Kirtsty took me to the airport this morning, where I met the others. Than we flew to Wellington via Christchurch. When we arrived in Wellington our tour manager, Haley, picked us up with the bus and we went to the hostel. There we met the other students doing the tour with us. In the whole we were about 32 students and 3 managers. In the evening we had dinner tougether and after that went to bed.
at the airport
2. Day: Wellington- Taupo
This morning we had breakfast in the hostel. At 9am we left the hospital and went to New Zealands national museum 'Te Papa', where we learned many things about NZ history and culture. After that we had a 5 hours drive to Taupo on which we watched the first movie of ' The Lord of the Rings'. We arrived at 5 pm in Taupo and had dinner tougether. After the dinner we went to thermal hot pools, which were really hot. About 40°C. We all relaxed well after the long drive.
house in 'Ta Papa' where you could feel how earthquakes feel
in the garden of 'Te Papa'
maori ship
3. Day Taupo-Rotorua
In the morning we walked a round Taupo and saw lake Taupo. After that we were taken to the Taupo Bungy jump side. Some of our group jumped down but I didn't because I was to scared. Later we went back on the coach and drove to Rotorua. On the way we stopped two times to see the famous 'Huka falls' and some boiling mud pools. In Rotorua we went to the skyline where we got up with the Gondola and had three rides down with the luge. it's kind of a ''Sommerrodelbahn''. In the evening we had free time to see the town.
at lake Taupo
lake Taupo
bungy jump
Huka falls
boiling mud pools
skyline gondola
at the luge
This morning we went to a Maori museum 'Te Puia' where we saw a maori wellcoming ceremony but also geysers, boiling mud pools (they smell really bad) and two little kiwi birds!! In the afternoon the half of the group went to a fun park and the other part, including me, went to a small river to go water rafting. That was really fun because we rafted down a 7m high waterfall and one of our four boots flipped over. :) In the evening we left the hostel again to go to Tamaki a maori village. There we were shown how Maoris lived in pre european times and in the end we had a real maori hangi for dinner. Hangi is meat and vegetables cooked over hot stone in a hole in the ground. It tastes very differend and a litttle bit like earth and sand. I really enjoyed this evening and I learned so much about New Zealand and Maoris.
7 meters waterfall
our boat
the group
geyser
Maori performing the peace dance
Hangi
5. Day: Rotorua- Raglan
On our fifth day of the tour we left Rotorua in the morning and went to Hobbiton in Middle Earth, zhe movie set of 'Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit'. We had a guided tour around the set and saw many, many hobbit holes. When we arrived in Raglan we all were very surprised because our accommodation was not in town but in the middle of no where in the rainforest. I liked it very much but some of our group really didn't like it. In the evening we cooked dinner tougether and after that all the girls had to dress the boy like girls. That was so funny and we laught a lot.
movie set
the famous party tree
back end- home of Bilbo and Frodo
in a hobbit hole
view from our room in Raglan
6. Day: Raglan
Surfing day!!!! This morning we went to the beach with some surfing instrutors. First they told us something about water savety and how to stand up on the board. Than we were devided in two groups and the first group went into the water. The second group, in which I was, played touch at the beach. After one hour the first group came out of the water and we went in. That was really funny and I was able to stand on the board and catch a wave for a few times. ;) In the evening we lighted a fire and enjoyed the warm evening.
learning how to stand on a board
first group
7. Day: Raglan- Paihia
We left Raglan early in the morning because we had a long way to Paihia a head of us. On the way we stopped a few times to see some 800 years old Kaori trees, the famous Kawa Kawa toilets and a big battle ground where the last faught between Maoris and Europeans took place. In the afternoon, when we arrived in Paihia we went to the Waitangi grounds where the treaty of Waitangi was signed. It's the treaty between Maori and Europeans not to fight anymore and to live in peace next to eachother. After dinner, where we had Natshos, we had a competition in groups of four. ''Who takes the funniest pictures''.
battle ground
kawa kawa toilets
treaty house
big tree!!!
800 year old kaori tree
8. Day: Paihia
A Bus picked us up this morning infront of the hostel for our 90 miles beach and Cape Reinga trip. We went through a rain forest and a long the 90 miles beach. After a few hours we stopped infront of some dunes to go sand surfing. That was really fun but we only did it twice because we always had to climbe up the dunes first. Later we went on to Cape Reinga, the northern end of New Zealand where the two oceans come tougether. (you can actually se them comming tougether). In the afternoon we drove back home to the youth hostel.
90 miles beach
Cape Reinga
18029 km from home :)
oceans comming tougether
9. Day: Paihia- Auckland
This morning I had to get up at 5am because we went sky diving in the sunrise. It was very beautiful and I really enjoyed it!!! I jumped at 4km out of the plane which was really scarry and had about 30 seconds free fall. After the sky dive we went to a boat cruse in the Bay of islands where we were allowed to do snorkling and kajaking. It was amazing because we saw many fish and the islands with holes in it. In the afternoon we traveled to Auckland and had a free evening there.
my parashoot
infront of the plane
free falling :)
snorkling
Bay of islands with hole in the rock
in a hole
10. Day: Auckland/ City of Sailes
This morning we went to the Auckland Skytower. Some of our groupe jumped down the 190 meter jump but most of us just enjoyed the beautiful view from up there. We had a free afternoon and I went to the habour with all the sailing ships. The evening was really sad because we had our last dinner tougether and had to say goodbuy to everybody.
Skytower
great view from the platform
in the harbor
As you see I had a pretty awesome trip with lots of fun!!! And really...New Zealand is the most beautiful country!!!!!!
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