Napier!

We made it to Weklington last night after a 12 hour bus trip from Auckland. When we arrived, we were hungry and exhausted, so we grabbed some food and headed back to the hostel to go to bed. We had to wake up at 630 this morning to start our first day on the Magic Bus! We got some coffee, got on the bus at 730 and met our tour guide. Then, we began our six hour journey to Napier, New Zealand. Along the way we stopped at Tui's Brewery for lunch and beer sampling. I didn't have any beer, but I had a really great salad and walked around the gift shop laughing at all the souvenirs. Then, when we got to Napier, better known as wine country, we went to the wine center and did a wine tasting. It was really fun and interesting! Then, we toured the city and all the little shops and walked along the beach. After a long day, we went to this Mediterranean restaurant for dinner..equipped with a full gluten free menu yay!! I got some cheese and tomato pizza...it was delicious..and saved the rest for our travels tomorrow! I'm trying really hard to budget my money, and I thin I've done a pretty good job. But food and hostels and excursions really add up after I already spent lots of money on a plane ticket and the magic bus tour!! After dinner, I just came back to the hostel to relax and go to bed early. I have a really bad cold and I'm hoping it goes away soon! I think it was just lots of germs between the plane, dirty busses, and hostels :( I've been feeling really shitty for two days but I'm hoping lots of rest will help me feel better! We leave at 745 in the morning and we are staying two days at our next stop in Rotorura. I'm really excited because I booked a white water rafting trip for Wednesday! Then, Thursday, we head to Mt. Manguntai and then Friday I'm venturing back to Auckland to catch my flight back to Australia on Saturday. I'm headed to try and sleep off this cold, but I hope everyone had a great Easter and is enjoying the warm VT weather! Miss everyone lots! Goodnight!