Laura Ball is our newest STA Explorer and is currently in New Zealand, from there she’ll make her way through Aus and up to SE Asia with her boyfriend Jamie accompanying her. Obviously we tried, but couldn’t stop ourselves from giving her the Explorer title of Having a Ball from NZ to SE Asia…

But enough of that and more on what she has been up to. There are three posts currently up on her blog. The first is based around getting themselves to Rotorua which includes the flight from the UK, Auckland (where Jamie’s fear of heights was exposed meaning that if they are to go sky diving in NewZealand some ‘manning-up’ will be needed, Laura’s words not ours) and then a Kiwi Experience tour that took in Cathedral Cove among other destinations.

From Rotorua to Taupo is as it sounds, but also so much more than just a journey. There is mention of actual Kiwi’s, Te Puia, black water rafting, glow worms and waterfall jumps. The third and final entry is dedicated to what turned out to be the ‘traumatic experience’ of the Tongariro Crossing, a hike to the top of a volcano,

“The hike started out not too bad (apart from the wind blowing the rain directly into our faces) as it was mostly flat. Then we reached Devil’s Staircase, a horrendous 45 minute climb up a million stairs and steep uphill. The others were all breezing up with no problems, but I was having multiple heart attacks and had to stop every 30 seconds or so.”

To find out whether things got better (hmm, I think you probably already know the answer to this) and say ‘hi’ to our latest STA Explorer click through.