Big 3-0

So this is my 30th post on this blog. Yay.

OK its been a while, so this will be a lengthy blog, my apologies.

Right, so the last time I blogged was just after the sky-jump in Auckland and I was contemplating going out for a few beers that night with Arj. It got to about midnight and I was feeling very tired...Chris was asleep, as was Craig. Jules, the Dutch girl who had been with us at the Bay of Islands, was in our room, and she had just watched the first episode of Flight of the Concords on my Ipod...So when I got the text saying to meet them at the bar, I asked if she wanted to come. We went. It was packed, so we met quite a few people, some of which were other comedians on tour. Ended up on Tequila at 3am. Needless to say, getting up for the magic bus at 7.30am wasn't pretty, but I made it on time to make our way to Rotorua.

As we chucked our bags in the cargo, the driver introduced himself to us personally...very personally. He leaned in and we had to touch noses.  Now, this would be weird under any circumstances, but at 7.30 on a hangover, the last thing you want to do is touch noses with a hobbit.

Id like to say that he didn't talk over the microphone much, or repeat himself over and over again....but that would be a lie. We even stopped at his sisters house so he could wish them well on their holiday.  Luckily I had the whole back row of seats to spread out on and sleep. I must have looked awful...I was wearing the same clothes Id been out in, slept in, and woke up in. Nice. We stopped at a giant L+P bottle (Lemon and Paeroa, its a lemonade that is "World famous in New Zealand"...they have a good sense of humour, these Kiwis).

Anyway got to Rotorua, probably the worst smelling place on the planet (Due to the Sulphur in the air). Besides the smell, its a pretty awesome place, with loads of steaming pools of water, boiling mud baths, rivers and what not. We booked our white-water-rafting for the following day, but it was cancelled due to high water levels. Luckily we were staying a few days, so re-booked for the next slot available. Obviously, I took the opportunity to sleep in for as long as possible. Craig and Chris went Zorbing (that big inflatable ball that you get in, and then roll down a steep hill) while I slept. If it wasn't for the receptionist waking me up at 1pm, saying I had a phone call, I would have slept forever. The call was from Craig, saying that the next bus to the luge was at 2. Now, the luge is basically go-karting down hill without an engine, but its just as fun. I made it to the 2pm bus and met the two C's (I mean Chris and Craig...not the bad C-word) at the hill. It was dead cheap, roughly 24 quid for 6 goes, including the lift pass. The first two goes, we took pretty steady, getting photos and what not. Then we decided to go onto the advanced track and race. Now, being rather competitive, Craig and I battled our way down the hill...I managed to overtake him, but then forgot to brake...ended up flying into a sand bank which stopped me from falling down the hill. No injury. Then on the next run, I decided to go as fast as possible down the long straight towards the end of the track...again, I forgot to brake, and smashed straight into a curb, flew out of the luge and ended up a couple of yards away on the side of the track. Injury. My left shin took a battering, ripped quite a bit of skin off. Luckily though, it was right under the chair lift, so everyone saw...and laughed. Id like to say I learnt my lesson...but again, that would be a lie. I came off again on the next run, scraping the same shin all along the curb this time. Im pretty sure most of my shin is still there, so if anyone does the luge in Rotorua, please collect it and send it to me, thanks.

The next day was white water rafting time...Which was absolutely amazing. It was a grade 3 (which means nothing to me) and we dropped down a 7m waterfall. Our guide was a bit mental, and rather inappropriate. When explaining the position to get in when dropping down the waterfall, he described it as this: "Get into the rape position...you know, as if you're being raped" The girls were not impressed. Neither were we to be honest, but we let him off. There were plenty of falls, but the 7m one was awesome...the entire raft submerged, then flipped, so we all ended up under the raft for a bit. We were rescued by one of the other rafts (which was a bit extreme...we didn't really need rescuing, I think they just liked the drama) Either way, it was great fun.

The next morning, we got back on the Magic bus to head to Taupo. On the way, we stopped at some of the boiling mud bath things, and a Geyser that shot out water at 10am every morning. It was pretty impressive, but not as impressive as the guy running the show... This was his best joke: "Now, I know some of you are thinking, thats not a very big Geeza, and you're right...Im the geeza, this is the Geyser" No one laughed.

We were then dropped off at a place called something wonderland...It was 28 dollars to get in, to see more mud and holes shooting water. We didn't fancy it, so the driver pointed us in the direction of a place where a hot river met a cold river. You can swim there, and find the right position to get a hot bath-type-swim. We did, and it was pretty sweet. You only had to move and metre or so, and the temperature would completely change...plus it was all natural. The only thing was, there was a sign saying that if you put your head under, you can get meningitis.  Getting meningitis isn't on my to-do list, so we kept our heads well out of the water.

Arrived at Taupo and watched some of the passengers do a little bungy jump, then settled into our hostel. We were only staying one night here, as we will return on the way back up to Auckland. There was a pub quiz at a local bar, so we headed down with most of the guys in the hostel, after a couple of beers and a game of killer. We lost. But it was a good quiz...I learned a few things, which was nice. After the quiz, they started playing classic games such as, 'men and women have to swap their clothes really fast' and 'men have to go find 4 different colour bra's' so we left.

The next day was the journey to National Park, which stopped at the Waitomo caves. These are pretty awesome, as the house thousands of glow-worms. We did a little tour and saw loads of them....then played pool in the local bar before leaving again.

There is only one thing to do in National Park, and thats a massive 19km hike through the Tongariro mountain range, which includes Mount Doom, from the Lord of The Rings films. It was mental, took about 6 hours, was hot, then freezing, then nice, then boring, then tiring, then monotonous. I'm not the biggest fan of just walking, but I can see why people rave about this walk. As far as walks go, I suppose it was pretty good. But   I'm not going to put it on my 'best things I did in NZ ' list.

Watched a few VHS's ( I think DVD's are just coming out in NZ) and played a few games of killer, while recovering from our big walk.

Next stop - Wellington, the capital of NZ. We arrived at about 2ish in the afternoon, stocked up on food and beer, slept, woke up, ate, met with the other Magic Bus people and started drinking. It was a Saturday night, plus one of the girls was celebrating her 25th Birthday...Happy Birthday Niamh. Was such a good night, even though Rhianna was played a stupid amount of times...but there was so much banter flying about. Great Craic, as Niamh would say. (as she's Irish...but you guessed that)

Most of the Magic people got the ferry across the the south Island the following morning, but a group of lads and the three of us were staying a few nights, so we spent the next day watching films and playing pool.

Yesterday, we went to the Te Papa museum here. Its completely free and actually quite good. Im not the biggest lover of museums, but this one is one of those fun ones, with loads of games and interactive stuff. I think its meant to be for kids, which is why I loved it. I got inside an actual-sized, replica whale heart. I had to crawl in through what I think was the Vena-Cava. When I crawled out again, there was a kid with his Mum waiting to get in. I felt a little silly.

So, that brings us onto today...The two C's have taken the ferry over to the South, but Ive stayed here, as Sandy arrives this afternoon for one night. So we're going to chill out, then get the ferry first thing tomorrow morning. Then I'll meet back up with the two C's and the other lads on the Magic Bus, from Picton to Nelson.

Wow, that took nearly an hour to type. Apologies.

Hope all is well

Jay