Our final few hours in Sydney saw us waking up at the crack of dawn to catch our early morning flight to Auckland. We were planning on getting the first timetabled bus of the day at 5:20am but instead it didn’t stop and carried on straight past us as if four people with massive backpacks were invisible. This set back meant we had to flag down a taxi to take us to central station. Our taxi driver seemed keen on taking us straight to the airport because it’d ‘be cheaper’. Now normally we would jump at the chance of saving money but based on our last few experiences with Sydney cab drivers and the fact that this one sounded like Gru from Despicable Me, we weren’t so keen. We didn’t quite trust the quote he was giving us (especially because the predicted fare started at $40 and then kept changing to $50 or ‘possibly under’). During this taxi ride he called us ‘strange people’ for not trusting him (who could blame us when the last few taxi rides have been so bad) and told us ‘good luck’ when we finally got to central station to catch the train to the airport. Due to all of this arguing, we managed to miss going over the Harbour Bridge for the final time. Not quite the journey we had hoped for at half 5 in the morning!!

But we made it! We checked in for our final Emirates flight of the trip and spent our last remaining Aussie coins on food and drink. The flight was only 3hours to Auckland but with the best choice of films we’ve had so far on any of our plane journeys, we were wishing it was longer and thankful for any delays along the way. Three and a half hours later we landed in an overcast and much colder, but beautiful, Auckland.

The first evening in Auckland was spent settling into our 12-bed dorm (a huge change after three months spent in a luxurious apartment), wandering the streets of the CBD and finding a cheap supermarket (which was quite difficult in this city). The following day we headed to the Auckland Art Gallery for some cultural enlightenment. We gazed at the usual ‘contemporary art’ including ‘red words on a grey background’ and a broom whose bristles were replaced with fibre optics which lit up to ‘put colour into an everday activity such as cleaning’. Not all of it was this pretentious though and it was really interesting to see some of the New Zealand artwork, especially because a few pieces didn’t even look painted in the slightest. One of the best rooms was the Māori portrait room where pictures weren’t allowed out of respect of the Māori people who had been painted. The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand and are still a very prominent part of everyday life in the country.

We’re back to cooking in cramped, dirty and busy kitchens whilst staying in hostels with meal time definitely feeling like more of an effort than its worth. There was, however, plenty of fairly cheap takeaways nearby which appealed not only because of their lower prices compared to Sydney but also because of the simplicity of grabbing a chicken korma, rice, naan and a drink for $11 (roughly £5.50-6). The hostel we stayed in was much like our Brisbane one; a mix of people from across the world either staying there for a few days or living there whilst working, some friendly and some grumpy. It also had an added extra of making it difficult to go to sleep. On our first and last nights there, a massive burger van pulled up outside our window and blasted out club and pop music at full volume from 11pm into the early hours of the morning. If we were drunk I don’t think we would’ve minded as much but being the old and tired travellers we are inevitably becoming, this racket certainly wasn’t welcomed. Josie’s earplugs didn’t even cover up the noise and One Direction isn’t exactly the music I’d choose to fall asleep to (or in fact music I’d choose to stay awake to).

On Wednesday we ventured out to Waiheke Island. We had heard a lot of good things about this relatively small island off the North east coast of Auckland and decided to part with $32 (obviously we found 10% discount vouchers in the city’s ‘what to do’ booklets) and headed out to the picturesque island. It was cloudy. And cold. And here we were about to spend a day on an island with shorts and flip flops on and our only thin jackets we’ve been able to carry around since leaving England. Josie already had a cold and we were starting to feel like this whole day out could be over within an hour of getting to the island. We hopped off the ferry, checked prices of bike and car hire and decided we’d try and walk as much as we could of the island, not only to warm up but also to save money.

We found the main town on the island (which was about ten shops, four or five cafés and restaurants, a bank, a pharmacy and a tourism information centre) and decided to head to the beach for lunch. This beach was beautiful and due to the weather (which was now starting to get warmer and less cloudy) it was all ours. The tide was really far out making this stretch of beach one of the biggest we’ve come across on our travels. The water was crisp and clear, the sand flat and comfortable; it reminded me a lot of a paradise retreat, especially with the stunning coastal views. After a rest in this idyllic setting, we decided to find a walking route to provide us with some breathtaking views of the island. The plan was to walk to nearby Palm Beach (2km away) and then find a viewpoint. After passing more bike rentals we caved in and decided that we’d see more of this island whilst cycling than walking. We managed to get the afternoon hire price of $25 and headed out on our journey to Palm beach. Now, if there wasn’t such a beautiful beach on the other end of this bike ride from hell then I don’t think I would have made it. I haven’t ridden a bike since Gili Trawangan in Indonesia back in November (and that was the flattest island I’ve ever set foot upon) and so this whole bike riding malarky wasn’t going to go too smoothly. And I struggled. Waiheke island is reknowned for being mountainous and for its tricky terrain which definitely tested my stamina. Some hills were so gradually inclined that you would feel the burn as soon as you started cycling. It’s fair enough to say that cycling isn’t my forté (unless it’s on flat ground or downhill… I like going downhill). All of this aside, however, hiring bikes was definitely a good idea, plus the sun came out and for the rest of the afternoon we had clear blue skies! We got to see a great deal more of the island than we ever would have if we had walked. We managed to cycle to Palm beach for our first stop. It was beautiful; white (ish) sand, clear (jellyfish filled) water and silence. We managed to spend a couple of hours in total relaxation and it is definitely the most comfortable I have ever been on a beach (despite the frequent gusts of wind slapping clouds of sand on you). Much to my dismay, we climbed back onto our bikes and set off south for the opposite side of the island to Surfdale. Once again we faced a few hills but overall this leg of the journey was much nicer to us, long stretches of flat roads next to lakes and beautiful scenery. On arrival in Surfdale, we were much colder. The sun was still shining but the wind had picked up and after a quick conversation with a local (who informed us that the island’s water supply was reliant upon rainfall, of which they hadn’t had any in a while) we decided to head back to the northern side to warm up and try to catch the sunset.

One final night’s ‘sleep’ in our Auckland hostel and we were wide awake bright and early for our bus journey to Rotorua, a small city four and a half hours away. Rotorua is known for its geothermal activity such as the hot springs and mud baths. It is also famous for its smell of rotten eggs due to the suplhur of the aforementioned hot springs. I had read that you often smell Rotorua before you see it. We got faint whiffs of egg as we approached the bus drop off point and could definitely smell it when disembarking. I have gotten used to the smell of eggs since being here and I do like the fact that you can fart and just blame it on the sulphur and hot springs! We felt Auckland was a lot like Brisbane whereas Rotorua ‘city’ (honestly, it’s tiny and would never be referred to as a city in the UK) resembles Cairns a great amount. It’s got the same layout as Cairns, low level buildings, an older style reminiscent of a Wild West town and a much greater community feel than the hustle and bustle of Auckland.

We found our hostel and checked in. Paul, the owner, welcomed us into Cactus Jacks which was to be our home for the next three nights. The next comparison to Cairns comes in here. You may remember me blogging about ‘The Asylum’ in Cairns, a small, crazy alcohol-fuelled hostel with an eclectic mix of people and always something going on. Well, this is most certainly like that… minus the alcohol. It is themed like the Wild West and definitely has a lot of character to it as did The Asylum. It also has the interesting mix of guests. Where ‘The Asylum’ had a lot of younger backpackers mixing with a few of the older generation, Cactus Jacks mainly has the latter. In fact, it’s one of the quietest hostels we’ve stayed in and we aren’t too sure why. It’s definitely been a favourite of mine what with its clean kitchen (yep, scratch what I said earlier) and plethora of communal chill out areas and the people here are really nice (with the exception of ‘Crazy Lady’ who on the first night insisted on telling us her life story and how she hitchhiked her way to Rotorua, how she doesn’t want to go to England because she’ll be killed in a dungeon and how she wanted the first sip of my beer when I opened my next bottle).

Rotorua has slightly drained us of our hard earned Australian dollars. We’ve partaken in a lot of fun activities whilst being here but I don’t regret it! Our first night saw us head to the Polynesian spa down the road from our hostel. For a $25 entry fee, it gained us access to 7 hot mineral pools each differing in temperature from 37º to 42º. These pools are heated using the geothermal energy and fed with mineral water from the nearby Priest and Rachel springs, each housing unique properties. The Priest spring has the perfect balance of acidity to soothe tired muscles, aches and pains whilst the Rachel spring provides alkaline water which is said to bless those who bathe in it with ageless beauty. Win. We bathed overlooking Lake Rotorua, got too hot and had to sit out, bathed some more, got too hot… you get the idea.

The following day saw us head out for white water rafting. I have never rafted in my life and so was nervous but excited for the activity ahead. We got to the base camp and were taken through what was in store. Wetsuits, life jackets and helmets on and we were ready for our practice session of rowing and the positions to be in when going down waterfalls. We were ready. Nervous but ready. Our group had just the four of us in the raft and three instructors including the Trip Leader who liked to play pranks and joke around. Brilliant. We headed downstream and had plenty of time to get to grips with rowing in sync with one another and practicing the maneuvers for when approaching one of the three waterfalls. The first waterfall was 2 metres high and then 1m high. We managed to make it down both of them without falling out and because we were the first group down, we got to watch everyone else come flying down the waterfalls. We readied ourselves for the next leg of the rafting and carried on downstream over rapids, bouncing off the rock sides and rowing down slight drops. It was a lot of fun and by this point we had pretty much mastered our rowing (kind of..). The big one was coming up though. The waterfall we had been informed about, seen pictures of, heard wonderful things about. We were heading for the 7m waterfall. There was a brief stop before to make sure everyone still wanted to put themselves through it and also a chance for one of the instructors to give a traditional Māori prayer to bring peace and harmony on the water. Then that was it. No going back now. We rowed towards the highest waterfall you can raft down in New Zealand. Forward paddle, forward paddle, forward paddle, STOP, GET DOWN AND HOLD ON. The drop was amazing, as was crashing into the plunge pool, holding onto your paddle and the ropes for dear life whilst being engulfed in water and not knowing whether you’re still in the raft or whether anyone else is for that matter. The whole experience was unlike anything I’ve done before and I was there wishing to do the waterfall all over again! When I finally surfaced and cleared my eyes, it became apparent that Nathan and Josie had fallen out at somepoint during the ride down the waterfall. We helped them back on to the raft and carried on with the journey through the beautiful river Kaituna (which translates to ‘Eel food’ because the Māori people used the river to catch their food) and through a variety of smaller waterfalls and rapids. The whole rafting activity was awesome and I would definitely do it again!

In the afternoon we headed out again and this time it was for zorbing. After a brief scare of thinking we’d got the bus to the completely wrong place (“are you here for the sheep show?” … “er, no.. the zorbing”) we finally found it and headed up the hill to come flying back down it in a massive hamster ball filled with water. The track we chose (‘Zig Zag’) could only take one person in the zorb at a time. One of the most difficult parts was getting in the ball through a small gap which you had to dive through head first. Once you were in though there was no escape. You were rolled down and you had no control over whatever happened next. The whole thing was brilliant and being swished around in a massive bouncy ball down a winding track is something I never thought I would have been doing in my life. Nathan and I decided to go again and paid a little extra for a second run. This time we zorbed together and Nathan captured it on his GoPro. Being in there with another person adds a whole other dimension to the activity and even though we could only do the straight run down to the bottom of the hill, the speed it picks up and the inability to control any of your body movements results in a hilarious 30seconds.

Our final expenditure in Rotorua was for Hell’s Gate. This Geothermal Park boasts to be the BEAST of all geothermal parks. We managed to get a deal through our hostel which gave us entry to the park where we could wander at our own pace and gaze at the hot springs and mud baths, a carving activity where we could keep our creations and entry to the mud baths and suplhur spas. It is absolutely amazing how this geographical natural activity is occurring all of the time in this area of New Zealand. The smell of the sulphur (think rotten eggs) is all around and the noise of bubbling boiling mud becomes all too familiar along the way. Some pools were between 120º and 140º at just 1m deep and would cause instant death if you ended up in there. Others were around the 50º mark whilst the majority sat between 85º to 100º. It was a spectacular sight and the constant steam rising from the pools and from cracks beneath the ground was something only comparable to fake smoke effects seen in theme parks and movies. I am amazed at just how active this part of the world is regarding geothermal energy.

We then got to carve our own New Zealand-themed design onto a square piece of wood. I opted for the Ponga which is the famous leaf design used a lot for New Zealand to represent loyalty. After my fairly poor attempt at carving (it wasn’t very symmetrical, but it’s okay ‘as long as I tried my best’), they varnished the piece and we got to keep it as a souvenir of our time at Hell’s Gate. Then came the relaxing part of the trip. We wandered on up to the mud baths where we were only allowed 20minutes (for safety reasons) to bathe in as much or as little mud as we wished. I covered myself in it. The benefits of the mud included promoting skin renewal, detoxifying, being antibacterial and absorbent. We were like pigs, well I felt like I was anyway. The mud bath was hot and the sensation of slapping mud all over your face and body and then immersing yourself in the muddy water was slightly odd but a very enjoyable experience at the same time. After our muddy escapades it was on to the sulphur spa. Now was relaxing and the temperature was just right. We also got the views of the geothermal park and the constant rise of the steam in the foreground enveloping the mountaneous backdrop of Rotorua.

This first week in New Zealand has been incredible. The beauty of this country and the plethora of activities and things to see and do is huge. The people of New Zealand have also been very friendly and helpful and really do ooze a sense of compassion and pride for their country. We’ve seen a different side to New Zealand in Rotorua compared to Auckland and it is definitely more so the New Zealand I thought I’d be visiting. Our next stop in this beautiful country is Taupo which is an hour south of Rotorua.