NZ - North Island - Sky Dives, Mount Doom and a Ford Ka

New Zealand; a country from the other side of the globe, with Tolkienesque (I've been waiting 5 months to use that word!) scenery, and people that love rugby and flinging themselves from impractical heights. So although leaving Fiji meant saving goodbye to sunbathing weather, we were excited to land in Auckland and finally come face to face with the Kiwis.

We had a whirlwind tour of the city. Mark fell in love with the city museum, so much that after 3 hours the rest of us left him there pouring over volcano exhibits. My highlight was meeting up with Karen, yet another FWA (Friend Working Abroad), in Danny Doolans by the harbour. Go to this pub! The below caused us all to do a double take.


Add to this surprisingly good, nostalgia-inducing Murphys and you're on to a winner. We had a great night with Karen who told us the horror story of trying to ship a Ford Ka from Ireland to New Zealand, definitely not worth the effort.


Next day we jumped on the Kiwi Experience bus. This is a hop-on, hop-off tour of the two islands with a driver guide who forward books accommodation and activities for you as you go. After the DIY stress with the camper vans in Oz its nice to sit down and let someone else do all the work. We were worried that it was going to be full of 18 year old idiots but there is a really good mix of ages and nationalities on our bus. We've heard a few horror stories about some of the buses ahead and behind us so we were really lucky to get the crew we have. Its like being on a big, weird, international school tour and its been a great laugh so far.

On the North Island we stopped at;

• Mercury Bay - Great first night out culminating in an Ipod and an industrial sized pot of Bolognaise going missing. Always a good omen. If anyone could shed any light on the identity of this red sauce stained, music lover could they contact the Mercury Bay Garda station.
  
• Matamata - filming site for Hobbition (where Bilbo, Frodo, Sam and the rest live) in Lord of the Rings. Check out my Smeagol impression.

• Rotorua - called 'Sulphur City' due to the boiling pools and geysers littered around the town. It stinks, I don't know how the locals handle it. Worryingly, some guy in the bar informed me its a lot worse in the summer. Site of the eagerly anticipated street luge rematch (see the Singapore post for the original, nail biting race). After much thrash talking it was a shame that they didn't allow race properly but special mention to Kevin Eddie for careening spectacularly off the track and still managing to beat me.

• We had a traditional Maori evening at Tamaki village. They put on displays and a concert that showed how the Maori people lived and the compromises they had to make once western settlers arrived. Seeing the Haka live from 10 feet away made all the hair on my arms stand on end. It really reminded me of the Munster lads response to the New Zealand haka last year, amazing stuff. The meal that night was cooked in a Hangi, an underground stove similiar to a Fulacht Fiadh from home, and was delicious.
  

• Waitomo - as tempting as it sounds we decided to skip the 'Glow Worm' tour in favour of a much needed day off. Had a great night out in Curly's Bar where Ed made a new buddy in the owner. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up inheriting the place someday.
  
• Taupo - home of the beautiful Lake Taupo, formed due to one of the biggest volcanic eruptions ever back around 186 AD (I'm always a bit dubious around these exact dates). Looking back now I'm still not sure how the next life changing event came about. Somehow we each ended up firmly attached to a rather chirpy Kiwi, wearing a fetching red jumpsuit, wedged into a tiny plane, hovering 12,000 terrifying feet from the safety of terra firma. Before you could whimper "I really shouldn't be here" we were launched into a 45 second exhilarating free fall before our parachutes snapped open and I finally stopped screaming. After 2 minutes gliding we hit the ground and leaped around like idiots. I'm so glad I did this, skydiving was amazing.

• We randomly met another FWA, Jean Power of Ocean City fame, who is working in a pub in Taupo. She immediately produced a round of something called a Jagerbomb, some local Kiwi delicacy apparently not sure would it ever catch on at home.

• Tangarno National Park - fitted in a quick 9 holes of golf around what must be the most scenic golf course in the world. Its not often that you get to advise Mick to "aim just left of that volcano". After 6 holes of terrible golf Mick and I gave up and decided to pay our own tribute to Mount Ngauruho, used as Mount Doom in the LOTR films. Check out the vids.

Mick probably took one of the best photos of the trip so far of our new buddy Lee jumping off a waterfall. If this IT stuff falls through he can always get a job at National Geographic.

• Wellington - unfortunately we didn't get to see much of NZ's capital as we arrived late and had to leave early to catch a ferry to the south island. As there was night club in the basement of the hostel I don't think we even left the building during the one night we had there.