River Valley/Wellington

River Valley was our next stop and literally it was in the middle of nowhere. No internet, wifi, or serviced on my phone. It reminded me of a cabin you would find in the woods back home, very rustic and interesting. The lodge we stayed at had a 32 person dorm room, and by dorm room, I mean mattresses lined up in rows. It's been nicknames the orgy room because it's just mattresses lined up in a rows and the bus driver used the phrase"if walls could talk". Our room was tame, just some shwasted people. The highlight of River Valley is the outdoor activities you can do. You could do walks, horse treks, or white water rafting. I opted for the rafting. It was so much fun. The rapids were great, and even though I was crazy nervous it was fun. The guide was interactive with us and would have us jump left or right to help get the raft through or over rocks, it was quite entertaining I'm sure to watch me hurl my body half off the raft going down rapids. There were a few points that truly stand out. The first was when we were going down a rapid and it got stuck and he asked us to all go to the front of the boat, from my waist down I was in the boat, my top half hanging over the edge. Myself and a friend ended up going head first down the rapid, plunging under the water while the rest of the raft finished coming over the rapid. The second memorable thing was when I fell out of the raft at the end of a rapid, ALL my friends laughed at me hysterically for falling out because we aren't exactly sure how it even happened. The third was when the raft was flipped over (I think purposefully by our guide) and we all ended up underneath the raft. And lastly, when I willingly jumped off a 6m (19ft) rock into the river below. If you know my fear of heights, you know that's a big deal for me. It was a great day, that ended with a roast dinner, which with my aversion to garlic and onion proved to be quite tricky.

Wellington was the next night. The majority of the bus decided to go to a rugby game, because the Wellington Hurricanes were playing the night we were in town. We all walked down from the hostel to the game together and sat together while we watched the game, then afterwards went out to explore the nightlife of Wellington (supposedly the best place in NZ for nightlife). It was such a quick stopover that I really was unable to explore the city and what it has to offer. So when I come back to do the Tongariro Crossing I will also come back to Wellington.

Next stop Kaiteriteri (first stop on the South Island)....

Bye for now <3