Land of the Kiwi...fruits?

I arrived in Auckland on Friday and had my first ever hostel experience which was mildly terrifying. When I arrived I was shown to my room (nice but very tiny) where someone was still in bed, which was fine but I didn't really know what to do, so I just grabbed some fresh clothes and darted out the door. I managed to make it into Auckland city centre but realised I had no idea what to do once there as I had left the trusty Lonely Planet Guide behind in my panic to get out of the hostel. Luckily the main tourist attraction in Auckland is very visible- the Sky Tower, which is by far the biggest building in the city. Once at the top the views were amazing, not only of the beautiful landscape, but also of people doing the terrifying Sky Tower drop. This basically involved lowering a poor soul down in front of the viewing tower for everyone to gawk at and holding them there a few moments before dropping them to the ground. Rather them than me! Pretty soon after this I headed back to the hostel and managed to survive the night pretty unscathed.

On Saturday I met up with the girls (Vicky, Lottie and Hannah) and we picked up the campervan- our home for the next three weeks. It was a very exciting moment, well documented with plenty of photos. I'm actually pretty impressed the campervan: much better than I imagined. Its small and compact but surprisingly roomy and fits us all in pretty comfortably. Even the toilet is not too gross, although we had to empty it for the first time yesterday. Not an experience I am looking forward to repeating, though we will have to. I'm definitely learning to love public toilets!

So since we've been in New Zealand we have done a whistle stop tour through North Island. From Auckland we went to Rotoroua- a town famous for its Mauri heritage and thermal springs, which makes it lovely but very smelly. The thermal springs emit a Sulphorous gas which smells of eggs. Delightful. ALthough it is supposed to be very good for your skin. Apparently staying in the town for the day is like having a mini facial!

On Monday we were in Taupo which is home to the biggest lake in North Island (possibly New Zealand? Will have to consult Lonely Planet for this though). Vicky and Lottie did a bungy jump here- the highest water touch bungy in the world. Lottie touched the water, Vicky was fully emersed! Hannah and I refrained from the excitement, instead taking the role of photographers, very unsuccessfully. The weather here has been very unpredictable, much like England. It was freezing yesterday and absolutely tipping it down, which luckily didn't ruin our plans to visit the outdoor thermal pools in the afternoon which were lovely. Today has been brighter and warmer as we've headed to Wellington, but we've been told to make the most of it as the weather is only going to get colder as we head further south. Apparently there is snow in Queenstown already, but hopefully it will be gone by the time we arrive next week. I left England for some sun, but apparently you can escape the country, but you can't escape the weather!