Monday morning was already warm by the time I woke at 7am. I got up and had a chat with Mike who was leaving shortly, and worked on my blog for a while. After another pancake for breakfast, I packed my bag, returned my sheets and checked out. It was pretty sad to leave - Mamallenas is a very comfortable and friendly place! I was going to include photos of Hostel Mamallenas, but the card that was in my camera has had an error! i can´t get photos off of it :( I lost some of my photos from the Panama [View Full Entry]

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I woke early on Sunday, into the relative cool of the morning. I slept incredibly well, considering the noise of the city and the 10 or so other people in the dorm room. After making myself a pancake breakfast (which is included free in the $11 a night fee) which I topped with some Guava jam that I inherited from a girl heading home to New York, I made myself a cup of tea and settled down to read a bit. I was soon really tired, so I went back to bed for a few hours! I hate jet lag! It [View Full Entry]

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What a long and interesting 24 hours I have had! I was running late on Friday morning as I did the last of my preparations for the trip - running around getting everything for the princesses ready, shoving the rest of my stuff in my pack, etc. Sheila was kind enough to drive me to the greyhound station at the last minute, and I arrived with about 5 minutes to spare. I took the bus from Courtenay to Nanaimo where my dad met me at the station. Mom and dad are off on an adventure too, driving their truck camper down [View Full Entry]

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Neither of us slept well at Cactus Jack's - the bed was terrible, and the place was noisy. We checked out, and had breakfast at a nearby cafe before driving back to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. We stopped to see the nearby mudpools, bubbling away from the underground steam. Inside the park we were treated to pools of boiling chemicals of every colour, silicate terraces, more mud pools, smelly sulphur pits and low fog. We took some super pictures of this unusual area as we walked around, and then got back in the car for a short drive up the road. We [View Full Entry]

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The morning dawned brilliant and sunny, and we made plans to do a horse trek in the Taupo area. After a quick breakfast in the hostel kitchen we followed the Huka Falls Loop road and stopped along the way to view the sights. Our first stop was Huka (pronounced 'hook - ah') Falls. Here, water follows a pretty regular stream, and then is forced into a narrow deep opening, speeding up and churning until it turns turquoise and rushes over a small ledhe to boil up further down the stream. We have better waterfalls in Canada, as size goes, but the [View Full Entry]

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Up early we checked in at the ferry at 7am. I slept well, and our small room was quiet, though you had to go outside to get to the bathroom! The weather was no clearer for this trip between the islands, but we were able to watch some movies and warm up with coffee and tea. This trip we tried the Bluebridge ferry, which was different than the last crossing. The ocean was relatively calm, and the ship moved a little less than the previous crossing! In Wellington just before noon we made a quick stop at Maple Lodge Backpackers to [View Full Entry]

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I slept right through the alarm at 6am (yuck! This is a vacation right?!) but I was in the shower by about 6:20am. After some yoghurt and reheated pizza for breakfast (hey, it all the food groups right?) we packed up and headed out the door just before 7am. Outside we were greeted by a pair of Keas (mountain parrots). I took some pictures, but it was too dark for anything to turn out except their glowing eyes. We drove west, towards the coast, as the day dawned crisp and clear. We saw some beautiful mountain peaks, tinted golded-pink as the [View Full Entry]

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Off to an early start this morning. Eric was up and showering just after 6am. It took me until 630 am to get up, but we ate breakfast by 7:15 and were ready to go. Breakfast is free at "The Villa" - several types of breads and jams, cold cereal and milk. On the road we headed south on highway #1, through Blenheim, stopping for coffee and a snack at 8:30 at a place called "The Store". With high ceilings and exposed rafters, "The Store" was very classy. Nice wood floors, long tables and country themed decorations made it look like [View Full Entry]

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I slept well and was up around 8am. Eric and I had a quick cup of tea (instand coffee for Eric) with Simon and confirmed the plan for the day. Eric and I were on the road around 9am and drove into the city. We navigated to the three buildings in the downtown area which serve as the seat of the NZ Parliament. Building began in 1969 on the Beehive - a very strange parliament building of glass and concrete which closely resembles a beehive. It doesn't match the other two much more rectangular buildings nearby. I guess NZ didn't want [View Full Entry]

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Eric and I were out the door by 7:30 am, and made a quick stop in town to pick up some coffee and snacks. Then we drove south, following the highway around the curve of the coastline past the cloud covered peak of Mount Taranaki (which some people will know as the mountain that filled in as Mount Fuji in the Tom Cruise movie "The Last Samurai"). The weather improved steadily over the morning, and we enjoyed the full sunshine as we drove along listening to local radio stations and viewing the scenery. We gassed up in Whanganui and then stopped [View Full Entry]

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