New Zealand - the North Island!

This post is very late! We were in New Zealand for most of June so this could end up being a very long post as we did many a thing and saw many a place. I will try not to make it too long and boring and so shall maybe only focus on main bits! 

In New Zealand I met my friend Sophie. Sophie is one of my best friends and we go a little bit weird when we're together. It is fun. She has been in Australia since November doing the working holiday visa thing. So I flew from Sydney to Auckland and Sophie flew from Melbourne to Auckland. We had no plan for New Zealand. Well the plan was to meet in Auckland and decide what to do while we were there. We knew we wanted to travel around both islands using some kind of hop on hop off bus thing. We had spoken a lot about the trip before hand but we never managed to decide anything solid. 

So we had an emotional meeting at the airport and went and stayed with some of Sophie's family friends just outside of Auckland. We did quite a bit of research and planning and had a day in the city. We wandered around, did sight see-y stuff including going up the Sky Tower which looks over the whole city. It is high and cool. We didn't really do much, it was just nice wandering around and getting lost and stuff. We bought our bus pass thingy with Inter City buses the night before we left Auckland. We booked our first leg of the journey - we were off to Paihia in the Bay of Islands! 

Paihia was lovely - a very small but beautiful town. We were supposed to go on a boat trip while we were there with the possibility of seeing dolphins but unfortunately it was cancelled as it pissed it down and was windy amd stormy the whole time we were there! Never mind. So we caught a little ferry over to a place called Russel and had a walk round there. Very beautiful, even with the rain! We had a pie in Paihia (pie here...get it??!) After Paihia we had a short bus journey down to Whangarei. Don't ask me how to pronounce it because I don't know how! We stayed in a funny old fashioned hostel at the top of a steep hill. It pissed it down again. Even more this time! Got absolutely drenched. Even my waterproof shoes were sodden. We took refuge in Pak'n'Save (massive cheap supermarket!) Met an old family friend of Sophie's in the evening. She took us out for drinks and some food. Smashies in an Irish bar. SO TASTY!! 

After Whangarei we headed down to Rotorua. It smells like eggs as it is built on a geothermal activity area so there's sulphur emitting from the ground everywhere. Pretty amazing really, you can see it all bubbling up from the ground. Went for a delicious meal at a Kiwi pub with amazing burgers (I love food). The next day we went to Hobbiton which was one of the best things ever!!! it was fricking awesome and looked exactly like the film which I suppose is the point. You get a guided tour and learn some cool insider information about the films. At the end you go into the Green Dragon pub and get a drink. I had cider out of a lovely blue clay cup. SUCH A GOOD DAY!!! That evening we went to a Maori cultural experience night. You learn all about Maori culture, they perform the Haka and other chants/songs/sacred rituals etc. Was amazing. And all the Maoris are beautiful! Aaand you get to eat the hangi which is basically a traditional Maori way of cooking food underground using heated rocks. We got to watch the unveiling of the food and then the food gets blessed by everyone present. And it was seriously delicious. Like one of the best meals I have ever had. Just thinking about it now is making me drool. I want it again!!! 

After Rotorua we went to Taupo which is a town next to the biggest lake in New Zealand - Lake Taupo. We went on a hike to see the famous Huka falls. So so beautiful and the water was amazingly clear. Sophie got cramp in her bum. We almost stole some walking boots which we thought had been abandoned until we got some dirty looks from people in a cafe. so we ram away instead. On the way back we had a McDonalds in a plane. It was cool. Stayed in a rubbish hostel and had to share a room with a boy who sat and ate crisps in his bed ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT. Stupid crisp boy. 

We had a long bus journey down to Wellington. We stayed with a man I had met in Cape Town airport in his house just outside of Wellington. Some of my friends have told me that we were stupid for doing this and he was probably a perv but I stand by my opinion that he was simply a nice bloke offering us a place to stay. I did let my parents know and told them if we disappeared then we had probably been murdered in our beds. Anyway that didn't happen and we felt perfectly safe there and the night we got there he had cooked us a sea food chowder which was delicious. We had a day in Wellington going to museums and exploring the city and eating sushi and Chinese food. That evening he cooked us green lipped mussels which is a delicacy of New Zealand. Neither of us had tried mussels before and I was definitely a bit nervous but we couldn't really refuse. Anyway, they did taste nice but I nearly gagged on a number of occacions as the texture was DISGUSTING. Ew ew ew ew ew!!! Thinking about it now makes me want to throw up in my mouth. I don't think it helped that I had spent 8 weeks in South Africa preparing raw mussels to feed the turtles with. Anyway we ate nearly all of them as we didn't want to seem rude (luckily Sophie felt the same way about me as them!). Eewww. 

The morning after the awful mussels experience we got up early to go and catch the ferry over to the South Island! Yay South Island, it is awesome. 

Sydney!

Although I am now back in the UK I thought I should write a few more posts about what I did after I left South Africa just in case anyone was interested. 

I had a week in Sydney and it was great. Although I only had a short time there I really liked Sydney as a city. Everyone seemed very friendly and there was a lot to see and do, always something exciting going on. I stayed with friends which was great as it saved me loads of money on having to pay out for expensive Sydney hostels. So thanks Anthony and Ross!! Their apartment was in a really tall building and had a spectacular view over the city. You could see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. It really was amazing. So what did I do while I was there? Let's see if I can remember!

I was really lucky with the weather while I was there as it was approaching winter. Most days it was really warm and I could walk around in shorts and t shirt. It was funny as the locals were walking round all wrapped up with scarves and everything. I think they should come and experience British winter sometime!! Anthony and Ross took me out for a lovely meal on the Sunday to a famous fish and chip restaurant. Can't remember what it was called but it was Irish. And it was yum. 

I did a lot of sight seeing - Bridge, Opera House, Darling Harbour, Bondi Beach etc. The Opera House is an impressive building but it looked a little grubby - it's actually kind of grey close up. It felt kind of weird being so close to it - it's such an iconic building it felt kind of like i wasn't really there! I went to quite a few museums and art galleries (I love art galleries, yay). What else did I do...?

I went MOTHER FLIPPIN' WHALE WATCHING!!! You might be thinking I'd have had enough of that but I don't think I'll ever get tired of it. They are the most amazing creatures. On the trip I saw two sperm whales, which is really unusual as they are hardly ever seen in that area, aaand I saw humpback whales :) I love them so bloody much. 

While I was there there was an arts and music festival going on at Circular Quay. It happens every year, is called Vivid and is a festival of light. All the buildings around Circular Quay get lit up including the opera house, the bridge, the art gallery, the train station and many others and its all accompanied by music. There's also loads of art/light installations dotted about the place. I spent one evening mooching around there looking at everything. It was really cool and so glad I was there when it was on!  The whole thing just looked really spectacular.

On the Friday I went diving. It was awesome. I caught the ferry over to Manly in the early morning and did two shore dives off of Shelly beach. It was great and I'm so glad I did it. I saw soooo many fish and a couple of large Wobbegong sharks aaand loads of other stuff. No turtles though which was sad. It was quite different from where I'd learnt in South Africa as the water was much warmer and the visibility was much better. It was really really great. In a funny/nice coincidence the place I dived with in Sydney were called Pro Dive which happened to also be the name of the place I learned with in Plett! I was assured that there was no affiliation, just a nice coincidence. It made me smile. 

Very stupidly I forgot about the fact that you're not supposed to go diving before going on a plane because of the pressure, and you might get decompression sickness and die or something. I only remembered this the next day when I was sitting on the plane to New Zealand as it was taking off. I started panicking that I was going to get paralysed and die (I admit I am a it of a hypochondriac!!) until I realised it had been around 20 hours since I had gone diving and that I would most probably be ok. I was still a bit worried however and only felt sure I wasn't going to die when I was still alive 24 hours later. Yay for not dying!! 

So that was Sydney! I am sure I have forgotten to include stuff but you get the general idea of what I got up to. Next, onto to New Zealand!! 

Last two weeks and onto Cape Town!

I decided to stay two extra weeks in Plett after finishing the project. I'm really glad I did as I had such a good two weeks with all the amazing people who had become my friends. The two weeks included the most stressful boat trip of all time, seeing a whale, getting drunk, sunbathing, shopping, going to preschool, getting drunk, Norway day!, relaxing, cinema, eating out, getting drunk and spending time with the best of people. My last Friday night out was particularly fun. Plett really felt like home by the time I left and I could have stayed so much longer. I cried a lot when I left. And I mean A LOT. It was very mixed emotions as I was so sad to leave but also so excited for the next part of my trip. 

I caught a night bus to Cape Town on the evening of Sunday the 19th. I then spent a few days there taking in the sights, being a tourist and once again more drinking! Cape Town is a cool city and it would have been nice to spend a bit more time there. I went to Robben Island, saw penguins, went up table mountain, went to various museums, shopped and generally wandered around the city. It was good. Then on Friday morning I went to the airport to start my journey to Australia! I got a plane from Cape Town to Jo'berg and then onto Sydney. I am currently writing this while half asleep, trying to stay awake as long as I can to try and beat the jet lag! I am here for around a week and then I head off to New Zealand. Exciting times!!

Week Eight - My last week with ORCA!

I cannot believe I am already at my last week with the ORCA Foundation. It has gone so incredibly quickly but at the same time I feel like I've been here for ages. I feel very sad that it's my last week but I am so glad that I have decided to stay in Plett for two extra weeks. So let's remember what I've done!

On Monday I went on two boats. On the morning trip I saw common dolphins again (yay!) and actually managed to get some good pictures this time! They really are awesome animals. On the second trip we didn't see anything, which was sad. Later on I went into the big aquarium to clean it. I actually enjoy doing this! We then did some things like data entry and such like.

On Tuesday I again went on two boats. On the first trip we saw a Bryde's whale (yay!). I hadn't seen one for a while so I was excited. It surfaced really close to the boat and it was so cool. I think I was definitely more excited than the customers. Again on the second trip we didn't see anything. We then went back to the house and started to make posters for preschool. We have taken the picture of every child and are making a poster for each class to send to their partner school in Spain. They recently sent us posters with pictures of their children so we are returning the favour. In the evening we went to see a band from Cape Town play. They were really good and it was super fun. I probably drank a liiiittle too much. But it was funnnn.

On Wednesday we went on a hike in Robberg. It was crazy hot today. Like it got up to 30 degrees by 11am. Even the breeze was hot so there wasn't much respite. We were going to do the whole hike which takes around 5 hours. We decided not to in the end because it was too bloody hot. I'm glad we didn't because we were all totally destroyed afterwards. I probably would've passed out or something. Afterwards we came back to the house and finished off the posters for preschool. I was going to go out in the evening but I was feeling horrible and dehydrated from the hike so I had a nap instead. Yes yes, I know, I am so cool.

On Thursday we went to measure the turtles as we do every Monday and Thursday. We have four in total now - Oscar, Elvis, Chuw and Eben - and they are all doing really well which is great. Especially Oscar. He is getting really big and is swimming and diving really well despite his eaten off flippers. We then went to preschool. Hilde joined us too which was nice. Tracy's husband Derik and Ken had come to film the day for their news videos that they make. (I am in one about Oscar too). It was very fun but tiring because we played lots of running around games and there were looooads of them. Apparently Thursday is the day that the most kids show up because they love 'Miss Cracy!' (what they call Tracy) so much. She's like a celebrity there I swear. They chant her name and everything. We played dolphins and fish (we were the dolphins and the kids were the fish and we had to catch them! They had to run from one side of the courtyard to the other without getting caught. Is that how you play British bulldogs...? I can't remember). Anyway it was fun and the kids loved it. Afterwards we went in search of hoodies that we could use to print my design onto. I can't remember if I've mentioned this but I have designed a logo/symbol type thing to go onto an ORCA hoodie. It will have the ORCA logo on the front small and have my design on the back. It needs to be printed in Knysna and I just hope it gets done in time before I leave. I have a bad feeling it won't. Everything is kind of slow here...which is not necessarily a bad thing! In the evening I received some rather exciting news from back home and then me and Hilde went to eat at Surf Cafe. I had nachos and they were frigging delicious! We laughed lots. It was fun.

So then it was Friday, my last day! I actually wasn't feeling too sad as I'm not leaving just yet. We were going to try for boats but none went out unfortunately. So we did a SASS instead. It was kind of crap weather which was a shame as it was my last day and the rest of the week had been sooo nice. Never mind. We then went out for lunch. Tracy joined us. It was nice. I had something with halloumi in it. I bloody love halloumi. Again we were going to try for boats in the afternoon but again there were none going out - the weather had turned even worse! So we just went back to the house and did some odd jobs. Then it got to 5 and I was no longer a volunteer! Weeeird. We went out that night to see a local band. They were awesome. It was great. Ended up going out afterwards and got very very drunk. It was very fun.

On Saturday I was horrendously hungover. I felt really really awful. Stupid drinking! Why can't hangovers just not exist? Me and Hilde went to the cinema and afterwards I was feeling quite a lot better. We just relaxed all day and watched films and ate food (or attempted to in my case).

On Sunday it was lovely weather again. Me Ulrica and Hilde ate out in the sun, had some cocktails and other drinks. It was lovely and relaxed.

I'm not sure if I'll keep this up quite as regularly as I have been doing now that I'm no longer on the programme. I'll just have to see if I can be bothered. I have two more weeks in Plett then 4 to 5 days in Cape Town, and then I'll be flying to Sydney and then onto New Zealand! I am going to be so so sad to leave Plett and South Africa and all the amazing people I have met here. I have had SUCH a good time and I can't believe it's starting to come to end. All I can say is that I'm so glad I am not going back to England just yet and I am getting really excited for the next part of my trip!

Week Seven. Seven!!

I can't believe I'm in week seven already...next week will be my last week with ORCA. Whhaaaattt. Also, super long post. I apologise.

So on Monday me and Chanel went to Ocean Blue to feed the turtles. We now have three, another one was found in Knysna over the weekend. It has been named Chuw (Chanel Hauvette and Ulrica Williams combined as they are the ones who collected it.) He is very very small and we think may only be a week or so old. He weighs 25g at the moment and 20 - 25g is normally the weight they are born. He is being very stubborn and not eating so we'll have to keep our fingers crossed he will be ok. In the afternoon we went fishing again with Charlie and some other people. Nobody caught anything but it was still fun. Tracy's husband was there and he and his cameraman friend had set up three crab nets and they caught one in each. They were big! I think they were going to cook them. Crab is tasty!

Tuesday in the morning we went on a hike in nature's valley. It is such a beautiful hike and when you get to the beach half way through you're pretty much in paradise. Seriously amazing. While we were there we found a dead bush buck on the beach. It was an amazing find as it's really not normal to find them on the beach! It looked like it had been there a while and we were trying to work out how it might've died. I think Chanel came to the conclusion that it was an old cow so had probably died simply from being old. It could have been brought down by a cat such as a caracal but even then it would have been targeted because it was old. In the afternoon we went to do a beach clean up but didn't really find much. It was a lovely walk on the beach non the less! In the evening me and Hilde went to eat at a Mozambican restaurant. It was delicious. It was nice to catch up with her as I don't see her as much now she's moved out!

On Wednesday we went to Tenikwa to kill alien tree species. This time we were meant to be painting poison on the ones we had already chopped down so that they can't grow back. But they gave us something like organic weed killer instead of proper poison. So we think it was a waste of time and won't work. Oh well. While we were there I helped feed a brain damaged African penguin. He has been at Tenikwa for a while and they think he was hit by a boat which gave him brain damage. So he will never be able to be released as he can't even feed himself properly. He is a very sweet penguin and doesn't bite like the others would. I like him. At one I went diving to finish off my open water course. We finally got in the ocean, yayyy!!!! We managed to do two out of the three dives we had left. So tomorrow instead of going to preschool I'll go and do one last dive and I will finally be a qualified scuba diver! It's very tiring and now my legs ache but it is totally worth it as it's so much fun and just such a completely different world to experience. I'm sad I'll miss preschool because I love the kids there so much but at least I have next week to see them again. In the evening I booked my flight out of South Africa. I had been deciding whether to come back to Plett after being in New Zealand but in the end I decided that I couldn't really afford it. So what I am doing is flying to Sydney to stay there for around a week and then I will head to New Zealand to meet Sophie. I will be so incredibly sad to leave South Africa but I am also soooo excited to for the next part of my trip!

So on Thursday we finally completed our Open Water diving course, yay. I am now a PADI qualified open water scuba diver! We just had one dive left where we had to complete one skill - taking off our masks underwater, putting them back on and clearing them. It was fine apart from the fact my regulator came out of my mouth when I took my mask off, but it was fine! When I go to Australia/Sydney I definitely want to dive there! In the afternoon we went out on a boat but unfortunately didn't see anything which is a shame as it was such a nice day. We are having a heat wave here and it's SO HOT! Today and tomorrow the Sustainable Seafood Trust has been with ORCA, seeing what we are doing and what we are about. They are doing a tour of the coast visiting different towns and organisations and getting people to take Ocean Pledges - basically pledges to look after the ocean environment and fish sustainably. So on Thursday evening we went to an event where the SST people gave a presentation and Tony the big boss of Ocean Blue and ORCA also gave a speech. It was interesting and there was free wine which is always good!

Friday was a nice day. We went to see two performances by the Lunchbox Theatre group. One was the Tree Show about the importance of planting trees and the other was the Whale Show about protecting South Africa's whales. They were in two different schools and they were so good. A lot of it was in Afrikaans but you could easily get the gist of what was going on. In the afternoon we came back to the house, cleaned the van, buried the food waste in the garden so it can compost the plants (which is disgusting and made me want to throw up) and other such things. It was a BOILING day so me Ulrica and Marlies had a swim in the lagoon near the house. It was freeeeezing but lovely and beautiful. In the evening a few of us went to Chanel's sister Louise's 30th birthday party. It was a Great Gatsby themed party so I tried my hardest to dress 1920s like with the limited clothes I have with me! It was a good night.

Saturday was an awesome day. In the morning everyone from the ORCA house (minus Lore, who can't dive) and some people from Pro Dive joined together and did a reef clean up. We managed to get rid of 5kg of fishing crap (lines and hooks and such like) from red bait reef. It was good to go diving again too. Me Chanel, Hilde, Ale and Chanel's dad (who was visiting Plett for Louise's birthday) then went on a seal swim. Again it was a beautiful weather. On a seal swim you get taken out on a small boat to the seal colony at Robberg and you swim with the seals! You wear wetsuits, snorkels and fins and the seals are eeeeeverywhere! They completely surround you. The pups are really inquisitive and playful and come really close. I got a few nibbles from a couple of them but it's only to figure out what you are and it doesn't hurt. Saying that Hilde got bitten on her bum and it even made holes in the wetsuit! Luckily it didn't break the skin! It was sooo much fun and the water was really really clear which made it even better. I was buzzing even before we got the the seals though. As we were on the way to Robberg some dolphins popped up right beside the boat. I automatically assumed they were bottlenose dolphins which still would've been cool but they weren't. They were common dolphins. I hadn't seen them yet and I had resigned myself to the fact I wouldn't be seeing them as it's out of the season for them now. But there they were! I was so happy I pretty much cried. No joke. They are beautiful dolphins with a beautiful yellowish stripe down their side and they are the kind that ride the waves created by the boat, so they get really close. Because we were on such a small boat I literally could have reached out and touched one. It was incredible. I am SO happy I got to see them. Aaaarrrhhhhghghghghgggghhh I love them!!!! After the seal swim went went for lunch which Chanel's dad very kindly paid for. I liked him a lot, he was very nice. In the evening I went to Hilde's flat where she and another Norwegian girl Oda (also like her a lot...maybe all Norwegians are nice?!) cooked us Norwegian meatballs with potatoes and Norwegian peas. They were delicious. I also loved the peas which Hilde and had told me many times that I wouldn't like, but I loved them! We played games and watched a film. It was fun. And we found a MASSIVE spider which wasn't so fun.

On Sunday I had a looooovely lie in (not a lion) and then skyped with Sophie. We chatted about our impending trip to New Zealand (so excited!) and other such things. She's hopefully going to meet me in Syndey and then we'll fly over to Auckland together. Later me Marlies and Lore met a friend at a pub by a river. Again it was a beautiful day and there was live music. It was so nice. Her parents were there and they bought us drinks and then we played mini golf. It was fun. I started off really well and then went super crap. Managed to not lose though, wahey!

So, week seven was a bloody good week! Can't believe I only have one week with ORCA left...

Week Sixxxx

So here I am at my sixth week with ORCA. Mental.

On Monday I did my practical guiding exam. This involves being the guide on an Ocean Blue boat to paying customers. I did it on Gaia, the smallest boat to about 9 people. Of course I wasn't the only crew member on the boat, Nino was skippering. I wasn't really that nervous about speaking in front of people (I do that everyday at my job at home) I just wanted to make sure I got all the information right. And I think I did! I haven't been told if I passed or not yet because Nino who was assessing me had to head straight off when we got back to shore. I'm pretty sure I passed though. After the boat I joined a township tour. Ocean Blue offers these tours to people who want to learn more about the local township Qolweni. (Qolweni is where the preschool is). The tour guide was Aggie who actually lives there. Although I have been there many times before, it was interesting to learn more about the place and see it from the perspective of someone who actually lives there. Back at Ocean Blue we carried out little tasks like cleaning the small aquarium and data entry. Other than that I can't remember. My memory really is bad!!!

Tuesday was Freddie's last day in South Africa, so although he wasn't on the program anymore he joined us on the morning boat trip. We saw a shark jumping out of the water which was pretty cool. I think it was a thresher shark or something like that. After the boat Charlie took us tag and release fishing. We went to a river where we waded in as deep as we could without getting wet and fished! It was really fun. As I'd never fished before I started off with Charlie. He cast his first line and immediately he got a bite. He then handed me the rod and I reeled in the fish. It was so cool! The fish was stronger than I'd expected it to be but I managed to reel it in successfully. We then brought it to shore, put a tag in it, and released it back into the river. I didn't touch the fish, but next time I am determined to! The only other fish we caught that day was one that we were allowed to eat. So we killed it (but cutting off its head, which was really gross) and took it home with us to braai that evening. We then did a beach clean up and got lots of lovely rubbish to sort out and weigh. Because it was Freddie's last night we had a braai, invited people round and got drunk. It was really fun although it was sad to say goodbye to Freddie.

On Wednesday I was supposed to go birdringing again but I had a really dodgy stomach from something I'd eaten the night before (I think!) so I couldn't go which was really annoying as I really wanted to! I spent the day in bed feeling sorry for myself. It sucked.

Thursday was preschool as usual. I was still feeling a bit horrible from the day before but I didn't want to stay in bed again. I was glad I went as it made me feel much better. The kids are the best. After preschool we fed the turtles and then came back to the house to sort through a million CDs. We have to take all the photos of whales and dolphins off them and sort them out into dates and animals. It is going to take a looong time. Last Thursday a new person came to stay in the house. Alejandra is staying for two years and is researching bottlenose dolphins for her phd. So we're sorting out the photos for her to use. In the evening I read my open water diving book as hopefully (weather permitting) me and Marlies are continuing with our diving course at the weekend. Yay!

On Friday we went to feed the turtles like we do every morning and then we came back to the house and learnt stuff about stuff from Dr. Vic. I then sat in the lovely African sun and studied more for diving. Even though it's approaching winter here and sometimes it can get cold, when you're in the direct sunlight it can still be booooiling! Like 10x nicer than the nicest English summer day. I love it. Tracy helped me with the dive tables which can be slightly confusing which was very nice of her. Me and Chanel had decided a few days ago that we should make a design for an ORCA Foundation hoodie. So I started sketching out some ideas for an image to go on the back. I need to refine it but I think it should look quite good once it's finished! In the evening me and Chanel went over to Hilde's new flat (she moved out on Wednesday, which is sad because now my room feels lonely again, but its good she's still in Plett and hasn't left completely!) It's a really nice flat! We had a braai then went to Surf Cafe for a bit but I didn't drink much or stay out too late as I wanted to be fresh for diving in the morning. I'm excited!

Saturday me and Marlies went diving to begin to complete our Open Water course. However the sea was crap and the weather was crap so we spent the whole day doing theory. It was ok at first but got sooooooo boring and my mind began to melt and by the end of the day and I think I was a bit delirious. In the evening Hilde came round and we watched 127 Hours with James Franco. I hadn't seen it before but I know what happened. It was a good film but I only half watched the whole arm chopping off bit. Ew.

Sunday and we finally got to go diving! But the sea was still rough so we had to just stay in the pool and do all the pool stuff, which was fine as we would have needed to do it at some point. I'm definitely getting more used to it now and I really like it and I'm excited for actually being able to get back into the sea and dive for real! Hopefully tomorrow. Depending on the sea. Stupid sea.

BUNGEEEE!!!

On Saturday me and Lore went bungee jumping. It was fricking awesome. I was absolutely terrified but it was totally worth it and I would definitely do it again. I was pretty convinced that I would never do a bungee jump. I didn't like the thought of plummeting head first towards the ground. But seriously it was absolutely awesome and would recommend it to anyone and everyone! We jumped off Bloukrans bridge and it's the highest bridge jump in the world. It used to be the highest bungee jump in the world full stop but there's a higher one in Thailand now. Anyway, it was amazing. And the scenery surrounding it was incredible too.

It felt totally different to skydiving. You obviously free fall for a shorter amount of time but there's no way to compare the two. I'd skydiving is harder to describe because it doesn't really feel like you're falling, it just feels....crazy. But I did feel like I was falling while bungee jumping, although it didn't really feel like the ground was rushing towards you. It was confusing but amazing. Better than any roller coaster for sure. I would totally be up for doing it in New Zealand when I go after leaving South Africa.

That evening we went to a 'white trash' themed party. So we basically tried to look as trashy as possible, which is why in the pictures half my bra is out. I don't dress like that normally, I promise!!! It was good and fun was had by all.

Sunday was quite funny because we had a power cut in the evening. We started freaking ourselves out thinking we could hear creepy noises. But it was all fine and it was fun!