... ten meters? We're getting worse instead of better.

The last two days were amazing.

Day Before yesterday, our East Cape tour started from Rotorua. We made a few stops along the way, heading east. We stayed the night in paradise. It was a backpackers hostel, but it was nothing short of amazing. It is built on a private bay, owned by a Maori family, who run the hostel. The whole place was great, built in among native Pohutukawa trees. The "Lonely Planet Guidebook to New Zealand," lists the spot as something Robinson Crusoe would be proud of. The hostel itself is amazing, but the location is what makes the whole thing. No one in our group wanted to leave. It is truly one of the most beautiful and relaxing places I have ever seen.

Yesterday morning we got up and continued around the east cape. We stopped at several places along the way to take pictures of the scenery. We stopped in one place to take pictures of the world's largest Pohutukawa tree. The Pohutukawa is a native New Zealand tree also known as the "New Zealand Christmas Tree" because around Christmas time, the entire tree blooms into a crimson red. It's really beautiful.

We stopped at some historic churches as well, one in particular built by the great Maori Apirana Ngata in memory of the Maori soldiers who died in World war One. The inside of the church is decorated with all sorts of beautiful maori carvings and symbolism. It's an amazing mixture of Maori cultural symbolism in a historic church.

HISTORY TIME WITH HUGH: The east cape is a region of New Zealand that remains relatively un-tapped because of it's heritage. It's indigenous Maori were the only Maori in New Zealand to defeat the British during the land wars. Because of this, the region is still heavily populated by Maori today.

In the afternoon, we started hitting beaches. We stopped and had a swim at Tokomaru bay. After that we went on to Tolaga Bay, a small town that had a good fish and chips shop. Our driver for this tour is Maori, he told us about a bridge in this town over the Waiapu river. This particular bridge is popular with Maori kids, who jump off of it into the Waiapu river, about 10 or 11 meters (more than 30 ft.) below. Before he ate, our guide decided he was going to jump off the bridge. He went up and jumped with all of us watching. It just looked like too much fun, so I did it too. IT WAS AWESOME (relax mom I'm fine). I've never jumped from anything that high... it takes quite a long time to get to the water. I climbed up and jumped before I had time to think about it, it was only on the way that I thought, "wow, this bridge is really high."

We hit a few more beaches on the way around, and had a hangi for supper. We spent the night a hostel in Gisborne. I got up this morning to watch the sunrise because...

HUGH'S TIDBIT OF TRIVIA FOR THE DAY: The East cape of New Zealand is the first place in the world to see the sun in the new day. The international date line runs just off the coast, it actually zig zags around the east cape, so that New Zealand doesn't have to be in two different days. This was determined during the millennium celebrations when all of the various news media outlets wanted to report from the place that saw the sun first. The Chatham Island's disputed that they were first, but after some study and observation of sunrise at both locations, the title was given to the East Cape of New Zealand.

Today we are heading back to Rotorua, and getting back on the main tour tomorrow.