On the day of the bus to Rotorua I waited outside the base hostel I was staying at, and waited for the bus. The bus didn't come at the proposed time, so I waited some more. After a little while longer, I got a bit worried, and I decided to wait a short while longer. Luckily, the bus did turn up. The driver, Murray, told me that I was supposed to be at the Magic office, and I told him that I was told to be at the hostel. He told me not to worry, since he had come to check and it was all good, so I got on the bus. When I got on to the bus, I started talking to Emma, a doctor from Guernsey who was living in Ireland, and had been on the bus the day before. She was travelling with her roommate, Paddy. I also got talking to Ingmar and Anouk, two Dutch girls who had also been on the bus from Paihia the previous day. Our first stop of the day was at the top of Mount Eden, where you can get 360 degree views of Auckland City. It was from here that Ingmar made a couple of calls and got accommodation for herself, Anouk, Paddy and Emma. We then headed down and out of the city towards the town of Thames, our first stop of the day. We Stopped for a break here, and The five of us visited to grocery store and decided to get some meat and veges and have a barbecue that evening at their hostel. We also discussed the possibility of doing the Tongariro crossing together. The next stop was Paeroa (again), and it was here that I met Pugsy Jr Jr, Emma's mascot who has pictures taken everywhere. She has more at home who are bigger, and these are called Pugsy and Pugsy Jr. I took the initiative and decided to bring out Edwin, a small teddy bear that my mum had given me, and so Edwin T Bear got the first of a few photos taken. The next stop of the day was Matamata, also known as Hobbiton. Here we got some more pictures of Edwin and Pugsy, and some of me in my kilt. We arrived into Rotorua shortly after 3pm and headed first to Tamaki heritage village for those who were going to the cultural show that evening to pick up their tickets. We then headed to Whakarewarewa Maori Village (pronounced Phuka rewa rewa). We dropped off all those that were visiting, which included Emma, Paddy, Ingmar and Anouk, and the rest of us headed off to the redwood forest. I decided to draw some inspiration from a certain nursery rhyme, and i took many photos of 'Edwin's Forest Adventure'. After that, we headed back to Whakarewarewa to pick up the rest of the guys before hostel drop-off. I got dropped off last, and I checked in and got my stuff together before I headed off to the barbecue at the other guys' hostel. We had sausages, steaks and salad and it was gorgeous, and really filling. After I had bid them goodnight, I headed down to an Internet cafe for a while, before going back to the hostel for an early night.
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