wow what a rollercoaster!!

well the past couple days have been crazy...
had a great day in auckland, checked out the sky tower (exactly like the space needle in seattle, but its the highest single tower in the south hemisphere, or something like that) had a great view from 220 meters up!!! got a better perspective of how large the city actually is!!! and it reminded me that i hadn't been to the docks yet to check out the big boats. so after coming down from there i set off to go find them. after a little wondering, i came across some beautiful yachts and chater boats. even saw the BMW/Oracle America's cup racer, so that was cool. wondered around town a little more, i've had a cold for a couple days and really wanted a smoothie but didnt want to spend the cash....but hey theres a $5 bill on the ground!!! so tommy got a feijoa smoothie (feijoa is this great little fruit only found in NZ, its like eating a VERY floral kiwi fruit.) rode the free bus around because i was tired of walking and made my way back to the hostel, we're i made a phone call home and got some bad new....Grandma Remiyac passed away that afternoon :( so sad, and all i could think about was how before i left for this trip i sort of ran out of time and didn't get to stop by her place for a goodbye...sigh... but i know the past couple months have been progressively worse and worse, so its for the best and shes in a better place now. but my parents kept telling me she was so excited to hear about my adventures and always wanted to know if they heard from me and what i was up to now. got a cool email a couple days ago about how my parents had a pastor come and pray with them, makes me feel better to hear that. but i'm keeping my head up and have fun, the next day i took of on "the magic bus", true name of the company, for the bay of islands a couple hours north of auckland, and its so peaceful here... had a nice cruise up though kauri forests which are massive like the redwoods but totally different looking, have a weird bark that senses when bugs are burrowing and sheds that part, so they look like they have fish scales. arrived in the evening just in time for a nice sunset of the mountains. went out that night for a couple brews and the bar i was at was having a raffle all night, and if you had a winning ticket you got to spin the wheel for a prize. well i was at a table with a lot of people and when ever people would leave the bar we would go snag their tickets so we had a pile of them and were winning everything. well i went to the bar to get another beer when they called out 69, which was one of my tickets, the girl i met from washington DC came in with the ticket, said she would spin the wheel but i could have the prize....and i hit the jackpot!!!! 50% off skydiving package!!!! actually just got back from booking it, only bad thing is, i leave tomorrow at 1pm and have to go if i wanna say goodbye to andrea, and theres a storm front coming tonight, but he said it "should" be gone by morning, but he would give me a call.
so today i had a great tour of the far north all the way up to cape reinga, where the Maori believe the spirits go to enter their afterlife... very cool sights and it was a long time, about 6 hours. took a few pictures, weather wasn't perfect but i guess it never is...highlight of the trip was the 90 mile beach (which is only 65 miles, dumb captain cook!!) but we drove ON the beach the whole way!!! and at the end was sand dunes that we used boogie boards to go down!!! so fun
so yup, ups and downs, strikes and gutters, wish i could be home but also dont want to leave this place quiet yet... next week waitoma glow worm caves where i'm planning to either blackwater cave tube or abseil 50 meters straight down into a cave...cant decided, someone said the blackwater was really slow and lame, no rapids. so i might go for the repelling in, that sounds crazy! then on to rotorua for geothermal fun, geysers and hot pools and a haka/hangi dinner... and if i have enough time hobbiton!!!