Day 1: As I mentioned, most people doing the Kiwi Experience tend to start in Auckland, meaning this bus would likely be one that we would all stay with for a while. A nice early pick up again and we met our driver - Mangee, who instantly seemed like a really cool guy. So far so good with all the drivers.
There were loads of really nice people on board and we all got chatting as we made our way across the top of New Zealand towards Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. Mangee got us all playing this speed-dating style game, which seemed a bit stupid at first but then really did a good job of getting everyone chatting to each other.
Also on the bus were: Courtnie & Casey (Canada), Cahal, Kevin & Alex (England), Erika (US), Sam, Jack and Josh (Wales), Mollie and Ellie (England). There were loads more but these were the people I got chatting to initially.
Worth his own mention is a young guy called James, who I met during the speed dating game. Turns out we are both from Reading and he lives about 2 minutes away from the CResCent Centre, where I work. Even more bizarre is that fact that his mum attends one of the classes there. We were both pretty astounded upon first talking to each other. Talk about a small world.
Mangee then took us over to Cathedral Cove, where I signed up for an afternoon of Kayaking with some others from the bus - Antoine (Switzerland), Sophie and Claire (Wokingham - small world again). Everyone else on the bus elected for the inclusive walk with Mangee but I'd heard good things about this area and was keen to give the Kayaking a blast.
We met our guide and I then teamed up with Sophie in sharing a Kayak. The trip took around 3 hours around the coastline towards Cathedral Cove, which is a nice, scenic spot. Upon our arrival, the guide even served us up the coffee of our choice so we could drink it on the beach. The trip was pretty good, if a little over-priced. I think this might be my last bout of Kayaking on the trip.
After the Kayaking, the 4 of us headed up to Hot Water Beach to join the others. For those that don't know, this beach is so named because of the hot water springs that exist underneath it. Between low and high tide, these springs filter up through the sand, meaning it's possible to dig yourself a little bath and lie in them. Sounds good doesn't it?
The reality isn't quite that simple because the fluctuations between hot, warm and freezing cold are pretty frequent, meaning it's difficult to relax in there for too long. It was good fun though and unlike anything I've seen before. When you can manage to get it at the right temperature, it's really nice. We stayed there hanging out until it started getting dark, when we then headed back up to the hostel. No major burns thankfully but Sam did have a close call when going dangerously close to the hottest part of the pools. About 10 people shouting ''NO" did the trick of stopping him though. Haha.
That evening, Mangee cooked us up a huge Barbecue at the hostel, which we couldn't get round to finishing, despite having about 4 Burgers each. He said that no-one manages to finish his BBQs and I can believe it.
After dinner, I met a few others from the bus - Bev (Aus), Sasha (England), Michelle (Ireland) and Eleanor (US). We all spent the evening hanging out and had a really good laugh. It seemed we had landed ourselves a good bus of people.
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