Australia part two/New Zealand-North Island

Ended the rest of Australia on a good note...we took the great ocean road down to Melbourne which was a windy coastal road with a lot of cool photo stops and hikes. We got to see the Blowhole, the Grotto where God's mighty ocean almost swept two americans out to sea (matt and I), saw the 12 apostles (of which only 8 rocks are left) and various other cool rock and cave formations on the trip. Got into Melbourne which is a huge city and I can't drive in even though I'm almost used to driving on the left side, and matt is quite used to just closing his eyes and praying. Found Melbourne to be a nice city once you were on foot and home to an amazing $8 large pizza. We completed the Australia experience by taking a tram down to the 90,000 seat Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch our first game of Aussie Rules Football which is kinda like a cross between soccer, football, three flies up, volleyball and basketball, but very entertaining. We sat 2 rows back from the field and watched the Richmond Tigers wail on the Melbourne Devils 124- 75. I rooted for the underdogs while matt chose his team after they were up 39-16. On our last day in Melbourne we were returning the car and filled up on petrol at the filling station and I went to pay and the woman at the counter started motioning for me to leave. A man who looked like he was robbing the place kept pointing his finger at me like a gun and motioning for me to leave us well while making throat-cutting gestures with his hands. Needless to say we left and didn't get to pay for our gas, but called the police and haven't heard the story yet. Saw Fantastic 4 downtown and enjoyed the rest of our day (safely!) Even got to catch a late showing at a downtown diner of the rugby game where the New Zealand All Blacks beat South AFrica 26-21 (woohoo!) Speaking of New Zealand, it has been amazing so far. Once we got out of Aucland and the big city, we have had the best 3 days in a row possible. We picked up our tiny little green Toyota rental car nicknamed "Kermit" and headed down to Waitomo. Drove through heaps of beautiful Lord Of The Rings style scenery while of course listening to the soundtrack and it is amazing how quickly it goes from hobbit hills to deep forest to snow covered peaks. Driving is a lot easier as long as you can remember the Beyonce song..." to the left, to the left." In Waitomo we had the awesome experience of exploring the glow worm caves. First we rappelled 100 feet into an underground cave in our wet suits and flashlight helmets where we caved underground through a dark river. We got to see the eerie glow of tiny worms hanging from the ceiling and then "black water raft" in inner tubes back down the river and then rock climb back out of the caves. The next day we made friends with a Japanese guy named Shinya who drove with us to Rotorua where we got to hike along the geothermal valleys of geysers, hot springs and steaming rocks. It was so strange but really really cool! Yesterday has been the highlight so far. We got to do the Tongariro Crossing up in the snow covered mountains of the north island. With our guide/friend Sarah who is a cute little Kiwi with a lot of spunk and a love of life we hiked the 17km crossing between and up Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe (which is actually Mt Doom from Lord of the Rings!) We had a pretty good hike up in cramp-ons and ice axes that led to an amazing view of the whole island, and concluded the trek by sliding down the other side of the mountain in the snow! Incredible day and one of the best days Sarah had ever seen weather-wise so we lucked out! Drove down to Wellington so we could catch the ferry in the morning over to the south island for our last week. We plan to do a little more ice climbing, see the Fox Glacier and maybe do a bit of snowboarding. Sweet as! Having the time of our lives...see you all in a week or so!