Welcome to Orokawa Bay!  My flat mate Cherie and I went to the east coast yesterday and found a secret cove, or it seemed that way.  We found a great hike along the coast, it took just over an hour to get to Orokawa Bay but when we arrive there was only one other person there.  So there was just a man fishing and the two of us in the whole bay.  It goes without saying that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves running up and down the beach and even relaxing in a makeshift hammock.  Every once in a while it is fun to act like a crazy kid (or if you're like me it's more often than every once in a while.)

I love New Zealand!!  We had so much fun wading in the ocean, relaxing and exploring the area.  To have the whole place nearly to ourselves was truly unbelievable.

So while Cherie and I were having lunch in our secret cove guess who I met -- Treebeard!!  Seriously this was the coolest tree I have ever seen in my life, isn't it beautiful!  Can't you see him walking with such lovely Entish features?  There was a whole grove of these incredibly unique trees, I really felt like I was in an Ent meeting.

To continue the Lord of the Rings theme here I am hiding from the black riders....Shhh!!

We went hiking in a forest park called The Redwoods in Rotorua.  It was an enormous park with both native and non-native forests.  The centerpiece of the park is a small forest of redwood trees that were planted years ago when they were trying to find new tree species to use in logging.  The redwood groves were incredibly majestic.

Here I am hiking in The Redwoods, we had a blast exploring the forest.

Here I am wandering through the Craters of the Moon near Taupo.  It is an amazing valley with geothermal vents and mud pots all over.  We had a great time and it really was like we were exploring a different world.

Zorbing rocks!

Hooray for Zorbing!!!  I went zorbing on Monday and it was so fun!!!  Now I want a zorb in by backyard!  If you haven't heard of zorbing they have these big inflatable clear plastic spheres that you crawl inside then they push you down a gigantic hill!!  Only in New Zealand.  It was super fun though because I did the wet version so they poured a bunch of warm water in with me.  Essentially it was the wildest, most amazing water slide ever!!!!  So here are some pictures to give you an idea of what it is like.