scenery made it so worthwhile. The driver was alsio very knowledgeable about the gold mining history of the area. We arrived in the canyon and took a half hour jet boat ride, with numerous 360 spins as well as photo ops. Back on dry land and feeling considerably less rough, we were taken to the site of the old pipeline bungy (which we had seen from the canyon). I decided to stay on the cenyon's edge whilst the other walked out onto the bridge, and the bungy's hut (which closed in 2004) looked as if the guys had gone home for lunch. There were even signs up advertising prices. We then took the winding gravel road back out of the canyon, to civilization. Once back in Queenstown I decided to head out to the gondola and Luge (just like the one in Sentosa but with better views). It was so much fun and a great way to round off the afternoon. I grabbed a lovely, healthy and filling (not) meal from McDonald's before catching a bus out to the suburb of Frankton, which has a Warehouse (I needed some new jeans). After that I made my way back into town for a quiet night in the TV lounge, before an early night to be up for the bus the next day.

Day 12 - The Tongariro Crossing

I had an early start on day 12, and so I suffered for the previous night's antics at the Poker table. After a quick brekkie I got my stuff together and headed out to wait on the bus. When it arrived I was disconcerted to find none of the others on it, but I just assumed that they were on another bus. Despite trying my best not to, I fell back asleep on the bus and I awoke when we stopped at a hire store, where people were given the opportunity to hire walking poles or boots. I decided to stick with my comfy trainers and then we headed out towards the track. I felt much better for the sleep and I got ready to set off as soon as we arrived. I assumed that the other guys were probably ahead and resigned myself to doing the trail alone. Lucky I had brought my I-pod. After 20 mins of walking I reached the Mangatepopo hut and stopped to use the toilet. i also grabbed a quick snack before heading on my way. I reached the path and ended up behind a familiar looking group. Believe it or not, I had found the other Guys, Ingmar, Anouk, Paddy and Emma. We headed on and found the path to Soda Springs to be quite easy. We stopped there for a short while before heading on to tackle the Devil's steps. I kid you not, they were EVIL. They seemed to go on forever, and each new flight of steps up the mountain made your thighs burn even more. By the end, I was about ready to turn and head back, if it wasn't for the fact that I'd have to go down the steps. I pushed myself, and found that we were in a large, flat crater. It was so amazing to find this strange plateau on the mountain, almost an acre of completely flat, desolate landscape. Apart from the steady stream of walkers, of course. We reached another climb, which was tough, and then stopped at the high point for a break. We decided to push on slightly further before stopping to have lunch. We stopped for lunch on a rocky area next to the red crater, and the views of the route ahead and the green and blue lakes was amazing. Paddy was slightly concerned, however, because we were on top of a volcano and there was steam. I explained to him that it was normal, but he didn't seem convinced, and so I told him that the ground was also hot. After that we decided to head off and we set off down a slope which seemed to me to be like a vertical cliff. Paddy helped to talk me down slowly, and we leaned into the slope and sort of jumped down, allowing the gravel to slow our descent. We reached the bottom in one piece (thankfully) and set off along the track toward the blue lake. Just before the blue lake there was a small climb, which seemed like no problem until I got a touch of extremely painful cramp in my knee. I stumbled the rest of the way to the lake, and then stopped and sat for awhile. I seemed ok after a rest, and I continued on towards the Kaitiahe hut. The path was quite cruel, because although the hut wasn't far away, the path kept zig-zagging and it took a good hour or two to reach. When I arrived I caught up with Paddy and Emma, and joined the very long line for the toilet. By the time I had finished, Ingmar and Anouk had arrived. I waited for them and we stopped for food. Emma and Paddy went on ahead and I set off later with Ingmar and Anouk. We walked down a still winding track and after we passed a sign showing that we were at the last of the 16.9 kilometers, we descended into what was almost rain forest. I went on ahead of the girls, and the last k seemed endless, walking through this dense forest. After what seemed like hours I finally arrived, exhausted, at the bus pick-up point. Ingmar and Anouk arrived about 10 mins later. The buses arrived after about half an hour and I got put onto the same bus as the guys, because the other bus had to wait for some stragglers. When I arrived back at the hostel the first thing I did was book the bus to the hot spa. It was gorgeous for my aching muscles, and the hour or so I spent there did me the world of good. I had no trouble sleeping that night.

Day 10 - Rotorua - Wasted Plans, A Pool and a Trip to the Cinema

I had planned to go for a walk on day 10. I was gonna explore some of the natural geothermal areas in Rotorua. The weather changed that, though. It was raining when I got up to go for a walk, and so I decided to go and find something else to do. First, I researched some more on the Tongariro Crossing at the I-site. Then I took a stroll through the town where I came upon an indoor shooting range. I took a few shots with an air rifle, and, upon hitting nothing, gave up. I then ambled about town until I came upon the cinema. Oh, well. Why not catch a movie? I watched Sherlock Holmes and I quite enjoyed it. I then headed back to the hostel and took a swim in the pool, as it had stopped raining. I the went back to the room, where I got chatting to one of the other guests, and we talked about our travels for quite a while. It's just a shame that I can't remember the guy's name. After that, It was yet another early night for me.

Day 8 - Paihia to Auckland - Dolphins, Detours and a Distinct Lack of Food.

The bus which turned up to take me back to Auckland was a surprise. It was a small minibus towing a trailer. The 1st stop of the trip was in the small town of Rawene which was completely dead. It was meant to be a breakfast stop. We didn't stay too long before we headed onto somewhere with food. The next stop was the joint towns of Opotiki and Opononi, where there was still no place to get food. We passed straight through and headed just out of town to a cafe just up the hill, where the views were brilliant. After breakfast, we headed back into Opononi. We stopped at the i-site where there was a small museum with a section dedicated to Opo the dolphin. A little while after we had left Opononi we visited ancient Waipoua forest, home of Tane Mahuta, a 51.2m high giant kauri tree believed to be between 1250 and 2500 years old. According to Maori mythology Tāne is the son of Ranginui the sky father and Papatuanuku the earth mother. Tāne was the child that tore his parent’s parental embrace and once done set about clothing his mother in the forest we have today. All living creatures of the forest are regarded as Tāne’s children. The pictures were pretty amazing. Next stop was the Kauri Museum at Matakohe. This was a very interesting museum, which told the story of the Kauri logging industry before the harvesting of wood from living Kauri was banned. it also had a really good gift shop with very reasonable prices. I got a Kauri egg identical to those in the Ancient Kauri Kingdom for only $5. It was 35000 years old and made from a piece of swamp Kauri. I also go a piece of ancient Kauri gum (hardened sap, not for chewing). We then got underway back to the Big Little City, and Bex, our deriver , told us that there were going to be huge tailbacks on SH1. Instead, we took a detour along SH16, which passed through Kaukapakapa, an area of outstanding scenery. We even took a little rest stop at a lookout with a couple of long drop toilets. We arrived back in Auckland only slightly behind schedule, and I got dropped at my hostel, where I checked in and got myself some food. After that, I went down to the Globe Bar to get a drink (I still had some free drink vouchers from the previous stay) and I watched the killer pool competition, which was played on two table side by side, with one person to a table. The first person to clear their table won, and the black got potted last. It was quite good. After I had run out of free drinks I headed back upstairs to bed. 

Day 7 - The Morning After

When I woke up on new Years Day, i definitely felt a bit rough. The sunlight was blinding, my mouth felt like sandpaper, and I had the grand union railroad's entire construction team working in my head. I staggered off to the toilet and then headed to the kitchen for a drink. I then found that sometime the previous evening I had misplaced my glasses, and remembered handing them to 'Jesus'. I decided to have a shower (I stunk) before heading back to the house of the party to find my glasses. I went over there and I searched everywhere I could remember going before admitting defeat and leaving the guy my phone number to get in touch if he found them. I then headed back to the hostel and decided to go to relax on the beach for a while. I took a short swim, but I still didn't feel quite right so I decided to head to the hostel's pool and hot spa, instead. I relaxed for at least an hour before I got a gall from the guy to tell me that he had found a pair of glasses. I headed over straight away, and there they were. Jesus must have put them on the edge of the guy's decking, out of the way. I headed back to the hostel and crashed in the TV lounge for a while, swam in the pool some more and just lazed about for the rest of the day, before getting my packing done for the next day. I went to bed quite early, to hopefully feel better the next day.

Day 5 - Cape Reinga - Scotch Mist

The day of the Cape Reinga day trip dawned, and the weather seemed to be a good metaphor of how i was feeling after the previous night. It was grey and drizzly with fog. The first place we visited was a huge great big Kauri Tree in a natural Kauri forest. This was somewhere that the queen had visited, and they had built a wooden walkway especially for her visit. We took a short walk through the forest before heading back to the bus. The next stop was the town of Taipa, which is believed to be the first Maori landing point. We stopped there to pick up some lunch from the bakery, and to use the toilets, which were bogging! The doors didn't lock properly, they stunk and they were outside.We then headed straight onwards to Cape Reinga, which is believed to be the departure point for souls as they leave New Zealand and head towards the ancient lands of Hawaiki. When we arrived, we found that the fog had closed in completely, and we could only just se the lighthouse. We couldn't see the meeting of the sea, or the ancient tree form whose branches the souls apparently leap. I took a quick picture in my kilt, but was pretty disappointed with the lack of view. We clambered back aboard the bus, a bit downhearted, and our driver, Dice, told us not to worry, because the sand boarding would be fast and fun. To get to the Te Paki giant sand dunes we had to pass through the Te Paki stream, which was quite a bumpy ride. We stopped the bus right in the middle of the stream, on a sand bank, and we disembarked to try our hand at sand boarding. First we had some safety instructions, and we were warned not to dig our feet in if the sand was too hard packed by the rain, but it turned out to be quite soft, which made it easier to go slower, and harder to get up the sand dune. It was awful climbing up, as every few steps forward brought another step or two of sliding back. We reached the top and proceeded to throw ourselves down the dune on body boards. it was great, fast fun. On my first turn i lost grip of the board and stopped at the bottom of the slope by means of my face. It didn't help that I had been trying not to hit the idiot who was standing in my way. I got up, unscathed but with a faceful of sand, and headed back up the dune to try again. The next time I managed to hold on, and I made it all the way into the stream. Great success. That was me for sand boarding, however, as I couldn't quite summon the energy to try to get back up the dune again. After everyone had given up on the sand boarding, we got back on the bus and headed to the beach itself. We arrived and took a short drive along before stopping again for a photo op. A few of us (myself included) decided to go for a swim, and we took of into the Tasman Sea and jumped waves for a few minutwes. The water was cool and refreshing, and the waves were a great height for jumping. A short while later we were really motoring along the beach when the bus driver pointed out an arch of rock jutting out in the Tasman. 'See that', he announced, 'that's the real hole in the rock. At low tide, I can drive you through it. The one at Cape Brett is just a fiberglass copy, so the boats don't get scratched.' I should now explain to you that it is typical kiwi humor to make fun of tourists by telling them any old rubbish to see how much they believe. He also told us why Ninety Mile Beach, which is not 90 miles long, is called Ninety Mile Beach. There are two stories. The first is that the Aussies have an 80-mile beach. The second is that a ranch owner at Cape Reinga used to drive his bullocks to market down the length of the beach. he knew that the bullocks could travel 30 miles a day, and it took 3 days to cover the beach, so 90 mile beach. He forgot that bullocks walk slower on sand. I don't know which, if either, is true, so believe what you want. We kept on going down the beach, and eventually we pulled alongside one of the other companies' buses. We started to pull ahead, and they started to pull back, and we ended up drag racing. It was a bit futile, since both buses were the same model and engine capacity, but our driver used dirty tactics, and turned the air-con off to get 2 extra horsepower. We pulled ahead, and won the race. After we had left the beach we drove onward for another 20 minutes or so before reaching the Ancient Kauri Kingdom, a large gift shop which sells many different objects made from ancient kauri trees which have been found perfectly preserved in a swamp with the oldest workable timber ever found. I took a look around and found the prices to be extortionate, and although i was tempted to buy an egg made from the wood for $15, i decided not to bother. The last stop on the way home was at the Mangonui fish shop, which is supposedly world famous. Well, I don't know about world famous, but at $7 for a fish supper, it was certainly cheap. We spent about half an hour there before we headed back to Paihia. On my return I decided to try to get some accommodation for new years and stay in Paihia, and i found a bed for the night of the 1st in the YHA, so all I would have to do is pull an all-nighter over new years eve, something which I felt was doable. I then headed back to the base to phone Auckland and tell them the good news, when the receptionist at base told me that there was plenty of room there for all of the New Year period, because the last Kiwi bus had arrived with 27 less people than they had saved beds for. Result! I headed back to the YHA and quickly cancelled my booking. I then headed to the hostel pool for a little while. after this I decided that I needed to get some shopping, and I was going to walk along the bay to the Woolworth supermarket (no relation to the defunct British store) which was down by Waitangi, but I saw the bus going towards the treaty grounds for the night show. I decided to try to blag a lift, and it worked! The driver dropped me off right on  the end of the supermarket's street. I managed to get quite a few good deals, such as 2 packs of sausages for $6, and a whole 700g block of un-iced Christmas cake for $2! I then took the walk back to the hostel and , felling shattered from the long day and the long walk, I had an early night.

Day 4 - Ladies' Night

When I woke up on day 4, still on the boat, the first thing I did was go for a swim before breakfast. It still wasn't cold, but it really woke me up. Breakfast was a bowl of the traditional kiwi dish - porridge (okay, so it's Scottish, but it was still good). Shortly after, we anchored in another bay and we went snorkeling, to collect urchins with which to make the traditional Japanese sushi dish, uni (oo-knee). We then moved to another bay, near Robertson island, and we took a trip over to the beach, a few of us (including myself) kayaked over, and the rest took the tender across. We had a good few hours on the beach, and took a walk to the crest of one of the island hills and we got 360° views of the bay of islands. We then headed back towards Paihia, and I played pool on the boat with the American couple's two sons. It was great fun, because every time you got a shot lined up, the balls moved about the table from the rocking of the boat. Shortly before we were due to arrive in Paihia, we were called to the back of the boat to try some uni. This is prepared by sticking a knife straight into a live sea urchin, splitting it in two and scooping out the innards. The egg sacks are then collected and these are uni. it's actually not as gross as it sounds, and it don't taste too bad, either. It's slightly salty and creamy. Shortly after that, we arrived back in Paihia and we were dropped off on the wharf by the tender. I headed off to the base hostel to check in and pick up my bags. as soon as I was moved in, I jumped in what is claimed to be the smallest hostel pool in the world, certainly in New Zealand. Saying that, there was still room to swim. I had the hostel's barbecue for tea, because i couldn't be bothered cooking. I found out that it was going to be the hostel's ladies' night, and all the men had to dress as women. I thought 'why not?', and I decided to wear my kilt as a skirt, with my pink shirt tied to make a crop top. I stuffed it with my kilt socks, but I could have done with bigger boobs. When I arrived in the bar, I found out that there a was a 'Miss Pipi Patch' competition, with the prize being a free sky dive. I decided to go for it, and if I won, I would actually give skydiving a go. Thankfully, I didn't win, I got beaten by another guy in a dress. I got knocked out in the first round, limbo dancing. I was glad I didn't get to the final, as there were two blokes left, and it was a snog off between them. after the competition had finished, I headed to bed, to get a good night's sleep before the Cape Reinga day trip the next day. 

Day 3 - Auckland to Pahia - The boat that rocked

On day 3 I luckily woke up before my recently acquired alarm clock. especially lucky because I had discovered that it had somehow gone from being on time to 15 minutes late in the space of one night. I headed downstairs, checked out, had some toast and quickly packed an overnight bag. I then went down to wait for the bus to Paihia. The bus arrived shortly after, and we headed for our first stop of the day, the 'Top of the Dome' cafe. This was a quaint little diner, situated upon a hilltop and with a small selection of puzzles to keep customers occupied. We waited for a while, as Scoobs, the driver, had to head back the the last town we had passed to pick up some more folk. We then headed further north, stopping shortly in Whangarei. We got into Paihia for lunchtime, and so I had some time to kill before I was due to embark on a cruise on board the Rock boat cruise. I popped over to base Pipi Patch, which was to be my accomodation for the following night, and I made use of their luggage storage room to get rid of the heaviest of my bags. I then spent $10 on a ferry ticket across to Russell, which is often misquoted as being the 'first capital of New Zealand' (i.e. under British rule). It is not, in fact, that honour going to a small town outside of Russell known as Okiato, which was capital until 1841 and was called Russell until 1841, until the name was transferred to Kororareka, modern day Russell. However, as a favored stopping point for some long distance sailors, Russell did become known as the 'hellhole of the pacific', a name which no longer applies, and today it is known as 'Romantic Russell'. I didn't really find much to interest myself in Russell, although I did find it to be very similar to Devonport. I had some fish and chips, which weren't really anything to blog about, and I took the ferry back over to Paihia. I wandered about the town center for a while, and eventually it was time to board the tender for 'the Rock'. Well, it wasn't actually their tender, whose engine was having a break for Christmas, but a scuba diving company'y rib, onto which 19 people were crammed, all of us leaning over the side and holding on for dear life. We reached 'the Rock' and were helped aboard by John, the captain. Whilst the rest of the guests were collected, we met the rest of the crew, Mink, Ben, Olten and Lizzy. We were then shown to our rooms before assembling back downstairs for the shooting competition. This was a 'duck shoot', the target being Matilda, the plastic Aussie duck who was riding in the boat's wake. I hit her on the first go, and got through to the second round. I then shot her again, and won a free drink. When we arrived at our anchoring point shortly after, we got ready for a spot of fishing. it took a while for the fish to start to bite, but then we were catching Snapper thick and fast, and sadly all too small, so they had to be thrown back. We then had a barbecue which was gorgeous, with a huge range of salads with steak and sausages. I sat with a nice American family who I had gotten talking to, and we got put into a group together for the night kayaking. Happily, it also happened to be the first group going out, and at about 9pm, when it was pitch black, we all got our life jackets on and mounted out Kayaks. Although I didn't see the famed luminescence, the view of the constellations out there was breathtaking. You could see everything so clearly, even the great Magellanic cloud was visible. After we had finished kayaking, and the other groups started to go out, a few of us jumped in for a swim. I was surprised at the temperature of the water, which wasn't exactly warm, but didn't feel cold either. It was so relaxing, and after that, I got a great night's sleep.

The Overlander - 12 hours of non-stop scenery

Another escape from Napier was my trip to Wellington To Auckland by train. I managed to get a bargain ticket (only $49). First I took the Inter City coach from Napier to Wellington. This was my first foray into Coach travel in NZ, and the coaches were spacious and comfortable (I will not judge too much on legroom, as I am an exception). The coach trip to Wellington took 6 hours, but there were plenty of breaks to use the toilet and a food stop at Palmerston North. I got into wellington at the Train station (The coach bay is next to platform 9), and went off to find out where my hostel was. It turned out to be in Courtenay place, more than walking distance form the station, and so I caught a bus. The hostel, base Wellington turned out to be clean and not too cramped, with a good bar down in the basement (actually called, *sigh* basement bar). This was my first foray into the base chain of hostels, and it was a good impression. I had a few days in Wellington, and on the first day I visited Te Papa, the big museum which stands out as one of the greatest exhibition of NZ and Maori culture. I spent the whole day there, and could have happily spent longer. There were so many attractions, including a 4-D cinema, where the chairs were on Hydraulics, and an interactive floor map of New Zealand, where you could step on an area and be rewarded with pictures and stories from that area, which flashed up on the wall. I even dined in the cafe, where the fish and chips were gorgeous, definitely the best I've had in New Zealand so far. The batter was melt-in-the mouth and the chips, although obviously of the frozen variety, were cooked to perfection. On return to my hostel in the evening I went down to the bar and had a few drinks. I made friends with a couple of girls who were travelling round NZ in a 'van. we arranged to meet up the next night (Guy Fawkes' night) and go to the botanical gardens before the fireworks. The following day we walked right through town and up the hill to the gardens, which were quite pretty, if a little uninteresting, and then we headed up the hill to find a good view. We didn't quite make it to the summit, but we did find a giant ear trumpet (well, that's what it looked like), and a children's play area with a small flying fox (well, it was quite fun). We headed back down the hill and found a quaint little Chinese restaurant. Where we had lunch. We then split and agreed to meet up later back at their van for the fireworks. That evening, we went out onto the harbor front and watched a jet-ski race, followed by some powerboats (one tipped, but everyone was ok). Later, when the sun went down, there was a fireworks spectacular, orchestrated between two barges in the harbor. After that, we headed back to their van for a couple of drinks, and we were sitting down when a policeman came knocking on the window. "Is this the party bus?" he enquired. One of the girls actually invited him in, but he refused. Later, when we were finishing off the dregs of our alcohol, another policeman cam knocking and told us it was a liquor ban area and that we weren't supposed to be drinking. We showed him that we were pretty much finished, and he told us that he wouldn't do anything this time, but if another policeman came knocking, he might not be so lenient. This time one of the girls asked is she could borrow his hat for a photo, but the policeman refused, claiming 'hygiene reasons'. After that, we finished off the last of our drink and I headed back to my hostel, off to bed before the train the next day. The following morning, I got up at 5am for the train, and I was witing at the bus stop at 6am. There was also an older American couple waiting, who ere also getting on the train. We waited for 15mins, and there was still no sign of the bus, and then a taxi pulled up. we agreed to share it, and split the bill. However, when we got to the other side, they refused to take a cent from me, telling me that they would have had to pay the same anyway. We checked our bags in for the train, and were assigned our seats. They were in coach A, and I was in coach P. Oh, well, I told them, it was nice meeting you. We headed to the train, and discovered (to my surprise) that there were only 4 coaches, named, in order, coach A, coach P, coach B and coach C. (Later examination showed that the sign on P was just a B with the bottom part covered. i reached my seat and found that I was in a seat with a lack of legroom, and so I headed to see the guard. after some hustle and bustle, I was finally seated in coach A, which was definitely the place to be, with a Lounge at the back and a huge plate glass window that let you look right along the track behind you. it was amaszing, and the views were immense. I got some great shots of mount Ruapehu, and Tongariro. Although the trip was 12 hours loong, it was really worthwhile, and we saw views that you just wouldn't see by road. We also traversed the Rumeru spiral, whis wound its way right around the mountainside. Also, at the start of the journey that guard told us over the tannoy to take 'only 20 mins each in the lounge', but no-one seemed to want to come to the lounge, so a small group of us spent several hours there, and I had pretty much moved in there by the end of the journey. When we arrived in Auckland I was tired and hungry after such a lonmg journey, and I headed to my hostel,base ACB, which was entirely contained in a tower block, with reception on floor 3. I took my room on floor 6 and dumped my stuff, before heading out for food. I had an early night that night, because I was just so exhausted after all that sitting around all day. The next day I got up early and had a chat to Krystal, the gir who worked at the travel desk.She told me that I could get a magic buss north island discovery pass for $450, and get the south island pass, woth $600, for $1. That sounded like a good deal, and I considered it as I took a trip out to mount rangitoto. To get there I had to take a ferry from the harbour to rangitoto island, a volcanic island in the mouth of auckland harbour. I then took the tour around the island, on a tractor-trailor. It was a good ride, and i got some great pics, especially from the top of the mountain, which is a dormant volcano which erupted and appeared from the sea floor several hundred years ago. It was also used as a long distance early warning watchtower during the second world war, when there was a threat of invasion from Japan. On my return to the hostel that evening I had made up my mind, and I bought a magic bus pass, which I bough several add-ons for, such as the total Northland, covering from Aucland up to Pahia and Cape Reinga and back. I also bought the Milford and Catlins Combo, covering the very south of he south Island, and including a day trip to the milford sound. As well as this, I bought base jumping vouchers, which is a deal with the Bbase group of hostels, giving 11 nights accomodation for the price of 10, and free drink vouchers every night. It's a really good deal. I was then all set for my big trip around New Zealand, which is the focus of the rest of this blog. The following day I took the trip back on the bus to Napier from Auckland, a 7 hour journey which passed through some nice scenery, but nothing so epic. I arrived back to Napier that afternoon, and the planning began for the big trip.