Kia Ora from the Land of the Long White Cloud!

Kia Ora! (That is a Maori greeting meaning hello!) Currently in Taupo, New Zealand and I am absolutely in LOVE with this country! It has been incredible!

We flew into Auckland and left for Waitomo the next morning on the Magic Bus. When we got there we decided to do a Black Labyrinth Cave Tubing experience in a cave called Tia Amo. We passed cows on the road and trekked to the caves in gumboots and wet suits...I wasnt really sure what to expect! We decended into the dark damp cave and it was just wild...first we trecked through navigating our way through mud and rock, in knee deep water. Then we got into a lot deeper water and got into little tubes...then in the pitch dark we navigated the caves in tubes and looked at the glow worms all around us...they looked like tons and tons of stars in a pitch black sky...it was almost romantic...except we were in freezing cold water in a random cave instead of on a picnic blanket and we were looking at worms not stars!! I jumped backwards over a little waterfall and even went down a waterslide in the cave...it was definately an amazing experience!






That evening we drove into Rotorua and warmed ourselves up before going to a traditional Tamaki Maori Haka and Hangi. We got to see a Maori Village and eat food that had been cooked under the earth, and hear their songs and dances...it was so facinating.

Rotorua is a place of extreme geothermal activity and is right on the pacific rim plate...most of it is on volcanic area. So in Rotorua you walk around and see random areas of geothermal activity, meaning holes in the ground with steam coming out and violent bubbling mudpools! So i went to Wai-O-Tapo lonesome which is a geothermal wonderland and I saw tons of craters, sulpher pools of beautiful colors and lots of mudpools. I also went to a ropes course and jumped off of a 50 foot podium thing and swung around...it was free fall for a couple of seconds and it was an awesome rush! I feel like i've found my second wind here in New Zealand...

From Rotorua we came to Taupo, and yesterday we checked out some stores and nightlife. Today I decided to do a horse trek and I was the only one doing it so it was more like a private lesson. It was absolutely incredible...i think i really am a cowgirl at heart! I picked out a rugged pair of cowboy boots and my horse was a lovely chocolate brown wild breed named Mokai. We trekked along the country side and i got a breathtaking view of Lake Taupo...which is the largest crater lake in the world. We also had a little entorage of fantails following us! Tomorrow we are going to hike to a random hot spring river in the area and relax before taking a trek around the lake!



Then its off to Mount Manganui, Thames and Auckland!