This day we were heading to Rotorua and would be a busy day. First a stop at Hobbiton and after that an overnight stay with the Maori folks in Tamaki Village. I think Hobbiton was cool, but not super cool. We got a guided tour through the Hobbiton film set and a beer at dragons in. The little hobbit houses were so cute! A bought pretty many expensive souvenirs too. When we got to Tamaki village we first had to pick out a chef, which had to be a male, so it wasn't me :p. The Maori people are one of the most friendly folks that I have met. We got to play with sticks, throwing the stick to the person to your right, but at the same time catch the stick coming at you. It went well, but in the end we were supposed to throw the stick not to the first person beside you but the second and that was tricky. The sticks went everywhere :) but it was a funny game. We also learnt to do some weaving from a plant using a seashell. The Maori people did performance for us showing their warrior dance - Haka :). Our chef had also to get accepted and we needed to accept their gift before we were accepted. We got dinner cooked Maori style and it was so tasty :). The bed was also awesome and we all slept like babies :) Kia ora Maori people for a great experience! The second day of the kiwi tour went to Waitomo and the glowing caves. The glowing caves is made of limestone created when NZ where under water. That's why NZ don't have any creepy animals like Australia :). The glowing is coming from the poo of glowworms living in the cave. I went with a old couple that where on the kiwi bus. The caves where beautiful just see the pictures. This day started with checking out of the hostel in Auckland. For this I started my kiwi bus tour through parts of NZ. We jumped on the bus and headed for to hot water beach. My and my new friend signed up for some kayaking on the same beach where the Prince Caspian movie was shot at. Stunning beautiful place! The kayaking guy was really hot as well, making everything even better. The day was perfect, it felt like a Swedish summer day. I got the feeling that I never wanted to come home again ^^. Sitting in a front of a stupid computer running stupid simulations that stop working all the time seems so lame compared to this. This is life! This day I started out with a nice English breakfast of course together with tee. Remember that I booked that city tour? It wasn't confirmed that I was booked, but I went there anyway. I was very lucky because I was booked and I got my private tour around Auckland. My guide was called Damine and I want to award him to my best history teacher ever :). The tour started at K-street, which was once upon a time was the Main Street. This change due to big highway they build next to it, making the price fall. The street turned to be a red light district and the new Main Street was changed to queen street. After that we went over Auckland bridge, which in the beginning only had two lanes. Two young Indian engineering guys solved the problem by adding two extra lanes by adding it or the existing bridge. The bridge was still under dimension so to fix it they used concrete blocks they can move to create more lanes in one direction during the morning and change it to the afternoon when everyone is heading home. They had a special machine moving these blocks twice a day. Maybe a good solution to bring home to Sweden? The tour continued to the harbor. Since NZ won Americans cup, the kiwi has been crazy about sailing and boats. There are so many boats in Auckland that they have big storage building filled with only boats, since they can't fit in the harbor. So if you want to take a fishing trip they take out the boat for you and pick it up when you are coming back. Damien brought me to Auckland aquarium, where I saw penguins, seahorses and lots of other fishes. The trip ended at the harbor and I wanted to go to one of the islands. The only option I had was Waiheke Island so I jumped on the ferry. When I got there I jumped on the bus and I didn't know where I was supposed to go. However, I met Danielle on the bus a happy girl from California, which a went with. She wanted to go to the wine yards and that's sounded very good. We had a bit of trouble where we should go off the bus and went off in the wrong place. After a bit of walking we found the place. It was so beautiful! We saw the sun set behind the hills and the wine tasted so good. I got the same feeling if it were a Swedish summer. I thought I would miss the Swedish summer, but I can say I don't. We ended our trip with a very nice NZ dinner beside a fireplace and we ate lamb and pork. Yummy! This was a great day! Monday was not the best day here, but everyday can't be perfect. I was planing on going to a city tour together with the hostel. I forgot that I had a meeting with the company I'm going with at 11:30 so I couldn't go on the city tour. I was waiting at the reception desk, but they didn't show up. I didn't really understand what we were supposed to talk about anyway, because everything was clear. So it didn't really matter, however the knocked on my room later that day so it solved itself. They invited me to the pizza party the day after and whom will bail on pizza? Okey, so I missed the tour, but I decided to go visit the city sky tower. This is the highest building in the southern hemisphere. The view was fantastic! They also had sky jumping, but that was too scary for me! When I was sitting there having my lunch I decided to book a new city tour for tomorrow. I didn't on the Internet, but I was a bit nervous since I booked it pretty late. I went back to my dorm and watched hobbit :) waiting for the darkness. When it was dark I went back to the sky tower again to see the view in a new perspective. I also planer to have a dinner at the top of the tower, but you had to book in beforehand so I went down to a buffet. That was a disgusting buffet, the inåt good thing was the hot chocolate :p But the next day will make up for it! Wait and see:) On my flight to Auckland they gave us declaration papers to fill. The same kind of papers you get when you are traveling to USA. I was a bit nervous since I had to tick in that I brought my riding gear and that I have been with other animals than dogs and cats. Maybe they would say: No Elin you can’t get in, you might have Ebola or some other deices. I didn’t have to worry about anything. My riding bots needed just a bit of extra cleaning so I don’t bring any seeds or bacteria in to NZ. The trip from the airport to my hostel went also fine (see mom, nothing to worry about). My first day here, I spent most in bed. I was so tired and jetlagged. You shouldn’t underestimate the wonderful thing to actually lie down and sleep. In the middle of the night I couldn’t sleep of course so I started planning what I wanted to do here in Auckland. I definitely wanted to go to Auckland zoo and the sky tower. I found also Stardome observatory I want to visit and they had a big telescope that you can use. Yesterday I went to the zoo. I took the bus and that was an experience by itself. In Sweden we have a sign showing the next bus stop, but this don’t exists here. The bus driver was however kind to tell me where I should go off. Auckland zoo was a nice place. It was only a few visitors so it was a good place for take it easy and enjoy the quite moment. My I found my favorite animal the meerkats sitting and chilling in the sun. My plan for today is to visit Sky tower, hopefully I will have nice pictures over Auckland. I arrived at Hong Kong about two hours ago and now I'm sitting at gate 43 waiting for my last flight to Auckland. I was planing to fix my blog when I had some spare time and now it's up and running. I also had to do some school work, this modulation teacher will never give up. I really really hope this was the last correction I have to fix. Haha, There is a old guy here playing a car game on his iPad it looks very funny. Think that's a good way to stay awake. Maybe I should ask if I can try, because I will fall asleep any minute now, Zzz! Maybe I should have a walk around this place, so my legs don't forget what they are used for :) The Swedish time is now 04:50 and I’m sitting on a plane above Russia. I’m tying to stay awake as long as possible to make the time difference a bit easier. I can tell you that I cheated a bit. I was looking at the first Hobbit move and fall asleep, but now I’m up and going strong. The plane is taking me to Hong Kong and I will switch plane again to my final destination, Auckland! This first flight takes 11 hours and the next one around the same time. Lucky for me that I’m good at sitting still 😛 . Earlier today my father and mom drove me to Arland. My mom is funny, she still thinks that I’m a little girl and telling me not to go with strangers. She was also most worried about my last bus trip from Auckland to my hostel, serous mom ?! However, it seams that my father have little more trust in me. I agree with my dad in this part, like I always do (sorry mom). I think if there is a problem I will manage it some how. No.. I hope you guys in Sweden will have a great morning and hopefully a nice summer day! Over and out! Elin |