Jesse and I are in a town called Taupo. This is the adventure capital of the North Island, and is known for it's amazing species of fish transplanted from the Mcleod River in Northern California. There is a massive lake named after the town with over forty rivers pouring into it. We have had an onward struggle with the rain here. Hopefully it will stick a little more in the upcomming days.
Jess is really excited to be here. :O) We are staying at a Base Hostel ( the largest chain in the country). It is not bad. Over the last few days we have been in 1) Rotorua - known as sulphur city. It has geysers, hot springs and the Maori tribal experience where you learn all about the native history and culture. We had the opportunity to visit a farm "show" on the way out of town. It was so funny. We saw around 17 species of sheep that are bred here in NZ. We also were able to watch a sheep hearding demonstration. There was also an adventure stop where I took a ride on the swoop! I had a freefall of like 2 seconds before the swing caught and swung the rest of the way down.....anyways it was eXciting.:O)
2) Waitomo was the next stop. Here we went black water rafting!! Yeah, it was such an experience! We all put on wetsuits hard hats and got an inter tube to fit our bums, then went in for a caving adventure. Much of it we walked through but most of the second half we floated through a huge cave with a narrow river. Everybody turned off their headlights and we had hundreds of little glow worms all over the ceiling. This was fun and very different. We spent the night there and the next day took a trip to the coast to...
3) Raglan- featured in the 1966 epic film Endless Summer, for it's amazing surf. We got there and the surf was not so amazing but did show extreme potential.... The hostel was awesome! It was built and started by a surfer from LA along with his (surfer) wife. I enjoyed the lush bush all around and the relaxed atmosphere. I will put up a photo. We left much earlier than expected (the next day) and went back to Waitomo with just enough daylight to go on a bushwalk. We started in bush then through some hills and cow-land, back along a creek, more pastures, back to bush and ending in the same area as our caving adventure. We explored a couple caves entering near the that spot we floated out of, then did a walk after dark where we saw hundreds more glow worms all over the rocky walls. We had a blast. That night we met a girl form Vienna, Austria. We did a bit of walking with her and then had dinner together at the nicest place in the little town. I walked in with mud covered sandals and hiking clothes...this is all part of backpacking! The food was AMAZING ( Roast lamb rump, cous cous of with pistachio yams and pomegranate) just savory.
So that was last night.... we are here now in Taupo and will be here all tomorrow and we will see after that. Love you all and miss you. Jessica
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