So here's a quick update, as requested by Mom! I think the last time I posted something I was in Nelson, New Zealand, which is at the top of the South island. My only plan while I was there was really to get to the North island, and find a way to get up to Auckland as cheaply as possible. My last day there I happened to meet a really nice girl from Denmark who was catching a ride with a friend to a place called Taupo, which is about halfway up to Auckland, and she invited me along. We agreed to meet up a few days later in Wellington, and I headed off to get a ferry between the 2 islands.
The ferry ride was spectacular and Wellington was beautiful. It's a small city for a capital (the population is less than 200,000) but there's lots to see and do. Met up a few days later for the ride, only to find out we were going somewhere completely different now, although still between Wellington and Auckland. I didn't really care, as I didn't have anything planned and wasn't going to turn down a free ride. After taking the "scenic route" (aka an 8 hour drive through non-stop winding mountain roads) we arrived in Waitomo, a place famous for its caves (meaning there is nothing worth seeing above ground). It turned out our driver, a guy from England, was going to be carrying on to Auckland the next day so he invited me along, which was great, until we arrived about an hour from the city centre, at a gas station off the highway, and I found out he and his friend were actually going an hour in the opposite direction. So there I was, in the middle of nowhere, with no idea of how to get into the city. Ah well, I eventually found my way into the city where I spent the next 3 days. As I was running out of money, I couldn't afford the "nice" hostel rooms anymore, so I ended up spending the next few nights in the cheapest option possible - 10 person, mixed dorm with mixed bathrooms for $22 a night (about $16 Canadian dollars). It ended up working out really well though, because I met an amazing group of people from Germany, Austria and Switzerland who took me in for the rest of my time there, and promised me a place to stay if I ever end up in their part of Europe.
Since then, I've just been back in Melbourne hanging around and relaxing.
I actually met a ton of people in New Zealand who were either from Melbourne or staying here, and I've met up with a few of them since coming back. The last few days we've basically just spent laying on the beach, enjoying the great weather (it's been around 29 degrees with clear, blue skies for the last few days) Now I'm just planning a trip into the Outback for next week, followed by a scuba diving course on an island off the East coast! That's about it for now.
