Blogs from River Valley, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania
River Valley (27-28 Nov 2010)
Published: February 4th 2011Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley
February 2nd 2011
Saturday 27th November 2010 (Taupo – Turangi – River Valley) Leaving Taupo we all picked up some lunch for a relaxed hike to Taranaki Falls in Turangi, stopping for a picnic on the river near a small waterfall, however it wasn’t till we left that we discovered the large waterfall from LOTR that our guide had been talking about. An exceptionally windy journey took us to River Valley, basically the middle of nowhere, slightly delayed after hitting a New Zealand traffic jam (a flock of sheep being herded down the middle of the road). We had a good laugh jumping into the river from a large wooden board that rolled out from the bank to the deep side of the river where you could jump off and swim back to start all over again! After dinner ... read more
December 19th 2010
River Valley was an experience we hadn't had yet. Firstly everyone had to get off the bus a mile from our accommodation as the bus couldn't fit down the steep hill or turn around at the bottom. Then we realized we actually were in the absolute middle of nowhere and our driver wasn't exaggerating. There were only two rooms in this log cabin style place, both of which consisted of one long bunk bed which was meant to fit ten people on the top and ten on the bottom all squashed together on one big bed. Thankfully there was a bar. Although definitely not much else. At first I was glad we were only staying one night but then everyone got into the spirit of things. The owners of the cabin cooked our whole bus a ... read more
Day 18 Taupo to River Valley
Published: February 7th 2010Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley
February 5th 2010
The day started out on a good note when we arrived at our pick up location. We both had a good night stay away from the rest of the group. I spoke with some German girls that we had befriended along the way. They told me that the Hostel was pretty loud and they wish they got more sleep. It was pretty much what I had expected to hear thus solidifying our notion that all Base Hostels were awful for anyone that wanted to get a good nights sleep. Ideal if you want to get drunk and party all night long. The driver for this bus was in good spirits. Her name was Lauren and she had an awesome personality. She filled us in on the itinerary for the day. She seemed to make friends with ... read more
March 31st 2009
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! climbed up mount doom which was an experience! hope you get this blog, im not sure if the others are being published, leave me a comment and let me know. thats about it, so i ... read more
March 25th 2009
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 I may as well do it when my friends are doing it. The crossing itself is known to be one of the top 10 day hikes in the world, and one of the best in ... read more
The Longest day and River Valley
Published: January 16th 2009Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley
January 16th 2009
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 Irish Bar, Mulligans, which was highly recommended by Lauren, our driver, for evident reasons. They gave us money off for being kiwi expereince travellers. They also sold full pint, not poxy schooners or whatever everyone ... read more
Whitewater Rafting on the Rangitikei river
Published: December 15th 2008Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » River Valley
December 9th 2008
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 retire to the dorm to read a book. The dorm houses 32 people and is more like the facilities you get in huts when you're camping than a hostel. Its cheap though but the downside ... read more
January 30th 2008
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 signs are not bulls eyes" (because there speed limit signs look like bulls eyes). And they do have lot of windey narrow roads and a lot of traffic fatalities. No sooner than I was thinking this did we come upon the scene of an accident. It looked bad as we pulled up but I could not see any cars. ... read more
June 14th 2007
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 the scenery and foolishly turned my back on the other lads who took the opportunity to push me in…..it was so cold and I could hardly breathe! Sorry I havn't got any pics for this ... read more
