The next morning Danny and I woke up bright and early to grab a quick hot chocolate from Starbucks and brekky from Wendy's. So American. 

This was going to be our last night in Auckland before we headed off to Rotorua so we were pretty determined to do as much as possible. 

Firstly we had to pick up our car. We walked about 20 minutes, with me following blindly behind Danny because I'm terrible with directions. I am a conformist of female stereotypes.

We picked up a Honda CRV from Jucy Car Rentals because we're rich yo. The car rental totally blew our budget but I still stand firm that it was worth it. We needed the space to stretch our legs and fling our bags around. Plus, not all the roads are constantly maintained so a high-ish car was good. Considering that, the car was still extremely affordable

After organising the car, our first stop was Skytower. We contemplated jumping off the Skytower for a good 10 minutes or so before watching someone jump off and deciding that we were probably safer standing on the ground. Why go to NZ if you're not going for the thrills? Because we can, don't judge. 

Most amazing views up at the Skytower. My photos don't do it justice. 

Glass floor so you can have involuntary thoughts about falling through the glass as it cracks and splattering on the streets 300m below. 

Remote shutter test shot. 

After the Skytower we drove up to Mt Eden. One of New Zealand's dormant volcanoes. I didn't really know what to expect as I've never seen a volcano so I was really intrigued and excited to go up and check it out. Danny has been several times as a child so he was not quite as pumped as I was.

I was not disappointed. It was basically this massive hole in the ground. Like a moon's crater I suppose except it was covered in luscious green grass. 

After that we drove up to One Tree Hill. A short walk up the hill from the car park brings you to the obelisk in the photo. There were sheep everywhere! They walked about and stood at the steepest parts of the hills whilst grazing on the grass. Just chillin'. 

Breathing in the fresh air.

Basking in the sunlight.

Freezing my butt off.

"Come to me sheep"

More sheep

The last bits of the day was spent driving around all over Auckland so that Danny could see his old houses and old primary school. We went grocery shopping too to prep for the road trip ahead of us. We visited Dominion Road which is this massive long street lined with just Asian restaurants and grocery stores. It was like Market Square but stretched out along the side of the road instead and a bit more run down looking. We stopped by an Asian grocery store too to stock up on instant noodles and we bought a rice cooker from K-Mart. Haha. Can't live without the rice! No, seriously a rice cooker is the most versatile cooking utensil. You can cook noodles, cook rice, cook meat hot pot style, steam things etc. It's the best.

That pretty much concludes day 2 in Auckland.
The next morning we woke up super bright and early because we were on a somewhat tight schedule. We needed to make it to Waitomo Caves for an activity we booked the night before and then make it to Rotorua before sunset.

Danny driving in comfy driving clothes. It's so important to dress as comfy as possible when sitting in a car or driving for long periods of time. That meant loose sweat pants and hoodies for me. 

So the activity we booked is called Blackwater Rafting. I think it's definitely the better way to go see the glow worm caves in the area. If you're a bit claustrophobic I don't really recommend it but it's seriously awesome. I couldn't take any photos inside because 1) No waterproof camera and 2) No flash photography because it will disturb the worms. It costs a lot more than a calm and peaceful guided boat tour inside the caves but it's worth the splurge. A quick google search should give you an idea of what it's about.

- skip the following 2 paragraphs if you don't want to read about my experience in the caves :)- 

Our guide introduced himself to us and lead us to where all the gear was kept. We outfitted ourselves in soggy and cold wet suits, wet suit socks, boots and a helmet with a light on top. They took us to a practice area so we could get familiar with the equipment. We grabbed some tubes and took turns jumping off a wooden ledge into a creek to practice jumping off the waterfalls we would encounter inside the cave. I was first to jump off and could not paddle myself back to the shore. So ashamed. Definitely did not want to give off the impression of being a tiny weak helpless female :( Only after I got out did I realise the water was only up to my hip so I could have easily hopped off my tube and waded back to shore. 

After a practice run we hopped back onto the bus with our tubes and drove to the entrance of the cave where we had to carefully climb down towards the entrance. We sat inside a relatively dry and flat part of the cave and listened to a legend based on the particular cave we were in before venturing into freezing waist high water. At this point we didn't need to make use of the tubes so we were allowed a peak into the area of the cave where more daring and physically apt people had to climb up. It looked intense. Anyway, we ventured on and eventually made use of the tubes to gently flow through a calm river. It was all chill and relaxed until we got to the waterfall. It sounded huge and because it was pitch black it was hard telling exactly how high it was. It was definitely nerve wracking having to face our back towards the drop. Not wanting to appear weak and helpless again I jumped almost instantly and surprisingly it wasn't scary at all. It was the tiniest little drop. Maybe 1-2 m high? After that I felt like I could tackle anything. We continued on in the same manner occasionally getting off our tubes and walking through and jumping back on again. Finally we approached our last waterfall which was a little higher but still not very scary. After jumping off we had to quickly grab a hold of the person in front and grab onto the ropes that was hooked into the side of the cave walls. We waited for everyone to jump off and formed a caterpillar line. We had to place our legs onto the person in front of you who in turn held onto your feet. That way, no one could drift off as we were entering a relatively wider part of the cave. This was the section where we could finally kick back and look up and finally gaze upon the glow worms. The pitch blackness of the cave was illuminated by tiny little glow worms scattered all across the ceiling of the caves. It was like star gazing on a clear night sky away from the cities. It was so peaceful inside, no noise, no distractions just the sound of water ripples as we flowed by. As we came to the end of the glow worm section of the cave we let go of each others legs and made our way to the end of the cave. There was no real concept of time in the cave, at least not for me. Before you know it, you've spent a good 2 hours in the cave. It was an amazing experience. The guides at the Blackwater Rafting Co. know their stuff and you will feel safe enough to really enjoy your cave adventure. 

It was early afternoon and we were starving after the rafting adventure so we bought a whole chicken from the local grocery store and devoured it with some bread and butter. Never tasted better.

We were pretty damn tired but we had to make it down to Rotorua as we had a hotel booked and it's not a good idea to drive at night anyway. 

Once we settled in we made our way to Hell's Gate and took the best relaxing mud bath. The guy who helped us out was super friendly and made sure we were comfortable and came back to check that we had enough mud to use. After a soak in the mud baths we washed off in the sulphur spa which was really freaking stinky but you got used to it. It basically smells like rotten farts but the whole Rotorua smells like that anyway. We soaked in there until our skin turned to prunes. 

That pretty much sums up day 2 and 3 of our New Zealand trip. 12 more days to go :)

New Zealand Day 1 - Auckland

Back in February, my friends and I went on our long awaited cruise. We had booked the cruise months in advance and it was a great source of motivation to get through the semester and work. I realise it was 5 months ago but now that it's the middle of a very cold winter, I find myself reminiscing our time on the cruise. The islands were perfectly warm, the water was at an optimal cool temperature and sun bathing on the deck with the sun kissing your skin was just amazing. Not only that, but the general consensus was that being out in the middle of the ocean allowed us to leave our problems back on land and truly relax. 

Random snaps of the city. Old mixed with the new. 

An old train station building. Inside was really nicely kept and renovated. 

Inside the station. 

At the portside

Skytower at night. We tried entering the casino that night as well but the legal age for entering the casino was 20. Boo :(

We arrived at Auckland on a Sunday. We didn't expect our first challenge to be locating a restaurant still open on a Sunday night. Walked around for a whole hour and managed to find a single Japanese restaurant open. We were at the point of hunger where everything tasted good. 

Otherwise, it was a good first day. I never really paid attention to architecture but the quirkiness and old English feel of some of the buildings and houses in Auckland captured my attention.