" WHHHHAAAALE!"

Good morning! We are currently sitting in River Valley Lodge waiting to get on our last bus for the North Island….before the 6-pod breaks up….to be a quad-pod! So, many things to write about, we’ll try to keep it as brief as possible but we know how that goes. So back abit here, our last day in Rotorua we once again invaded Oneil’s ‘alone time’ and followed him on a white water rafting trip. We had an absolute blast riding out the grade 4-5 rapids for 5 hours with tons of laughs especially when our guide realized that we were all so comfortable and decided to have some fun with us. We knew it was going to be interesting as he yelled out to another guide “we’re surfing the next one!” So, that rapid required us to ramp off another boat shooting us behind a group of rocks that sucked us to an area where the only way we could get out was to be knocked out by another boat. Unfortnuately for us, nobody did that. So, we sat there to try and figure how we were going to get out and pondered the idea if anybody had to “take a 1”, now is the time. Our boat was stuck in the turbo wash setting. With Taya in the bottom of the drum holding on to Oneil’s leg. Long story short, we had to get another boat to tow us out while we helped by chanting in true Canadian fashion, “come on you pussies, put your back into it” (sorry, for the language we tried to sensor it!) To end the day perfectly ( for the Dalziel cubed and the lone Poirier ), the Marks were ejected into the frigid waters….who knew Asian eyes could be so big!!!! Priceless….to some! From there we went to a town called Waitomo where the Glow Worm Caves are located. That day we split into 2 groups with the Dalziel’s doing a 5-hour trip including abseiling down a 35 metre black hole, zip lining, climbing up waterfalls and tubing through the caves. To start off, poor Briana had no headlight in this black abyss having to put all of her trust into the guide. That was soon retracted once she heard the snap of the carabineer to the zipline that launched her deeper and faster into the unknown darkness- all that Chelsea and Britt could hear was a blood curdling scream, and a pause- apparently to refill her lungs to continue the screaming. Chelsea thought this was the end, especially after the guide thought it was entertaining to bang a tube on the wall to insinuate a crash landing at the end. The girls all agreed they felt like they were in the movie, The Goonies as they climbed up the falls. Mel, Oneil and Taya did a 3 hour version, floating through the caves, with a couple jumps down to lower water. Later on, following Oneil’s bush instincts we trespassed on some farmer’s land and climbed a mountain to the most breathtaking views of NZ yet. From there we headed on an extra 3-day , off the track tour. Can’t tell you much, cause we don’t know much! Our driver, REX---boy, hard to explain this one, most importantly, he was about 82--enough said! He doesn’t believe in speed limits nor braking or down-shifting while flying down the mountain sides and fish-hook corners,didn’t explain where or what we were doing, decided that if he had seen it a million times, that we must have too---often circling once passed to get a QUICK glance, and lastly, his LONG-WINDED, monotone, irrelevant answers or explanations…never quite reaching the destination. Oh well, made for a good laugh. Chelsea had her first moment---the highlight…we were about to enjoy our evening coffee while watching the sunset over the ocean when one of our fellow bus-mates yelled out whale. It wasn`t long before we dropped our coffee and we were sprinting down the beach after the orca`s frolicking in the waters. Later to find out that they were in fact, feeding on the stingrays. None of us knew that Chelsea could sprint like that and we have come to the conclusion whenever we need Chelsea to pick it up a notch, we shout ``WHALE!`` For example, `` Chelsea, there`s a whale in your bag…quick, pack it up!`` Dalziel cubed and Taya also went out into the ocean and fed wild stingrays-2 types. Yes, the one that took the Crocodile Hunter`s life…CRIKEY! They are big and pushy. The next morning, we split early- Taya & Oneil rising at 5 to hike up a mountain to watch the sunrise at a point where it hits first in the world everyday…they felt the deep burn in their legs and tasted blood from their lungs..but so worth it. The girls took off at 6 to go rock-sliding, basically boogie boarding down a natural rock waterslide.Only 1 injury- Brittany`s left shin took a beating as Brittany and Briana`s need to out-do one another got the best of them. To this day, Briana claims `That`s what you get for cheating!`` and it was payback for the tooth incident 13 years that is never forgotten. Hmm…skipping a few other things and now taking us to Taupo. Lots to do and see here….a beautiful town. It was about 20 minutes after arriving, Taya & Oneil were on a bus on their way to jump 15,000 ft from an airplane. Impressive seeing that Oneil was able to conquer his fear of heights, this boy takes the whole conquering quest to an extreme. Taya jumped first, immediately doing a summer sault into a oblivion of spins resembling the blades of helicopter. Oneil, jumped last. Once on the ground, it was very surreal that the pair of them had waited 7 years to dot this together and hurl themselves out of plane. Some may think this is an odd test of friendship, most share a friendly hug maybe a friendship bracelet…but no, these two need to cheat death. Taya was once again in heaven…Oneil well…not so much. He came down smiling from ear to ear, once asked what he thought…he took a minute to think about this. He looked like a cartoon character with his eyes wide open and his arms flailing-`I`m going to die…ENJOY THIS!…nope, I`m going to DIE….look at the sunset….I`m going to DIE…enjoy this!…mountains, beautiful…DEATH!!! UGHGGHHGHHH!!!, Taya said to enjoy this…right, it was beautiful…ugh quit spinning!` All the girls were in tears and on the floor laughing as Oneil re-enacted the moments leading up to his near-death experience. Taya asked him when they could do it again and got…give me another year or so! Sorry, guys..one more thing and then we are done. The next morning, Dalziel cubed & Taya rose at 5 to hike 19.4 km, up to 5000 ft through the clouds up to the summit of a volcano. Mount Tongarairo had the most recent eruption- Feb.19, 1975. This was amazing and was decided as the most challenging, rewarding and extreme climb we`ve done. Some of the highlights included; the fact that it wasn`t a groomed path and we had to break ground through large rocks with steep drop-offs on either side, the extreme weather changes- tank tops at the bottom to sleet and gail force winds gusting at plus or minus 90 kph at the summit, the descend so steep you had to dig your heels in and ride it out- 1 step for every 3 because you`d slide the equivalent, and having 2 climbs that signage warned if you weren`t fit enough to turn back- too stubborn, we figured, we ain`t turning back now! And lastly, the sheer fact that it was a 7-8 hour, 19.4 km hike- which we proudly accomplished in 5.5 hours! We`ll leave it at that, sorry it was so long- we even cut some things out. We are currently sitting here, listening to Kings of Leon feeling accomplished and very proud that the 3 of us have been by each other`s sides through so many important and memorable events. Every moment is appreciated and never taken for granted…we know the 3 of us will have a bond for life.