Driving south in the north: mussels, sulphur, and flying

I am writing this with my iPhone, now that shows dedication... Not that it would be any faster if I used the French or German laptops, considering their keyboards are all funky. I apologize for my 10 days of silence, but it's quite difficult updating this thing with no computer, and although all my travel companions have computers, I can't borrow any for more than 10 mins due to our greed when it comes to Internet. I've been thinking foundations a lot, if that counts for anything! In my last post I was leaving kerikeri to pursue some day to day adventures, and boy has that come true. We left kerikeri and headed to Auckland for some business stuff-flight info, taxes-and along the way stopped at some gorgeous beaches. That's one of the many things I love about new Zealand, around every turn there's a new beautiful site, and you're never more than 100 km away from the sea (100 km-1 hr). That night in Auckland ky and I met up with some of his friends and we watched in your skin, an Erie spanish thriller with Antonio benderez. Best movie I've seen in awhile, though it did put me on edge a bit. The coromandel was next on our list with a stop at cathedral cove. So far I think the coromandel peninsula is the prettiest place I've been in NZ, which is saying a lot! We chilled out in our own little lodge flat for a couple of days. I woke at sunrise and went for a short kayak paddle around the bay outside our flat-a perfect way to spend a morning! And the previous evening Stefan and I walked through some bush and onto a tree hanging over the bay to watch the sunset-perfect way to spend an evening! After an extremely relaxing couple of days we arrived in Hamilton. There's not much in Hamilton, but we did manage to see the gardens which were pretty cool. Their interpretation of an American garden was spot on! Haha-concrete with a pool, bright yellow lawn chairs, and a giant picture of Marilyn Monroe! My favorite was the Japanese garden, twas quite peaceful. that night ky and Amy hacker took me out for some beer, some chatting, and some mussels! My first mussel was delicious, never thought I would've loved seafood this much. I had to say bye to ky for good this time since he's moving to Australia for a yr or so. It was actually quite sad for me, he's a really cool guy and one of my first friends in new Zealand. I have a feeling our paths will cross again someday though. After unsuccessfully attempting to leave the hostel without paying (not my idea), we visited Hobbiton. 'nuff said. From there we went to mt. Manganui (tauranga) and climbed to the top at sunset, which was beautiful, but I was honestly more intrigued with the view of the city. It was like looking down from a plane. After our descent, Stefan and I decided to walk home along the beach, and I told him of how when I was youngeri used to believe I could control the waves and of my fear of the ocean at night. We both agreed that we missed our friends heaps, but that ultimately this time is about ourselves as individuals and that hopefully within the next couple of weeks all of us traveling together will become much closer. Onto Rotorua and with that, the best hostel in new Zealand and a very rotten eggy smell! The hostel was called funky green backpackers and if you ever come to NZ, stay there!! The owners are wonderful and it truly feels like a home rather than a hostel. They had funny, intriguing, quirky, and beautiful pictures and posters up everywhere, including a picture of bush saying "miss me yet?" ;-). A roaring fire coupled with a beautiful sun room meant it was hard actually leaving the hostel to go do touristy things! Oh yeah, and it smelled exactly like the racer-rice's place. But we went out there and saw the geothermal volcanic areas. I saw my 1st geyser, lady Knox, and then went to the moon! At least it seemed that way. There was a giant cloud over the entire park which kind of sucked but it helped you forget you were on this planet. The colors formed by the chemicals were amazing-bright green, yellow, orange. And as I was walking along, inside the cloud, on top of an active volcanic area, it truly was like being on a totally diff. Planet. I loved it-being alone. Later, we went to the night market which had heaps of fantastic looking food, but our hostel owner recommended "the best brownies in the world," and he's travelled, so I had to take him up on it and boy do I agree! Delicious!! There were live bands playing, most of which were just cute older people playing ukulele, but that added to the fun. I taught fanny and Melanie the joe dance, which they found very amusing. It was a good night, topped off with piers, Stefan and I going to the hot springs spa which are outdoor pools that look out over the star-dabbled lake rotorua. A sad farewell to our funky green hostel led to an exciting 200 km free fall for piers and I. Yup! I did it! Skydive=pwned. Unfortunately they did have to weigh me beforehand, therefore I'm now aware of exactly how much weight I've gained. I'm 58 kilos, so I've gained about 24 lbs in this country. I blame my poor status. It's the backpackers way to eat everything in sight since you never know if you'll have enough food later (even though you always do). It sucks... I resent my new figure and am honestly mildly worried about coming home and seeing all my friends because of it. My self image is absolutely shit right now, but I try to push my thoughts about that away and focus on my daily activities and just know that once I get home I'll have plenty of time to get somewhat back in shape. But still, it's hard to get used to. I'm extremely angry with my body just all of a sudden slowing it's metabolism! Grr.. Anyway... The skydive was EPIC! I recommend everyone do one before they cease to exist. Although the filming was annoying to me... I'm glad I've got the footage, but it was too invasive for me-wasn't candid at all and made me feel like I had to perform in some way... Which is why I look so retarded in the video, but hey, forgive me-it's a little awkward being strapped to another person for so long while you're quickly becoming motion sick and he's going: smile, look at the camera! Erg. Didn't take too much away though. There's nothing like flying. I'm ending this post now so that you don't get TOO bogged down. Next up: some serious thoughts on the backpacking life.