The Kiwi experience includes a one day stayover in Taupo, though we booked an extra day to relax after the hectic schedule of recent times. Arriving in after the skydive, the adrenaline had left, and everybody was knackered and ravenous so a group of us headed to Pizza hut for a full out buffet which was unfortunately not up to the standards of home. The skydive and eventful days that had just passed exhausted everyone, so much so that the majority were conked out in bed by 11 after one or two Guinness’s in O’Mulligans, the local Irish bar.
After a marathon sleep, the next day was spent chilling out, several of us, the same group we had hung around from since the start of the bus, walked the half hour or so to a favourite local spot by the river. This has a natural hot(actually boiling) spring flowing into the crystal clear river, provided you get the right distance between the two you have a natural spa at your disposal. We all just sat about, foraying into the stream for brief swims and skimming and juggling the unusually light rocks in this volcanic region.
Around 4 we all left to head back to the Irish bar which put on a replay of the England v France six nations match- Brian Moore proved as irritating as ever! That night we went to our hostel bar for a free BBQ before coming second in a pub quiz by a point.
For some the end of the night signaled a permanent goodbye to some as our bus was due to depart the next day but in Taupo we had arranged to stay an extra night. Fortunately we would see many people we had met again at later stages of the trip.
Our final full day in Taupo involved rising at 0545 in order to catch the coach for a 1.5hr trip to the Tongariro national park where we took a whole day to complete what is known as one of the top ten walks in the world. The 18km hike began with clouds rumbling low over the mountain passes ahead and views which whilst good were hardly award winning. However as the walk went on and the altitude increased, the skies cleared providing us with phenomenal views of the volcanic landscape. The walk included some of the scenery used in Lord of the Rings, the most obvious being Mt Doom itself (the real name is Mt Ngaruruhoe), but also the plain below, which Rob and I believe was where the final battle scene at the gates of Mordor took place. There was the option to climb Mount Doom, however it was over 2000m high and as the pictures show phenomenally steep. Instead we did a climbed its less steep and smaller sister peak Mt Tongariro.
The descent from the peak included seeing a spectacular hole in the side of a part of the mountain caused by an eruption in 1975 before the eggy stench of sulphur drifted up the mountain as we descended past geothermal pools.
Our new coach contained large numbers of 18 and 19 year olds making me feel like I was back in sixth form. Some of them looked no older than 12. It’s strange how the difference in maturity between an 18 and a 22 year old is so much larger than that between a 22 year old and 28 year old. A drive through among the most picturesque countryside seen on the trip, dominated by small hills(think it may be called an egg basket topography) lead us to our activity lodge in River Valley. That afternoon we, alongside club 18 swam in the crystal clear waters of the river jumping off the many high rocks and points in the surrounds. A smashing bbq watered down with the ludicrously priced $7.50 jugs of beer set up a nice evening. Staying in isolated places such as this is great as there is only one place to go and so the whole bus is in the bar, unlike the towns where people tend to drift off doing their own things. The barman was a Canadian fellow who looked like Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribbean and was one of the biggest wallys I have encountered on my travels. He gave off this image of being Mr funny, Mr cool and Mr relaxed, one of his first statements being “come hang out with me and you’ll find me a funny guy”. He was a slow and sloppy barman, always chatting to people for great lengths whilst queues for the bar grew. The statement of the night had to be “people shouldn’t live in the same place all their lives because that’s unnatural, its unnatural to have order and routine which is why people should travel around and have more randomness in their lives”- people like this need their head examined.
Unfortunately he was our white water rafting instructor the next day- this was the reason we were in River Valley- the place itself is literally just the lodge. A half hour minibus trip along dirt tracks lead us to the start of the river. Four of us went in a raft, rob myself and these two other girls from the coach. We went down the river in the boat, though I was pretty underwhelmed by the whole experience. We never really went that fast, the drops were all mild even though this is a grade 5 rapid and I never felt in danger of falling out- it just wasn’t that exciting, though the river was at low tide. Also we didn’t just go down the river continuously, taking a drop before pulling up and waiting for all the other rafts to catch up. In addition Jack Sparrow was an annoyance, demanding that everyone paddled in sync when it wasn’t strictly necessary plus there was quite a bit of irritating sarcasm- no other instructors were so anal. He was really harsh to the girls on our boat whose English wasn’t perfect and his poor attitude and lack of positivism just sucked some of the fun out of what should be a memorable experience.
Two days were spent in New Zealand’s capital Wellington, a pleasant city, where I purchased a new camera and we visited a highly recommended, excellent free museum which detailed the natural and human history of New Zealand.
Following this, we took the 3 hour ferry over one of the worlds roughest, but most scenic, sea crossings to the South Island on the 4th of march and drove through the vineyards of the Marlborough Valley to Nelson, New Zealand’s sunshine capital. Here we were in for a treat as, due to the recent Earthquake, the Super15 rugby team the Crusaders couldn’t play home games in Christchurch and so temporarily have to play theirs in Nelson. That night there was a match on against the Waratahs from NSW, Australia. This tournament is one of the best rugby tournaments in the world involving 15 teams, 5 from Australia, South Africa and NZ- the equivalent of footballs Champions League. On show were many All Black internationals including New Zealand Captain Richie McCaw and the world’s best player- Dan Carter. It was a sell out crowd in the small ground, a see of red and black all round, beautifully set against the backdrop of the town and mountains behind. The Crusaders won, after which we went for a messy night out- the first proper one in New Zealand.
The bus is now drifting through the spectacular forests and stopping in small towns on the way to one of the worlds most spectacular Glaciers in Franz Josef.
