New Zealand

"This is not a damn joke ladies!"
I look to my left and see utter terror upon the faces of Singapore 1 and Singapore 2.  To my right the German stands unflinching.  I begin to think back to the flyer I had read. 
The Black Odyssey
Challenge yourself in this 5 hour underground experience with rock climbing, spider walking, repelling and abseiling
Not for the faint of heart
Must be able to hold their own weight
Will be asked to pass a physical upon arrival
Oh, I thought to myself, this is why I needed to pass that physical.
"If you unclasp yourself, you will die.  End of story.  Don't do it...ever," say my group leader.  Long dreds hanging from his overalls and tattoos right up to his jaw line. 
And so we begin and quickly I understand the brochure now.  I am in the Waitomo caves on the southern part of the north island.  I'm around 250m down and my heart is racing.   We dive into a small crack in the wall and the quest begins.  And the leader was speaking the truth.  Quickly I find myself up 100m on a sheer cliff wall with a raging underground river below me and pitch blackness all around.  Thank god I didn't bring my camera, it would have most defiantly broken.  I am the first of our troop to reach the gap.
"Right, on with ya then," my tattooed guide says to me.
"What, just jump?"
"I don't see how else your getting over."
I pointed my head lamp down.  Wrong choice.  The river was raging below me further than my headlamp could reach.  I looked down into complete darkness.  Between me and the other side stood about a five foot gap.  Not huge but more than large enough for my skinny ass to fall through.  Not safety lines or nets.  Just me.  I leap from the wall and make the other side.  All safe. I turn to watch Germany make the jump.  He lands and his foot slips.  He catches himself but the German's stony exterior had broke and he looked terrified.  From there the journey was much the same with more gaps and spider walks.  Zip lines in cathedrals filled with so many glow worms you would have sworn you were looking at the stars.  Super sketchy ladder gaps were the only thing anchoring the ladder was your own weight.  We emerge from a tiny hole up a cliff face and repel down.  I look at my hands.  Every single one of knuckles are bleeding.  My pinky is badly bruised from where I got it stuck in the zip line.  Under my middle finger nail blood is pouring out.  Singapore 1 takes of his boot and proceeds to remove his big toenail.  He had smashed it between two rocks but it prevented him from falling so he didn't care.
"Not your average caving experience aye mates?"
Welcome to New Zealand
From there I took a quick plane (which was the cheapest way) down to Queenstown.  The beauty of this town astounds me every morning. Nestled right on a huge lake Queenstown reminds me so much of Jackson.  Filled with either filthy rich people or young people working three jobs just to scrape by.  I meet so many people and learn where to eat cheaply and where to get the best beer.  I love it here for that reason. 
I take a tour to Milford sound.  Marked as one the eighth natural wonder of the world I couldn't disagree.  Although my tour bus was packed with old people and Asians I don't think my jaw came off the floor the entire time.  Huge peaks that go straight into the ocean. So laden with trees you couldn't see past the first line of shrubs.  The trees on these cliff faces are all intertwined and are quite literally holding each other on the cliff.
New Zealand has been good to me and I can't wait to continue my journey and adventure in Australia.
Picture Time!

See You In Australia