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River Valley Travel Blogs

Background: The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year, the British began the first organized colonial settlement. A series of land wars between 1843 and 1872 ended with the defeat of the native peoples. The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. New Zealand's full participation in a number of defense alliances lapsed by the 1980s. In recent years, the government has sought to address longstanding Maori grievances.

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By AmyJay16
March 31st 2009

river valley Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley

hello!! just a quick entry to let everyone know that after a great few days in taupo i have arrived in the loveliest and most remote little place called river valley, and have a job here doing general housekeeping for food and board for 2 plus weeks with polly! so im sorry i wont be able to phone as there is no signal. I will try and write every couple of days though. Going horse trekking tomorrow, thought mum would love that! i knackered my knee a little doing the eight hour walk but it was so nice and worth it! [View Full Entry]

By Chuff
March 25th 2009

Blissed out days.. Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley

En Route to Tongariro

Alrighty there. I'm full of beans today, having had a really nice afternoon/evening yesterday and a sunny morning teaching people Poi today. And a gooood sleep! I have also, funnily enough had a really good few days. I decided not to spend a 3 nights in Taupo, so that i could hang out with the crew on my bus as they are pretty ace. This meant I had to move my Tongariro Crossing walk to a day earlier than I had planned, which meant getting up at 6am on Tuesday morning. I had been a bit ill, but thought bugger it [View Full Entry]

By ioanrich
January 16th 2009

The Longest day and River Valley Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley

Sunrise on the Longest Day

No sooner had we checked in we were heading down to the lake in our bathers with a few of the boys off the bus. We had a dip. The water was very cool, very very cool, almost freezing! But we swam for half an hour and had a race round a bouy, 200 metres out and back. I came in a respectible joint first. We cleaned up and headed to a pizza place for a cheap meal. Ten bucks bought us a large pizza and wedges, that was more than enough for the two of us. We headed to the [View Full Entry]

By looking for my zihuatanejo
December 9th 2008

Whitewater Rafting on the Rangitikei river Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley

1. River Valley Lodge

Day 162: Monday 8th December - Driving to River Valley After leaving the Tongariro national park the bus winds its way through the rolling green hills south east to river valley, a lodge located on the Rangititikei river. Towering cliffs and bush-clad hills surround the lodge in its remote location. Here, we have the option of white water rafting and horse trekking - but these activities are all happening tomorrow. The evening is spent chilling out in the beautiful surroundings over a few beers. At 10pm I've had enough as the last few nights have caught up with me so I [View Full Entry]

2. Team photo before the rafting, River Valley

3. Learning the rafting moves before we go on the river, River Valley

4. Boat photo before the action commences, River Valley

By cappper
January 30th 2008

Breaking Down Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley

Taupo Hot Water Spas

Before leaving Taupo we went to the hot spas. That was nice. :-) We left Taupo on the way to [url=http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Taihape,+New+Zealand&ie=UTF8&ll=-39.67337,175.803223&spn=5.935377,10.217285&z=7&om=0/]Taihape and the River Valley Lodge. On the way there I was thinking about how crazy obsessed New Zealand is with auto safety. Their alcohol limit is .05 but they are uber conscious of driving safe. There are signs everywhere saying things like "How long have you been driving? Stop, Revive, Survive." or "These s [View Full Entry]

By jonnyode
June 14th 2007

Rafting Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley

River Valley was the stop after Taupo. Like most stops it was only for one night. In the morning we went white water rafting which is something I’ve always fancied doing but just never got around to it. Unfortunatly the rapids were not at their meanest because of the lack of rain but we still had such an amazing day especially with the instructor we had who was a right laugh :o) He was more than happy to point out all the places where people had got stuck under rocks and drowned….nice. At the end of the ride I was admiring [View Full Entry]

By nickcatharine
April 28th 2007

full update!!! Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley

Ok, so we've been pretty rubbish with keeping this up to date cos we've been so busy so here's a summary of what we've been doing in the past week.... 22 April.. We went sea kayaking around the Bay of Islands and went through a Mangrove Forest and parked up on small sandy beaches of remote islands in the middle of the calmest waters. We went back to Auckland in the evening where we met up with Rufus - all a bit weird considering we're on the other side of the world but we had a good laugh! 23 April.. We [View Full Entry]

By Little Canadian red head
April 18th 2007

Day 7! Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley

Day 7: This morning I woke up early to go horse back riding. There was only 4 of us going so it was a nice small group. It was an interesing experience. The scenery was amazing, we had beautiful hill sides and lots of sheep everywhere we went. It felt just like riding in the lord of the rings movie, it was pretty cool. My horse tho had a mind of its own so it would start running at random when it was by a horse it did not like and it did not always want to listen to me. And [View Full Entry]

By travelbuglou
April 10th 2007

Rotorua - River Valley. The Mammoth Trek!!! Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley

Sky Tower- Glass floor!

HELLO!!! this has to be quick as i have little time... however, there is so much to say! i shall attempt to summarise my various activities: Rotorua White water rafting: 7m waterfall...the highest rafted waterfall in the world...and lots of rapids. i was at the back of the raft... which was a HUGE mistake... not only was i sitting next to a git of an instructor who thought it would be HILARIOUS to push me out of the raft at the earliest possible moment... but there was also the fact that the two at the back of the raft got [View Full Entry]

By Missi333
March 20th 2007

Spelunking in Glow Worm Caves and Tongariro Crossing (11 miles)!! Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley

Tongariro Crossing

Wow, we have really packed in a lot! It's been non-stop! We've been weaving down the North Island and a few days ago took a ferry to the South Island where the scenery just gets more and more stunning. In Waitomo, we suited up for some serious spelunking in the Waitomo Caves, we repelled down a narrow opening in the earth and wound up 50 meters underground. Above our heads were glowing worms on the ceiling of the caves - they looked like stars in the sky! After a zip line, a leap off a ledge on our inner tubes into [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley