From: Bexxoliver@hotmail.com

Sent: 28 May 2004

Subject: Email 3, New Zealand 1st Update

Hi everyone.

So far we are enjoying the kiwi experience! We have taken part in a few activities. See below: -

The Kiwi Experience

Day 1, 24th May 2004

We left our hostel in Auckland at about 8.30am and our first stop was Mount Etna, a dormant volcano. We learnt some people threw old tyres into the volcano and set them on fire. People started evacuating the city thinking it was going to erupt! We arrived in Whitianga. Andrew took part in some sea kayaking along by Cathedral Cove while Kathryn joined another group for a walk along Cathedral Cove, which is by a beautiful beach! We went to hot water beach. The strange thing about the beach is that you dig a hole in the sand, when it fills's with water you can bathe in it, as it can get very hot!

Day 2, 25th May 2004

We left our hostel called Baywatch about 7am and before our kiwi bus picked us up we viewed a beautiful sunset! We started our journey to Rotorua. On the way we stopped in a village called Matamata. THe locals there have erected a sign that says Hobbiton. This was one of the locations the Lord Of The Ring's Trilogy was filmed.

See: - www.hobbitontours.com

We arrived in Rotorua and booked in to Hot Rock Hostel. We went to New Zealand's largest Maori cultural and geothermal visitor attraction. We learnt some history of the Maori people, took part in the Haka song & dance and viewed hot bubbling mud and geysers in the thermal park. See: - www.nzmaori.co.nz.

Day 3, 26th May 2004

We arrived in Waitomo (famous for its caves) and booked into
www.kiwipaka-yha.co.nz (a really nice hostel, one year old.) Whilst in Waitomo we went to www.waitomocaves.co.nz and took part in spellbound. Spellbound is a 45min-guided tour through caves, viewing thousands of glowworms. We also completed a 3hr trek and made it back just before sunset!

Day 4, 27th May 2004

We started our journey to Taupo and on the way stopped to view Haka falls, an impressive waterfall! The water falls down at several tons a second! We arrived in Taupo and booked into www.tikilodge.co.nz for 2 nights. (This hostel was built in Dec 2003 and is very nice! Overlooking the Lake in Taupo.) Taupo is supposed to be the cheapest place to skydive in the world. Andrew booked a tandem skydive and jumped out of a plane at 12,000ft, freefalling for 45sec's at over 200km an hour! Andrew paid extra to have a cameraman jump and take photos and video for proof! Kathryn nervously watched and is now a bit jealous!

Day 5, 28th May 2004

It is our second day in Taupo. Its been raining most of the day and is quite cold. Andrew had to buy a wooly hat to keep his head warm! We went to the photo developers and Andrew picked up his skydive photos inc a CD-ROM of the photos optimized for email. See the next email for the photos! Tomorrow we get the bus at 9.30am to continue our kiwi experience.

To be continued...

Love from Andrew & Kath
xx

P.S James Clifton - Happy Birthday Mate!!!