Today has been THE best! Finally feeling like I definitely made the best decision in my life coming here. Within a few minute of getting on the Kiwi Experience bus I’d already bumped into Reggie, Mary and Olivia who all seem so so nice! Mary is hilariously loud and self deprecating, Reggie is sweet and at one with nature and Olivia has a sharp wit n hidden weird side, perfect little group! We sat together and chatted, ate and stared out the window for the coach journey which flewww past, with a stop to buy some food n bOoze 🤪 The driver seems to be overexplaining everything to the point we don’t need to go on the trips anymore. Arrived around 2pm to Hot Water Beach hostel which is like a camping (/glAmping bebé) set up, we stayed in a little bungalow thing called Tui which we shared with 3 other lovely gals, Becky, Kirsty and Emily. The place is so so much cleaner and nicer than my last few nights stays, finally feel safe and happy in my room lol. Chilled around for a bit then went and cooked dinner. Me and Mary are both veggie (as most people are lol) and we both felt the need for veggies so we made a FAT veggie chickpea potatoe stew it was lush. Then we went back to our rooms to get ready for the main event of the day - hot water beach! Coldly clad in bikini and rain jacket we ran through the dark and pouring rain to the beach along wooden cladding, even saw glow worms along the way! Arrived and couldn’t see a thing but felt our way to the thermal pools with our bare feet - you knew once you’d found one cos the sand was burning hot! Once we’d dug a nice big pool we all stripped off and lay all round it looking up at the stars and hearing the sea whoosh next to us. Was truly amazing being so happy with this group after meeting them a mere 12 hours ago. Came back and washed the entire beach out my butt crack then snuggled down with a cup o tea in bed :)

Early start today - had to be back on ze party bus by 7:30 😒 Had a cute stop off on the way to Waitomo at an old mine where we went for a lil walk over lots extremely wobbly bridges across a gorge. There was a cool Indiana Jones-style abandoned railway surrounded by tropical jungle trees which led into the mines which had windows that looked out over the gorge. Got to the hostel/another camp park by lunch and had a delish super noodle sat out on the decking in the sun loving life. P.s. I stayed in a room with Olivia, Mary, Reggie, Lauren and George. After lunch we donned our bikinis and set of to Waitomo Black Water Rafting. We had to put on the sexiest wetsuit outfits - fleece, wetsuit, jacket, wetsuit socks and booties lol. Then got in a minibus and trundled off to the cave entrance. Before we went in we had to acclimatise to the FREEZING water temp my jumping backwards off a jetty into a dingy in the river. The water was literally about 8 degrees and tbh I was impressed I even managed that as I’m scared of jumping off things, especially backwards! We all had a little tube/rubber ring to float in, and clambered down the rocky entrance and slid into this cave - something like my childhood dreams. One of the first things we had to do was paddle under a very low cave roof where we had to turn our heads and swim with about 1/2 a ft of air - beating another fear! Seriously think this trip is gonna rid me of all anxiety as it’s basically CBT for free (/6 grand lol). The caves were lit by our headtorches attached to our helmets, and we could already see a few glowworms hanging from the ceiling alongside loads of stalagmites. For about an hour we swam and climbed and floated through the cave system, at two points we had to leap backwards about shoulder height off a ledge landing in our ring and floating off down the river. We also went down rapids, where the water was so so strong it felt like it would rip me off my feet. My favourite bit by far was when all of us linked legs and rings into a snake formation on our backs and turned off our lights so we could float gently through the cave system staring up at thousands of glow worms on the ceiling. It was truly one of the wonders of the worlds..and not even ruined by the fact I was losing all feeling and ability to move my limbs. It looked like we were laying under a slay full of stars, which is exactly what the glowworms has evolved for it to look like-flies hatching on the surface of the water would see this and fly towards it, then get stuck in the sticky webs dangling down. Once we were out and thoroughly showered we had warm bagels and tomato soup then headed back to the hostel. I was pretty shattered and feeling a bit sick from my cold and all the exhaustion so we just played cards for a while (shithead) then went to sleep.

Possibly the best day of my life. Left Waitomo fairly early and set off towards Rotorua. Most of the bus stopped off at Hobbiton to be geeky but as I’ve never even properly watched the films I gave that one a miss and thankfully Becky, Kirsty and Emily we’re doing the same. We were truly starved upon arrival (like 12pm lol) so we went out for a deeeelish Italian meal - shared a garlic bread and had pasta with deeeelish roasted veggies in a creamy paprika sauce. Met up with the others and trundled off to the Maōri village, Tamaki. Put our things in the cool 20-bed dorm, which was incredibly warm and comfy, with carved Maōri ancestors all round the edge. We then went into the woods to play a stick game - I was brilliant of course :) then we had the welcome ceremony where the Maori men (all BUFF can I add) arrived by canoe, hopped out and started doing the Hakka at us whilst the ladies sang beautifully in the background. Next we wandered round being taught local traditions eg the Hakka, carving, cooking. Finally (we were all starved and freezing by this point) we went inside for the feAst and boyyyy was it. The food was cooked in the traditional Hangi style aka underground in pits heated by hot rocks. It was basically a roast and the best but by farrrr was the potatoes gravy and stuffing 🤪 After this feast we stuffed our fat bellies into bikinis n jumped into the hot tubs up by the bar! Had SO much fun I got a lovely merry drunk and we all told stories allll eve. Mary didn’t realise our guide was also the chief and she spent a good 15 mins declaring her love to him before she realised they were the same person and was like ‘eh..’ when she found out hehe. Snuggled down in my huuuge dorm and had an incredibly good sleep!

Woke up fairly early for breakfast at Tamaki, not the most exciting but was plenty of butter and toast so I was happy with thttt! We then got back on Kiwi bus to get back to Rotorua, where I managed to royally mess up my activity plans lool. A bus to the geyser park was leaving imminently so I stupidly hopped on it, \240then within 10 mins I’d realised I was meant to be rafting in a few hours and wouldn’t be back in time! Had my first major stress out and thought I was gonna miss out on rafting n lose my money but thank GAWD they let me change it to an afternoon raft! The geysers were actually real cool! Sun came out for once and the smell of egg was rife but me George and Lauren enjoyed our meander round the geyser park, seeing many the cool bubbling pool of viscous mud, and weird neon lakes. We even saw a jokes geyser which they promised ‘erupted’ everyday but in fact turned out to require soap to be dropped in before a bit of foam came out the top lool. Rushed back to the hostel (Base Rotorua) and hopped into my bikini then headed out to go white water rafting down the largest waterfall you’re allowed legally to raft down in the WORLD!!! It was amAzing, the sun shone and the river truly looked like a beautiful tropical amazement. The guides were cute as per and I was on the raft with a nice Scottish gal and Auz couple. The entire trip we flew down rapids and down smaller waterfalls and thankfully didn’t flip out the raft going down the 7metre waterfall! I also jumped out the raft at one point and swam headfirst down rapids which was pretty amazing! Got back and chilled for a bit then we went out to the Lava hostel bar. BOY did I get drunk loool was doing crazy dancin with Cedric my love, till I found out he was intact not gay and possibly thinking I wanted to kiss him so I had to abort tht mission. Had a fab night and right at the end someone tapped me on the shoulder and when I turned round it was the bloody rafting instructor!! He was v fit, Japanese with 2 nose rings and shoulder length dreads. We kissed ofc and I went back to his lol to smoke some weed but the walk was sooo long and full of so many creepy older men it proper put me off and by the time I was there I was so turned off it was v embarrassing as I just wanted to go home but he was prooooper begging for me to stay. And I had left my phone at Base EEK. Managed to escape and he took me home thank the lord. Got in at 6am the maddone I am!

Had a MUCH more chilled day today thank gawd. Woke up feeling noooot too fabulous due to the massive amounts of alcohol consumed the night before lol. Made a scrummy breakfast of poached eggs on crumpets then we went out for a wander round the town - we being me, Mary, Reggie and Cedric. We found Lake Rotorua and lay down in the beaut sun by the beaut lake for a while watching the black swans swim past (and bite Mary lol). Then found a fun fair/stalls and Mary got her ears pierced, Cedric shot some guns like the man he is. We then walked round the park by the hostel again with the bubbling mud pools n nice smelling flowers but hen felt too exhausted for life so went back to Base (just got this name ha ha it kinda works). On the way to the pool to have a dip I bumped into Katie, Damien and Jess which was a lOvely surprise!! We had a nice catch up and found out Jess will be on the bus tomo woohoo. Damien and Katie still VERY much in love hehe. The pool was jokes classic hostel pool, Mary got in and within a few minutes had a massive ball of rank hair and dirt attached to her foot, and I managed to slice my leg on the way out so am now worried I’ve got some disease from the dirty water. Had speedy din and went out to Sobar (bar) (duh) to have drinks with Reiga the guy I met the day before. He had his weird old friend with him again and we barely understood each other so was preeety awkward then he literally wouldn’t stop begging for me to go home with him ahaha so Lauren had to step in and tell him to fuck off. Difficult times being this irresistible. Went home and packed for leaving the next day.

Left fairly early to go to Taupo today, with a stop off at Te Pai (?) geothermal area. Had an interestingish tour through the Maōri school where the men learn carving and the woman learn to weave, oh modern day sexism how you are still rife. By the way it was TIPPING it down this whole tour so could barely see out from under my hood lol. Then we went to a cool deep 100 degree geothermal pool where the water was crystal clear and the guide boiled eggs in it! Lit was such a highlight for me having these warm eggs - main excitement was tht they gave us both salt and pepper to accompany, a rare treat!! Carried on wandering round the geyser park, didn’t rlly see much due to rain but was fairly pretty and steamy! Broke our way in to a kiwi conservation centre lol, then found the actual kiwi enclosure and met a few lil kiwis (The bird not the fruit). They were v cute but seemed like they wanted to escape so was a bit sad. Got back on the bus (btw, new people v v nice) and went off on our way to Taupo to skydive! Quick stop off at Hukka falls which was vvv beaut def couldn’t raft down tht river, then we were shuttled off to Taupo Sky Dive Center. Practically shat myself with fear, signed my life away, watched the safety video, then they decided it was too cloudy so sent us home lol!! Got back and went to explore the town, saw the beaut lake. Had a quick bevvy at the bar next to Base (see a hostel theme yet??) and a deeelish mushroom taco, then went up and got ready for the pub quiz. This started incredibly late so was tired by the time it started tbh but was v fun and lovely getting to know all the new crew - lots more people that seem right up my street lol. Came back early from exhaustion and crawled happily to bed.

Had a looovellly lie in today till 10:30am then hopped downstairs to the bar we were in last night for a spot of yoga! Was v zen, surprisingly nice to just stretched out for an hour! I even managed to do the crow pose first time AND she said I did a v good banana pose hehe 😏 felt starved so went and made myself a fat brunch upstairs then just as I was finishing off the last egg Sean ran in with the news that sky diving was back onnnn! Madness ensued, Lauren and Ella threw up from the shock and I popped many the anxiety pill lool. Got there and threw on our overalls, put our cute condom hats on and even had our first interviews with the diving partners. Then the rain and hail started. Sat inside waiting n watching films for 4 hours (4 HOURS) then they came and told us it was truly cancelled waaa. Said goodbye to Sky the cute cat and went back to the hostel. Missed the hot river walk so that’s annoyiinnn. Then went to the YHA hostel where Lauren and D were staying, cuddled amber under blankets and ate crappy but delicious food ☺️ stayed there a good few hours watching hazza p, then meandered back to my hostel to cook some vegetables, had a lovely long shower (actually shaved my legs!!) and did a face mask then had an early night.

A faBulous day! Left Base fairly early in ze morning (after yet another cancelled sky dive ofc) and drove through beaut rainbows and scenery towards River Valley. We stopped off at Tongariro National Park for a verity cold walk - snow! Everywhere! Was beautiful but absolutely freezing, thankfully Jess lent me her coat otherwise I may have actually died of hypothermia lol. We hiked for about 2 hours through pretty snowy forest and past a huge waterfall, all beaut enough to take my mind off the snow melting into my trainers. Got back and shivered myself vaguely warm, whilst it tipped it down outside. Mary got off to grab a coffee in the pouring rain, came back absolute soaked looking miserable with half her coffee tipped down her. I tried to be empathetic but couldn’t stop the laughter it was too much of a sight :’) arrived in the afternoon to the river valley lodge where there was a roaring fire pit in the middle of the main room with loads of wooden tables and the bar, then we dropped out stuff off in the dorms. Again, breaking down my anxiety barriers as I chose (!) to stay in a 20 bed dorm where the mattresses were simple laid next to each other on like one huge bunk bed lol - actually slept incredibly well as it was sooo snuggly hehe. We went down and started drinking straight away, I had a lovely gin fizz and was drunk in approx 2.5 minutes due to playing Mary’s game of red or black. Then the most gloorious roast dinner was brought out: beautifully seasoned roasted potatoes, cauliflower/cabbage cheese, carrots, but roast with hummus and tomatoes, Yorkshire puddings and GRAVY and lots of it!! Literally one of the best meals Amy has ever eaten in her liyeffff! Then we got back to drinking pretty much straight after, just socially butterflied my way round the room chatting to everyone and having a great time. Signed my life away to get a tattoo and nose piercing the next day lol - actually fancy both of these tbh. Had a heart to heard with Dee \240and Lauren and Iram and ChazzaP and they all told me I need to delete Jordan out my life lol. I mean it is the truth tbh. Got to know Mikeal the German chef and actually spoke half decent German for a good few hours lol!! He tried to kiss me outside but I swooped n made sure he missed..awkward teehee. Came back inside and watched the end of the rugby cotched in his lap then went to bed (alone!). Wonderful wonderful day.

Woke up feeling surprisingly ok given the volume drank the night before! Had a sweeet snuggled sleep in the orphan beds, 10/10 would recommend lol. Had a freeezig outdoor shower, heated myself back in front of the fire and cuddled with the gals whilst we gathered our spirits. Then went for the nicest walk through the valley, finding cool chickens with afros, many the cow and cute lambies! The sun was finally shining so was lovely to just be in it and soak in those rayssss. Got back and had lunch (classic noodle pot) and sat outside in the bench area then off we trundled to Wellington. Had a nice lil stop off at Maccies where I got a cheeky hash brown and frozen Fanta slushy it was beauuuut! Arrived late in Wellington so didn’t have a chance to see much of the city but got some free nachos and tried L&P drink finally it tasted like sprite lol. Got bit drunk on cider jugs and played many the card game, last night with Mary! 😭 oh and the barmaid was the same woman as back in Rotorua when I was well drunk ahah. Had a dominoes just cos I’m a fatty and went to sleep!

Earllyyyy start this morning - had to be on the bus by 7:30am to make our way across from Wellington to the South Island. Had a fab time on the boat teaching the gals (Dee, Lauren, Amber, Charli and Iram) how to play Irish Snap which they loved hehe! It all got extremely competitive and hot ahah. Was a beautiful boat ride winding through many islands in the shimmering waters, then arrived in Picton on the South Island! Stopped in Nelson and picked up some groceries as well as a cute guy called Cameron lol - he looked v v Bristol and tall. Arrived at Abel Tasman in the early eve and went straight down to the beach to drink beers and enjoy the sunset which was beauuuut and didn’t disappoint! Then made the classic katsu curry with the gals which was deeelish! Had a fun lil night out at the bar drinking a pitcher of beer and dancing crazily to banging tunes before having a lovely sleeeep - quite nice not having George’s shoutings!

Woke up at the crack of dawn (literally) to go and see the sun rise over the beach, was truly beautiful wrapped up in warm blankies and coats all sat there. Came back and finalllyy had a shower and felt a bit of cleanliness in my life! Our room then went for a wander along the beach in the sun - I even took my jumper off?! Climbed up to the viewpoint which was beaut, then found another beach with loads of rocks with all different ages of mussels on it which was SIK. Had to jump thru an estuary to get back to our beach which was funnn. Then just sat and played cards (Irish snap ofC) in the sun and enjoyed my life till the coach left. Not actually toooo sure of the name of the lake we stayed at but it was the ‘most photographed lake in NZ’ and it was pisssin it down OFC. So I had a sad rainy photo then we all ran back on the bus lool. Arrived at this weird hippy hostel in Westport late in the day, it was sooo groovi. Legit everyone there was staff it seemed and they were all fairly rude lool. The clothes wash only did cold so me and amber added boiling water to try and keep things clean but got many the odd look from various hippies hehe. Then we went off to buy burrito ingredients - had THE yummiest burritooos (thanks to moi and my great black bean sauze. Then just had a chilled one drinking beers in our room by the far playing cards with Lauren’s lot. I leant my back against Cams leg OOH. Most action I’ve got lool. .

Hopped on ze bus and off we trundled. Today was actually fun cos we stopped off at so many points! First we stopped at pancake rocks for a walk along the coast and down to see the cool rock formations which did indeed look like a stack of pancakes. It was a lovely sunny day and I even require suncream!! And we saw some cute seals sunbathing on rocks! Got off again at Greymouth to grab what we needed for a fancy dress later later that day - by this point I’d decided I was gonna go as a carrot so all I required was a carrot! Another weird town this was, seemed pretty ghost-towny and empty rail tracks going through it. Got back on the bus and drove down windy scenic roads towards Lake Mahinapua which was one of my fave locations for a hostel - a pub with cottages all round it which we stayed in and a basketball court and hot tubs! Jumped straight in ze tub with a pitcher of pimms and enjoy feeling hot for once lol! Then started the transformation into a carrot tht eve. Had an ok roast dinner, garlic bread was by far the yummiest part! Then we spent an hour loving our lives putting on makeup - the rest of the girls were going as chavs so they had a lottt of thick foundation to apply etc. Final looks were fab and off we went to the bar! I played a game of pool with Cameron and was ShIte lol, too many wines in already! Me n him danced quite a lot, as I was v drunk already I was quite the sexy dancer ahah. Blagged myself many the free shot an all! Not sure when but at one point me n Cam snuck off and kissed in his room and could’ve gone further but sadly George and Amber burst in so tht was tht over! Then after that he got a bit weird and distanced haha (must’ve been the kiss of his life eh!). Went back and carried on dancing my life away, then suddenly everything got weird. Can’t remember fully what happened cos was so drunk but I went outside and Emily (or Emily and Duncan) basically was like ‘you’re doing everyone’s head in Amy everyone’s annoyed at you just go to bed’. Then when I asked Lauren bout this she was like yeah you are annoying people, then said I was looking rlly desperate with Cam lol!! Which tbf I probably was but who fakin cares mate it’s 2019. But alas I was so drunk I couldn’t handle this so I was v sad and crying loadsss then had a panic attack oOps. Not a good end to the night. But at least I made a sexy carrot!!

Woke up today in a state of outright confusion lol, head pounding, memory hazy and eyes puffy. Managed to scrape my life somewhat together and pack my bags, eat one free(ish) pancake and plop myself onto the bus. Was informed we were gonna try to do the sky dive an an hour n was NOT impressed. Arrived at Franz Josef real quick, and pulled up to the coolest hostel! Unsure how it even classed as a hostel as it was more like a 5 star retreat. Was all these wooden lodges sat in the middle of a rainforest valley, with slight (slight!) views of the snow-topped mountains around us. Shared a dorm with Amber, Rania and Marie, which was along a hallway lit like an absolute brothel but had a beaut bathroom tiled impeccably and luvvvely hot showers. Ran straight to Heli hike place to book in for tomo as tht had already been cancelled due to weather (ha ha..some kind of sick joke eh), then booked in sky diving for tht day. Hung around a bit and had a nap, then got the call that sky diving was full on cancelled for the next 4 days aka no chance of us doing it! We decided to go on a walk with the gals staying at the YHA as the sun was trying to make an appearance and SO glad we did, proper cheered me up. Wandered through amazing rainforest paths with intriguing birds calling us, climbed under trees and found a beauuuut river bed with bright blue chalky water rushing through it out a gorge and over into this huge expanse of massive grey streaked pebbles. Added my own rock to the pile. Even took my jumper off! The bridge was closed (ofc) so we headed back to the hostel, I cooked some pasta pesto then went for a quick drink to try say hello and gain some normality but was sooo tired from last nights drunken escapades I went to bed at 10pm happily.

Had a nice long lie in as we had an email saying the Heli hike had been cancelled for good (again, lol). Then had a scrumptious shower and had some delish fried eggs on crumpets. Lay around in the room sorting my life - aka trying my bloody hardest to fill this journal in before I got too far behind. Then our room went to the hot pools just down the road - by this point it was absolutely chucking it down! The pools were actually a rlly nice thing to do on such a grim day, just floated around under canopies in a boiling pool surrounded by the rainforest so was v tranquil n just what I required. Came back and didn’t rlly have much to do so just played with makeup for a few hours and painted my nails and chatted to the gals then had a v nice dinner considering my sitch - no pasta, a week old sauce tht hadn’t been put in the fridge, a mouldy avo and some garlic salt (this was the crowning ingredient). Went down to the bar for a few drinks, had a game of pool with George but wasn’t feelin it too much so came back up to bed pretty early and fell straight asleep.