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Aaaw, my last morning in Taupo, booooo. I had such a great time there, firstly because Silver Fern flashpackers was such a fabulous hostel with two fabulous managers - Heather and Patrick, and secondly because of my skydive!!
Taupo is also really quite lovely and I would definitely come back again if I got the chance. There's lots of stuff that I didn't get around to seeing and doing that I really wish I had spent more time there. In fact, I wish I had given myself more time in New Zealand full stop because I've missed out on doing quite a few things in other places that I've already been. Oh well, I live and learn.
I spent my last morning in Taupo, on a little boat cruise on Lake Taupo to the Maori carvings. Fact fans - Lake Taupo could fit Singapore into it 1 and a half times!! Now, that's a lake.
I went on a little boat called the Ernest Kemp, which is a replica steam boat (diesel powered) built about 25 years ago or so. There was one proper old steam boat called the Alice, but that wasn't sailing until a bit later and I had a bus to Rotorua to catch. I was a bit disappointed as I would have loved to go on it! Still the Kemp wasn't a bad little boat and it still felt nicer than being on some really brand new yacht or whatever other new boats there are that you can go on trips on.
Anyways, the Maori carvings we sailed out to were only carved in 1980 or something like that, so are still fairly new, but were carved using traditional methods. Our guide did tell us the story of what they meant, but my tired little brain really can't quite remember, so I will have to www them sometime soon so I can tell you the story.
As I type as well, it is throwing it down outside. Really throwing it down. I went out for a walk to find some veggies for my dinner (found Pak 'n' Save - think Lidl or Aldi at home but their veggies are actually really good), to post some postcards (found several postboxes but only used one), and also find a coin phone (no luck, so I am going to have to buy another phone card as the one I bought in New Plymouth refuses to work). It had started to rain a little as I was walking back, but obviously Mother Nature heard me say that I hadn't brought my brolly out with me, and held off the rain until I got indoors. About 20 minutes later; it was almost like being at home, the rain was that bad. It was also raining in Taupo when I left, and it basically just reminded me of home!! Hahahahahah! Heather, the other manager at Silver Fern, said that Taupo has unpredictable weather - so no wonder I really liked it there!! It's just like being at home, but with more space :D
Anyways, I've booked myself a nice tour around Rotorua tomorrow - another nice early start as I have to be at the Information Centre (only 5 minutes round the corner) at 7am. Urgh. We are going to Te Puia - a place of Maori culture and they have the boiling mud pools and geysers there, and Rainbow Springs Park which has NZ flora and fauna and is also helping the kiwi bird to survive as they have a kiwi-rearing facility there. We're also going to see some sheep shearing and sheep dog trials at the Agrodome (nearby here is also where zorbing goes on, but I've decided against that as I think it'd be kind of lame after my skydive yesterday), and then I'm going to finish off the tour with a skyline gondola ride where you can apparently see spectacular views of Rotorua.
If it's not raining tomorrow then there are some nice gardens here which I want to see. Called Government Gardens, my Rough Guide to NZ says they're almost too English to believe! If it is raining tomorrow, then I plan to shelter in the Museum which is meant to be very good.
The hostel I'm staying in is a bit disappointing though. The Rough Guide said that it was a bit dilapidated but as it had themed rooms, I kind of wanted to stay here to see if it had any charm. It is kind of cute, but just nowhere as clean, slick, and friendly as Silver Fern. I guess that SF isn't called 'flashpackers' for nothing!! Oh well, I'm only here for two nights so it's no big deal. However, unless this place gets a lick of paint sometime soon, I wouldn't recommend staying here! A few other things about Cactus Jacks -
1) No soap in the toilets, so my sincere thanks goes to my friend Salza who sent me a little packet of Japanese paper soap several years ago. I found it before I left home and thought it would come in handy, and it definitely has! 50 little slips of paper soap will last me a little while :D
2) There is a cute ladies handbasin and loo but the light doesn't work in it, so it's interesting brushing my teeth in the semi-dark;
3) There's only one working toilet near my room, and the lock doesn't quite work (thank goodness no one's walked in on me having a pee), and the light is on a timer switch and only works if you press it in at a certain angle....and then that doesn't always work;
4) The kitchen has about 5 different cookers, 5 microwaves (one which seems to think it's a fridge as it doesn't actually heat food even though it turns on and the plate inside goes around and around), 4 fridges, a couple of water coolers, 4 sinks, but only 1 bottle of washing up liquid that's filled up to a couple of centimetres and only 2 tea towels both of which seem to be constantly damp;
5) My room smells a little damp and the carpet is pretty threadbare but it does have cute little glow stars on the ceiling;
6) And something only a little annoying, that the light switch for the shower is on the outside. I guess that's good electrical safety and at least the light does actually work, but it's just a bit of a nuisance!
And I don't know if it's the oldness of the room or not, but the bugs in Rotorua really seem to like me as I've got 3 lovely big bites! I had no problems in the desert where there were umpteen different bugs and bitey things around, but I come to Rotorua and they're having a good taste. Where did I put that bug repellent?
ps - almost 3 hours later, it's still bucketing down. Did I pack my wellies?
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