Excursions Around New Zealand

Tuesday, January 25th:
Tuesday we left Laidlaw for a week to go out on excursions. We first headed to Cathedral Cove. It was about a two-hour drive. We had to go through the mountains and up and around so much. Once we were there it was a 40-minute hike to the beach. This beach is where some places in Narnia were filmed. The hike was not too hard. It was lots of ups and downs. Once we got down to the beach it was beautiful. The waves were huge. The undertow was strong but so fun. There was a rock that some of the our group members swam out to. Lindsey Moore swam out to the rock but a wave swept her under and scraped her legs on the rock. So then she didn’t make it on top of the rock and some rescue people came and picked her up. Then a lady swam out to help her. Everyone on the beach was super nice though. People would say hello and ask where I was from.

There was a small waterfall, more like water trickling, down from some rocks. It was fresh water so even though we weren’t supposed to I drank just a little when I was under it. It was so cold and good. Once we had our fill of the beach we headed back up the trail. The 40-minute hike back didn’t seem as long as the walk there. People would say hello to us our way, very friendly people.

Once back in the vans we made a quick stop at McDonalds for a snack. We only had an hour drive to Matamata but we weren’t going to be eating until later in the evening. We stayed at a Holiday Camp in Matamata. It was a campground with cabins and places for tents and campers. They had a community kitchen for everyone. We used that for our dinner that night. We had haystacks. When we first arrived we all went swimming first. They had slide so it was fun to go down it and the guys would throw the football at us to catch it while we slid down. There was also a natural hot springs there. So we got in there for a while too.
I was in a cabin with Chelsea H., Emily, Laura, Becca, and Haleigh. Chelsea wasn’t feeling well that night so she went to bed early, well maybe around 10:30, and I soon followed her. However, before I went to bed I took a shower. There were 2 girls’ showers and 2 boys’ showers. They were right next to each other so we could hear what the others were saying and it was kind of funny. The facilities at this place were not too bad. It reminded me of a campsite.

Wednesday, January 26th:
Wednesday we packed up our stuff and headed into Matamata. Most of the group went on the Hobbiton tour where Lord of the Ring was filmed. I chose not to since I haven’t seen any of the movies. So while they were all on their tour we went grocery shopping. There were only five of us: Brent, Laura, Chelsea H., Janelle and me. After grocery shopping we went to where we were going to meet the rest of our group.

We still had about an hour before they would come back, and that was after Brent took us in circles trying to find the place. So we all just sat outside and chatted. I got to pet sheep and watch them get herded across the road into another fenced off area. It was pretty cool. The men had these awesome dogs that would ride on the back of their four wheelers. I was impressed they didn’t fall off.

Once our group arrived we had sandwiches and watermelon for lunch. Then we drove to Rotorua to our new place where we were going to stay. It was a couple hour drive and we made a few stops on the way there. I bought some souvenirs for the family and a Frank drink for myself. Franks are my new favorite drink here. I’m basically addicted. So then once we arrived at our Holiday Camp called Cosy Cottage we separated into our rooms. I was with Emily, Laura and Becca. There was a pool and hot springs for us at this place. But before that we went to a redwood forest for a short hike. The trees were huge and pretty. The bark on the trees was almost soft like a punching bag. We hiked for a while then headed back to our dorms for dinner. We ate corn on the cob. It was amazing. After dinner we headed out to go louging.

I was terrified of louging. I did not want to go. But I went anyway. Then when we got there they were closed for the evening. So, we went downtown instead. We parked along the water. Half of the group ended up playing football with some locals. And some others sat around and talked to some local young girls. I talked with Chelsea the entire time and took pictures. Then Brent took us to get ice cream.

Later that night we all got in the big hot springs tub until it closed at 10.

Thursday, January 27th:
Thursday we headed out in the morning and headed to Taupo. It was about an hour drive and we stopped at Toupo Bungy. There were five of us who went bungy jumping: me, David, Sarah, Josh and Mitchell. Sarah went first. It was a lot of fun. We got strapped in around our ankles. Then after all our harnesses were in. One at a time we walked to the edge and they would tell us when to jump. We had a choice to be dipped in the water or not. I chose to go in the water. So, I dived off the edge and went in the water to my waist. When I came up out of the water I was twirling so much. I could hardly focus on anything. There were two men in a boat who came out to get everyone off the bungy. And they were telling me to grab the pole from their boat, but I was spinning so much it was hard to see the pole. I think I even blacked out for a second or two when I came out of the water. But eventually I grabbed the pole and they pulled me in and took me to the shore. You can watch my bungy video!

Then we all hiked up to the others and we looked at our pictures that they took. Then Emily and Haleigh decided to go on the swing. After that we headed out to go to the skydiving place. Before we got there we stopped at McDonalds for a snack. We all got a cheesburger, fries, and a frozen Fanta or frozen coke. It’s a good thing we did stop because we were at the skydiving place for almost 4 hours. It was cool to watch everyone but it did get boring after awhile. But they had couches and a lounge area for us all. I was still wet from my bungy jumping so the heat didn’t bother me too much I was cold if anything. They had one computer with internet there that everyone jumped on to talk to people at home. So I eventually did too for a short while.

We made sandwiches for lunch when we got hungry. Then we headed back in to town for a little bit and did some quick shopping around in the shops. I searched for a Frank drink and didn’t any so I was kind of disappointed. But I lived. Then we went back to Rotorua to go louging.

I was terrified. I thought it sounded dangerous. It ended up being lots of fun. I would do it all the time. We rode up on a skylilne to the middle of a mountain. Then we got in loug cars and drove around tracks. First I went on the beginner’s track aka the scenic track. Then I went on the intermediate track. Then last I went on the advanced track. Which was the shortest but it had a steep hill that I got air on and it was amazing. So fun. After each track we rode back up on a ski lift to the beginning of each track again.

We were starving by the time we were done with louging. Brent dropped us off at our campground area and he went to pick up pizza. He got 12 or 13 pizzas. I don’t remember but we ate all of it. We were so hungry. Then we all chilled. Some swam others did devotions and read. I did some journaling and took an early shower and ended my night.