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Next stop Taupo, adenture capital of the north. There was loads of stuff to do in Taupo, apart from just marvel at the stunning and amazingly big lake Taupo. Many went for the sky dive option but i had decided to try and do this down south at Franz Josef glacier so the most extreme activity i undertook during my brief stay in Taupo was mini golf. There were some quite steep holes tho. I was very excited about dong the Tongariro crossing, a 17 kilometre hike across mountains, culminating in the climbing of the brilliantly named Mount Doom, the highest mountain in New Zealand. This is supposed to be one of the most demanding trecks you can do and i was really looking forward to it. I even got as far as making up a s***load of pasta the night before in preparation for the long day ahead. Unfortunately our first night in Taupo was a very big drunken one, culminating in karaoke bars and nightclubs til 3 before a 5.30 am start. somewhere along the line i boldly bet Flea, our bus driver that i would still get up to complete the hike, completely convinced that it wasnt even an issue. Unfortunately however i managed to sleep through the alarm and missed the deadline by about 5 hours, so my abiding memory of Taupo is of being very very angry with myself and losing a bet that in hindsight it probably would have been best not to make.
After two days in Taupo we moved down towards Wellington, stopping at a place called River Valley. En route we made a lunchtime stop at a waterfall called Taranki falls. This was only supposed to be a brief lunchtime stop but after we were shown the big 10m waterfall jump, we ended up spending half the afternoon there! It was such a good afternoon and such a good junmp which is why i have such a ridiculous amount of photos of it here! Anyway River Valley was one of those places on the Kiwi Experience bus route that you tend to think 'what are we doing here?' Theres not really anything there except for waterfalls and rivers which make for not very extreme rafting, but we did stay at a very nice lodge, which offered spas, saunas etc. River Valley is probably best remembered for the formation of the BSA (Brewers Standards Agency) and a notorious keg incident.
Our last stop on the north island was New Zealands capital city of Wellington. For some reason the bus arrives at 7.30 at night and leaves 7 am the next morning to catch the ferry to the south island, so i decided to hop off for a couple of days here, unfortunately saying goodbye to most of the bus. Wllington is a very cool city, very arty, with lots of good shops, culture and good nightlife. It was definitely my favourite of New Zealands three bigges cities (i think!), Christchurch and Auckland. It is home of parliament, the striking 'beehive' building and much to the bewilderment of anyone else on my bus i decided to spend most of my day there. It was interesting to see that the 'old boys club' hostile atmosphere in the House of Commons is litereally nothing compared to the atmosphere in the chamber of the Beehive, where they literally engage in hour long screaming bouts until a member is ejected. Anyway enough politicospeak, apart from a visit to Te Papa, New Zealands national museum and a brief experience of Wellingtons excellent nightlife, that pretty much rounds up my stay in the capital. And so that was it for the north island of new zealand. For all the talk of the south being better and many people advising me to limit my time in the north, i absolutely loved it and in truth i would have like to have stayed longer at a number of places. Next it was an early start to catch the ferry to the South island, first stop Nelson...
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