Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hey, get ready for the mammoth entry, as I attempt to take you on our journey through the North island...
Rotorua/ Rotten Rua is the smelliest place i have ever been to (bar maybe the bathroom after Debbie sometimes!). It does have some definite perks though, such as the grade 5 river rafting that luerd us in with the promise of the highest commercially rafted waterfall(7metres!). So we take our bathers and our new friends along to meet the hot rafter boys, and choose a nice boy called nick to take us down the river.
Nick as it turns out, thinks of himself as quite the funny boy when it comes to 'fun' things to do. An example, 'This is a great place to go for a swim', okm Nick, great! "and it's really fun to do this next tiny rapids in the water holding onto the boat" Wow, that does sound fun! It's not. No sir! Debbie goes under and has to be fished out by funny guy, while our friend Kate comes up with blood pouring from her knee and i merely swallowed half the river while clinging to the boat for dear life!
Any more suggestions nick? Yes. 'Why don't 2 of you sit in the front of the boat and we'll surf the waves for a photo' Ooh a great idea! So Kristy (from the bus) and I (Lucy) take the front so nick can drown us as the water pours over the boat for a great action shot. Thanks. (Debbie thought this was hilarious!)
It was a really fun trip though, and left us all on a real igh, so obviously the next thing to do is stock up on a box of wine and get obliterated in our room then go dancing in the empty hostel bar! We had a great night, and a nasty hangover to meet the new bus people, and say good bye to the lovely Dale and Kate.
I felt so rough the next day, i do believe debbies suggestion of going to the sheep show was not necessarily a wise one for me. There was sheep shearing and sheep dogs and a smell that made me vomit.
The new bus crew are so lovely. They're a smaller group, and lots of individual travellers. Our next stop is Waitomo, which is famous for the glow worm caves. To save some money we opt for the walking tour rather than the black water rafting. zzzzzz BIG mistake! It was dull. Imagine a whole geography lesson on flippin worms!(Don't get any ideas Sally). But the evening holds a wonderful bbq of steak and sausage so we feel better after that. One of the boys on our bus, Chase (a stereotypical american!) limps to our room with us for some deep heat action from Debbie (for a bad back!) after the rafting left him a little worse for wear. We feel quite welcomed into the group!
On the way to our next stop, Taupo, we stop to see Angora rabbits being sheared (dad, skip this bit). The poor things are attached to this contraption,spread eagled on a spit! It apparently necessary, but seems a little untoward to us. Then it's back on the bus and onto Ruakuri Reserve for a short bush walk. It's so beautiful, and our driver, Bods, is a mine of knowledge. He takes us through some lime stone caves (thankfully, there are no glow worms) and along the river. We finally get to Taupo which is a beautiful town, set around the biggest lake in australasia (it's big enough to fit Singapore in!).
Our biggest adventure is the Tongariro crossing. A 19km walk over vollcanic terrain, taking in the views made famous by Lord of the Rings (Mount Doom!). So we're fully prepared, food, water etc, and outside the hostel at 6.20am...or maybe 6.25...we miss the bus. Dammit. Not wanting to waste our early rise, we manage to persuade another touring bus company 'stray' (how appropriate) to take us along. We have another friend, Elisa with us who is definitely the driving force behind this determination for the hike to help us face b****-Robin. b****-Robin is in charge of organinsing the walk for the 'stray' people and yells at the driver for bringing us along! She asssures us that it's very dangerous and that we will get stuck out in the middle of nowhere unless we're booked on a bus back. Great! so will she help? Oh no. i ask if I can borrow a phone, nope, but she calls the company we need to check our booking with to put 2 other guys on. thanks! There's no going back, so the kind driver tells us to get the walk done quickly and hitch hike home before dark,eek!
It took a while to quit moaning about b****-Robin, so we could finally take in the amazing views and congratulate ourselves for getting there! we also realise that we are surrounded by so many people that at least someone must be heading back to Taupo tonight. It does mean that we can't take this walk at too leisurely a pace. Elisa is like a marine, I coped, and Deb nearly died! All down to 'The Devils Staircase'! It's an absolute killer on the thighs and makes us wonder why the hell we made so much effort to get there! But the summit came with views we should quite readily die for,and a smell like Rotorua. Kind of comforting now! The red crater, emerald lakes and thermal activity all make it one of the best day hikes in the world, and we are so glad we did it!
The way down is pretty fun, but we're definitely tiring, so are glad to of completed it in just 6 hours, ready to face the fact we have no form of transport. There was no need to worry! Elisa takes to asking every large vehicle driver 'space for 3 ladies to Taupo?' and it's not long before we're with 3 germans in a pick up! Amazing day.
Moving on again, into River Valley. we stop at a couple of waterfalls on the way (one was used for Gollums catching a fish bit in lotr)then arrive at the lodge in the afternoon. The place is in the most perfect setting, there's nothing else around, and the accommodation appears idyllic. until the bedroom situation is revealed! There are 2 shelves, one above the other for us to put our skimpy mattress on. nice. we are not happy with the price, and even have to share a duvet as we refuse to hire one each! Such a rip off! As we're not doing the white water rafting the next day, it's a pointless stop for us. The following morning we take the short scenic walk on the other side of the river. This was quite amusing as we had to pulley our way over the water (exhausting!), then scrabble up a really steep track!
We were glad to see the back of River Valley, and start on the long drive to Wellington where we booked 2 nights so we could have a little rest. We arrive quite late, so there's only enough time to get changed and get going to happy hour at the bar next door! It's our last night with this bus, so it ends up being another night of drinks and dancing. So much fun! I thankfully get through this one with little punishment the next day, so we can see Wellington without the hangovers.
It's a nice city, and has a great (free) museum that we spend hours in. It has lots of maori carving and ceremonial dress, information on the native wild life and the actual landscape. All interesting stuff, but have to give up on the 5th floor and decide to take a cable car to the botanical gardens. This involves nice views, nice walk, nice flowers, before heading back to the hostel for some free chilli and rice! As it's a mini portion and we're staying with some nice boys from the bus, we chip in for cake, custard and icing to have with tea. Then spend the night in playing uno and scrabble! A really good way to round up the North island. Ready for the South...
xxxxxx
- comments