I got to go to Waitomo Caves for some abseiling, caving, black water rafting, glow worms and climbing. It was really awesome! I went up there for the day and to get there in time to have an adventure in a day, I hired a car. It was great to be driving again and it wasn't that much more than taking the bus so that was really great.
Then I got to go to Rotorua and meet up with my mate Andy who I haven't seen in about 7 years. It was great to see him again and catch up. We did a short hike, saw some cool bubbling mud pools and had a soak in a hot spring and we enjoyed lots of great food.
Then it was back to Mt Maunganui and onto Auckland to get a flight to Nelson! I got to catch up with my friend Katie who is very awesome and we had lots of fun in Nelson, with wine tasting, art museums, a maori food festival, great food, markets and such and I did a sky dive there! I have wanted to do a skydive for a while and it was great to be able to do it in New Zealand and over gorgeous scenery of hills, vineyards and turquoise ocean on a beautifully sunny day. It was only a little scary getting out of the plane, but I did it tandem so didn't have to worry about anything. I was quite pleased when I managed to land on my feet as well!!! It was a good height too: 13,000 ft.
My friend Kezia (who had also come on holiday with me to Nelson) and I also took a 3 day kayaking trip around Abel Tasman. It was beautiful! We had great weather on the first and last day and as we had decided to stay the 2 nights at the same campground, it didn't matter that we didn't go out on the kayaks on the middle day. The sea was quite choppy and it didn't look very fun!! Kezia was into her book, and I did a few short hikes in the area which was great - beautiful views, a lovely cool bathing spot on one of the rivers with no one else around. Bliss!
Then at the end I had a couple of days in Auckland and walked around various parks and some of the mounts in the area including One Tree Hill, Cornwall Park, the Domain, and Mt Eden.
Then it was time to say goodbye to New Zealand and hello to the US of A!!!
I got to repeat my day (which felt quite odd). I flew to LA where I got to stay with some friends or another friend. They were very hospitable and easy going and it was great to meet them and get to know them a bit. They are also very conveniently located in Santa Monica, so I did some shopping for the cooler climes and enjoyed feeling like I was in the movies! In fact the whole of my time in the States so far seems a bit like being in the movies!!!
My friend Nancy who is one of the most amazing people that I know came out to see me in LA from the UK and we got to do a roadtrip together for a couple of weeks. It was hectic and fun filled and surreal and just so great to chat and help each other through various things that we have been thinking about. A big shout out here to Nancy for a really amazing time - thank you so much!
There are so many stories I could share about that trip, but let me just tell you very quickly what we did...
On the evening Nancy arrived, we drove up to San Luis Obispo, stopping in Santa Barbara for dinner. The next day we drove on the Pacific Highway north through various beach towns, with some beach prancing involved, stopped to see the elephant seals, around part of 17-mile drive from Carmel and into Monterey. Then the next day, we hired bikes and had a good cycle around the coast a bit and then drove over the hills, stopped at a reservoir for picnic lunch, and in through wine country (Madera), a bit of wine tasting, and onto Fresno. Then we drove early into Yosemite National Park from the south, enjoyed a beautiful, if cold day there, seeing El Capitan, Yosemite Falls, and hiking up to Vernal Falls, and onto a nearby hostel just west of the park. Then back down through Fresno, Bakersfield, through a pass near King's Canyon and onto Lone Pine (cowboy country). Then into Death Valley, and a hike through Mosaic Canyon, past the dunes, to Saltwater Creek, to Artists' Palette, past the salt lake and through into Pahrump (great place name!) and down into Las Vegas, onto a variety show, walking on the strip, a spot of gambling (did NOT understand it really) and collapsing into bed (yes, that was all one day!). Then time in Vegas in the morning, and onto Zion National Park and a hike around there, then through the park and out through Red Canyon and onto Bryce Canyon. Here we had a bit of a plan B day as we woke up to 16" of snow!!! We were also staying in a place in the middle of a Winterfest, so we joined in some activities and went to yoga in the morning, and hire x-country skis and went x-country skiing for the first time! Pretty awesome once I got out of my first half hour grump! Then onto Glen Canyon, and the dam there and a short walk to Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado river, fantastic mexican, staying in a Page. Then the morning at a slot canyon called Antelope Canyon, onto the Grand Canyon, stopping for chilli, a stop at Little Canyon and views of the Grand Canyon from the south rim. Then hiking down Bright Angel Trail to Indian Gardens and back up (we beat the minimum time the guideposts said!) and around the rim trail, stopping to build a snowman. A big drive the next day on part of the route 66, through into California and through Mojave desert and to 29 Palms. The last day of the roadtrip took us into Joshua Tree National Park and a couple of short walks, then to Palm Springs for lunch, and back into LA, getting back onto the Pacific Highway before going into Downtown LA. Phew!
We had a couple of days in LA and our full day there it was raining, a lot! We had a bit of a walk around downtown then on the metro to Hollywood, saw the main shopping centre, the walk of fame, the hands at the Chinese Theatre, the red carpet and oscar statues for the Oscars a couple of days later, did some shopping, and then walked most of the way to Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. The next day was sunny and we met up with one of Nancy's friends in Santa Monica for brunch and then walked to the Pier and onto the beach promenade and hired rollerblades. It was great going along the beach and people watching and feeling very Californian!
Then it was time to say goodbye to Nancy. :( I got an extra day in Santa Monica with friends of a friend and they took me to Venice Beach - the canals and the beach which is something else with adults playing basketball, hand ball, skating, rollerskating disco, drum cycles, street dancers and vendors. We also went to a Californian Burger place and I had my burger protein style which meant a lettuce wrap rather than a bun - very cool! We even saw a famous actor when we were in Venice Beach.
Then it was onto Atlanta...
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