That night most people were pumped, because they’d done the rafting and then spent thousands of dollars on alcohol. Having a reputation already for being the party house, Steve, Ash, Jamie and I invited all and sundry to our place for an evening of festivities. We had to seconder chairs from other rooms to fit everyone in but we ended up with over half the tour in our room. For the first part of the evening I played the immaculate host, topping up drinks, service cheese and crackers and welcoming newcomers (“ah, come in, we saved a seat for you”). This was great fun as the evening warmed up, and then as soon as the party got swinging I took a large mug of scotch and my journal and headed two doors down to where I enjoyed light conversation and a movie in the background with the three hottest single (it not travelling with partners) chicks on the tour. Every half hour or so one or two of the guys from my room would come on down to see if they could joins us but somehow the conversation would then turn flat and they’d soon end up leaving again. Meanwhile I revelled in it and had a great time.
A couple of hours later the party died down and people went back to their rooms, and I left the ladies and did the same. Returning to the disaster area I found Steve and Ash still in full swing and Jamie along for the ride, so we all partied on by singing full ball to Hotel California (complete with 5mins of air guitar at the end) and John Butler Trio and the like. It was a fantastically memorable time, one we still recall fondly and probably always will.

The next day we hit the road to head to Wellington. It would be Steve’s and my last day with the group so we were sure to spend it as best we could on the coach. Steve by doing his thing with Ash and me playing pillow to a curled up Susanne. We stopped off at the Huka Falls on the Waikato River for a short break along the way, and then again for a longer break at Tampo for some bungy jumping. I was the official photographer for Ryan, the trips token Yank, who was at first uncertain, but ended up loving it of course. I dunno, bungy’s not for me. Not that I’m backing off from the adrenaline rush of free falling that far (see Africa), but I have had ankle and back problems in the past so I’d rather do something with a full body harness.
Back on the road, we made another stop at Mt Doom. Well, both Mt Dooms actually; there are two mountains (whose names escape me) that were used at Mordors peak, depending on angle and height of the shot and stuff.