Day 59 – Taupo to Auckland – PANCAKE DAY!

Originally Rach, Charli and I were going to stay another day in Taupo but there wasn’t any room at Base so they decided the night before to leave today instead. I decided to join them, as there was plenty of space on the bus, enough space for two seats each as well!

Our first stop just an hour up the road was in Rotorua. Before we arrived there we stopped just outside in Waiotapu to see the geothermal pools. The sign said ‘Acid waters attack and dissolve adjoining ground to digest many minerals in the rock, forming viscous mud pools.’ Basically the ground bubbles away and smells like sulphur. We dropped off and picked up people in Rotorua but I still managed to have two seats, WOO, GO ME!

Our lunch stop was in Matamata (near Hobbiton) but the three of us had been prepared and made lunch before we left meaning we were the guards of the bus as the driver left us in charge.

It was official, Kiwi Experience was over, our final bus arrived in Auckland at about 3 in the afternoon but it took us about an hour to check in because their system was down which was just a bit annoying. We didn’t end up in the same room but at least we were on the same floor.  I went for a walk around town but most things were closing up by the time I got out. Today was Pancake Day but we actually fell asleep before pancakes were made so we’ll just have to do it another day instead.

Day 58 – Wellington to Taupo.

My alarm went off at 6.30 but I left it on charge over night so I had to get up to turn it off. This was all ok until I went to lie back down on my bed and smashed my head on the bunk bed… lets just say it wasn’t the perfect way to wake yourself up in the morning. We got on the bus just before 8am and our first stop was in a town called Bulls, I remember stopping here on the way up. One thing I did notice this time around was on their sign it mentions Cowes in the Isle of Wight.

We then had a brief stop in Waiouru to buy some ice cream, for once I didn’t actually want any, I know, shock horror! The best bit about this stop was waiting for everyone to come back and it just hammering it down with rain. They were all running back and trying not to lose their ice cream at the same time.

We then had another quick stop at the skydive centre and Huka Falls, for those who either didn’t do it on the way down or it’s their first time up north. The last time we were here we stayed in Base hostel but all north buses stay in Nomads Urban Retreat instead. It was a quieter, smaller and much nicer hostel than the other one. The four of us who had a room in Wellington shared a room again which was nice. On the coach on the way to Taupo we discussed about making a chilli together and when we got there the $5 meal was chilli so we opted for that instead. It was alright but not the best in the world; at least it had a good kick to it!

We spent the evening chilling out and planning some things to do in Asia. We’re not going together but I’ve been to some places to give tips and we’re all doing similar routes anyway.

Day 37 – Taupo to River Valley.

The only problem with changing drivers is they all say different things. The bus I was originally on said 7am but the new guy said 7.30 so it was a bit of a guess of when he was going to arrive. He was very chilled out so didn’t arrive until 7.40 which normally would be fine but most of us had been waiting for about half an hour wishing we had spent more time in bed.

It took us a few hours to get there and we had a couple of stops on the way. Our journey was through the mountains as New Zealand has many volcanoes and quite a few of them are still active.

We arrived in River Valley mid afternoon, which gave people enough time to go White Water Rafting that day. I decided not to do it as I’ve done it before and it gives me a good excuse to spend my money on new crazy things. River Valley is based in the middle of nowhere on the west coast of the north island. I went for a small walk around the place but it was quite a damp afternoon.

For dinner I decided to eat what they cook at the lodge as our first bus driver raved about it and said we’d be stupid to miss it. It was only $15, which is about £7.50, and she was right, the food was incredible! We were served a roast chicken dinner with roast potatoes, salad, rice and other things.

Day 36 – Taupo

The market was a bit of a disappointment as there were only a small amount of stands. It was cool to see what the local produce is and it was quite different to what you would expect to see in a UK market. 

After here I walked alongside the lake and watched a Circus act. I saw there was a stand when we arrived but it just looked more like an advertisement than an actual circus show. It lasted just over an hour and was called Campground Chaos. The whole thing was being done on donation and by the looks of it they got quite a bit of money. Some of the strength the guys had was pretty impressive! Their finale act involved a picnic bench being hoisted up and them jumping off it, doing some acrobatics and chucking flames.

I then walked a bit further down the road to McDonalds. This is apparently the coolest one in the world because you can eat in a real life plane! This plane was put there in 1990. As the weather had picked up a bit I decided on just buying a caramel sundae to enjoy the plane experience. 

I then walked to the park and just chilled out and finished the final Hunger Games books, for me the movies so far have been a bit disappointing and I’ve loved the books but part of me is quite excited to see what they do in the film! After catching some rays I just cooked some dinner and packed my bag ready for the early start tomorrow!

Day 35 – Taupo Rain & Spa Thermal Park.

Yesterday I went to the tourist information centre and grabbed some leaflets on what to do in Taupo. One of them I saw was for a market that is held on the green on a Saturday morning and as that is only over the road from where I’m staying I thought I’d check it out. As I got closer I noticed it wasn’t on because Lynyrd Skynyrd, 10CC and some other bands were having a mini festival.

I decided just to walk around some more and pop into Pak and Save for a few things; Timtams and stuff… the necessities. When I came out there was a slight drizzle in the air so I grabbed a pie for lunch (Butter chicken, bloody lovely!) and made my way to the library to do some research for other places I’ll be visiting. Chrissy told me yesterday she’s going to join me for the last 5 weeks I’m away, so Vietnam to Thailand, which I’m very excited about now!! Another reason I wanted to create a rough plan so I can tell her my ideas and whether there are any other places or things she wants to see and do.

The lake above is called Lake Taupo and is the largest lake in Australasia, it is 616 square kilometres and you could fit the whole of Singapore into it!

I walked out the library to go and meet some of the girls and it was absolutely hammering it down! I feel your pain back in the UK. We didn’t end up doing a lot just chilling in reception, watching one of their Bungy videos.

It cleared up quite a bit and the sun came out and one of them said she was going to the hot pools in the Spa Thermal Park which is about a 40min walk from our hostel so I decided to join her, as I wanted to go and see them anyway!

They were really cool and it’s surprising how hot the water actually is. We chilled in the hot spring for about 45mins and at one point it started to chuck it down. It was a weird sensation as the rain was cold hitting you but the water was super warm, it created this weird steam mist making it really hard to see. Within 5minutes the rain had stopped and the view cleared up.

We made our way back to the hostel and I was excited to have my leftover curry! Unfortunately for me it wasn’t that simple. The microwave rotated your food and the light was hot but it didn’t actually heat up your food, I tried to grill the naan so it was warm and that didn’t work either… I then thought there is only one thing but to bung it in a pan and heat it that way. The gas has to be lit using a match or something but all of those in the kitchen were broken, so I had to find someone with a lighter to do it for me, you wouldn’t think reheating something could be so hard?! Bits were hot, bits were cold but it was alright.

Finally I was ready to meet everyone else, we hung around in the girls room for a bit watching some sky dive videos as 3 of them got to do it yesterday and then we went to check out the Element bar that is linked to our hostel.