days six, seven & eight!

• have you been missing me? i've been busy these last few days! on thursday (day six) i went on an all-day whirlwind tour of the northernmost part of the north island - saw a small stand of kauri trees, visited cape reinga where the tasman sea meets the pacific ocean, went for a short swim on a white sandy pacific beach, tried sandboarding on the dunes, drove down ninety-mile beach (more like ninety km beach) and had fish and chips for dinner - all in one day. needless to say i was too tired to blog after all that. here i am on the beach just before my swim . . .

• we had a clear sunny day for most of it - got drizzled on in the kauri forest and again a the beach (a few pansies went back to the bus rather than swim in the rain - go figure). sandboarding was pretty awesome - after a steep trek up the dune, you go hurtling down face-first on a sort of body-board thing. the first time down i let go somehow and caught my arm underneath - got a bit of a sandburn - but i went a couple more times anyway. actually i would have kept going, but everyone else was all tired out and heading for the bus. it was good fun - like sledding, but warm!
• i've been wearing sunscreen pretty religiously since i got here, but i must have missed the backs of my hands, because i've got a pretty bad case of sun allergy bumps. i forget about my sun allergy every year, and every year after my first long day out, it takes me by surprise - this is the first year i've had it as early as the first week of march! luckily i brought some hydrocortisone cream with me - i was thinking i'd need it for bug bites, but no, i'm using it all up on what looks like foot-and-mouth disease on the backs of my hands. gross. at least i had my arms covered most of the first couple days.
• and - here i am in a cave! muddy up to my neck (and this was before crawling through what they call the "pig wallow")! friday (day seven) i got back on the nakedbus, passed through auckland, and stopped in hamilton to spend the evening with lydia and seth (i'd met them earlier in the week - they took me to hobbiton). they plied me with new zealand candy - lollies is what they call it - and then we went caving. i don't think i'd ever been in a cave before. it was pretty intense. we wore nasty old clothes (i borrowed some off lydia's younger brother dan) under what looked like mechanics' overalls, and we had helmets with lights on the front - i felt like a miner. the caves were pretty sweet - limestone formations everywhere, mud and cold water and glow worms and tight places to squeeze through. all that yoga i've been doing came in handy - strength and flexibility helped me brace myself between walls and swing my leg up to the next foothold, which sometimes was up near my shoulders! turns out i'm not as claustrophobic as i'd thought, and even though it seemed like i could see my breath in the light of my lamp, i didn't feel too cold - until we got home and i was waiting for the shower! i slept like a rock that night and woke up stiff and covered with bruises. caving is hard work, but i really enjoyed it. lydia said i did great for my first time. she should know - she's been leading caving groups for years.
• yesterday (saturday, day eight) i took the overlander train from hamilton to wellington. it's a long trip - something like ten hours - but it's a great way to see a slice of the north island. the train passes gorgeous snow covered mountains, hillsides full of sheep, sleepy little towns . . . i was exhausted and slept a few hours here and there, but every time i woke up there was something beautiful to look at. the train also features an outdoor viewing platform, a kind of tiny balcony between the baggage car and the first passenger car. i can't imagine this being allowed on an american train - seems very unsafe - but i loved feeling the wind and sun in my face while we zipped along between hills and over rivers. the scenery was worth the length of the trip.
• when i arrived in wellington, david and eilidh (friends of my sister from college) met me at the station and we went up to their house - a good half hour walk, at least, through beautiful hilly wellington. some people compare wellington to san francisco because of the steep hills and the lovely views of the harbor. the train driver also mentioned that wellington has more clubs, bars and restaurants per capita than new york city! pretty amazing. here in wellington, i'm hoping to visit te papa, new zealand's national museum, and do some walking - eilidh has a walk marked out that she's been meaning to do, so i'm hoping to accompany her.
• well - that's all for now. i'll fill you in on today's adventures tomorrow night! for now i'll just tell you new zealand seems like a great place to live.